Cost of living comparison

Brazil

compared to

Mexico

Playa del Carmen vs. Sao Paulo Cost of Living Summary

Playa del Carmen is 20.5% more expensive than Sao Paulo.

Restaurants: pay 46.1% more in Playa del Carmen
Groceries: pay 16.9% more in Playa del Carmen
Transportation: pay 65.5% more in Playa del Carmen
Housing: pay 40.4% more in Playa del Carmen
Childcare: pay 61.9% less in Playa del Carmen
Entertainment and Sports: pay 42.1% more in Playa del Carmen
Clothing: pay 5.4% less in Playa del Carmen

The cost of transportation, restaurants, entertainment and sports, housing, and groceries in Playa del Carmen are more expensive than in Sao Paulo. Expenses including childcare and clothing are lower in Playa del Carmen.

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Playa del Carmen vs. Sao Paulo Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Playa del Carmen instead of Sao Paulo, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 46.1% more for restaurants

	Sao Paulo	Playa del Carmen
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$7.83 R$40.13	$11.90 MX$208.65	+52.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.45 R$38.22	$10.83 MX$189.98	+45.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.22 R$6.26	$1.62 MX$28.48	+33.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.87 R$4.46	$1.34 MX$23.54	+54.3%
Average			+46.1%

Sao Paulo vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of restaurants

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pay 16.9% more for groceries

	Sao Paulo	Playa del Carmen
Bread 1 loaf	$1.91 R$9.79	$1.98 MX$34.69	+3.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.88 R$30.12	$4.33 MX$75.99	-26.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.98 R$20.39	$5.50 MX$96.44	+38.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.66 R$13.65	$2.27 MX$39.77	-14.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.09 R$10.70	$3.76 MX$65.94	+80.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.28 R$6.59	$1.30 MX$22.73	+0.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.85 R$4.38	$0.64 MX$11.28	-24.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.74 R$3.81	$0.90 MX$15.73	+20.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.88 R$4.53	$0.94 MX$16.44	+6.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.66 R$3.40	$0.85 MX$14.94	+28.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.59 R$3.02	$1.02 MX$17.95	+73.8%
Average			+16.9%

Sao Paulo vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of groceries

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pay 65.5% more for transportation

	Sao Paulo	Playa del Carmen
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.28 R$21.97	$5.02 MX$88.13	+17.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$46.58 R$238.85	$27.08 MX$474.95	-41.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$22,360.53 R$115K	$31,003.27 MX$544K	+38.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$7.45 R$38.22	$25.93 MX$454.78	+247.9%
Average			+65.5%

Sao Paulo vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of transportation

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pay 40.4% more for housing

	Sao Paulo	Playa del Carmen
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$20.82 R$106.74	$30.51 MX$535.11	+46.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$671.45 R$3,442.67	$1,072.23 MX$18,807.57	+59.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$417.23 R$2,139.20	$484.68 MX$8,501.58	+16.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$46.29 R$237.34	$64.40 MX$1,129.62	+39.1%
Average			+40.4%

Sao Paulo vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of housing

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pay 61.9% less for childcare

	Sao Paulo	Playa del Carmen
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$484.48 R$2,484.02	$204.43 MX$3,585.86	-57.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$15,731.99 R$80,661.04	$5,361.26 MX$94,039.78	-65.9%
Average			-61.9%

Sao Paulo vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of childcare

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pay 42.1% more for entertainment and sports

	Sao Paulo	Playa del Carmen
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.24 R$11.46	$3.12 MX$54.73	+39.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.13 R$10.90	$3.46 MX$60.70	+62.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.63 R$13.49	$4.17 MX$73.14	+58.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$31.73 R$162.67	$60.49 MX$1,061.10	+90.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.39 R$42.99	$4.98 MX$87.43	-40.6%
Average			+42.1%

Sao Paulo vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 5.4% less for clothing

	Sao Paulo	Playa del Carmen
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$54.85 R$281.25	$43.98 MX$771.42	-19.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$45.57 R$233.63	$41.89 MX$734.72	-8.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$87.31 R$447.64	$75.82 MX$1,329.86	-13.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$74.26 R$380.73	$88.61 MX$1,554.36	+19.3%
Average			-5.4%

Sao Paulo vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of clothing

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The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: July 2026

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