Cost of living comparison

Australia

compared to

Mexico

Playa del Carmen vs. Sydney Cost of Living Summary

Playa del Carmen is 54.4% cheaper than Sydney.

Restaurants: pay 31.0% less in Playa del Carmen
Groceries: pay 33.6% less in Playa del Carmen
Transportation: pay 34.4% less in Playa del Carmen
Housing: pay 68.3% less in Playa del Carmen
Childcare: pay 88.4% less in Playa del Carmen
Entertainment and Sports: pay 53.5% less in Playa del Carmen
Clothing: pay 36.7% less in Playa del Carmen

Expenses including childcare, housing, entertainment and sports, clothing, transportation, and groceries are lower in Playa del Carmen.

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Playa del Carmen vs. Sydney Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 31.0% less for restaurants

	Sydney	Playa del Carmen
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$17.41 A$25.04	$11.13 MX$205.76	-36.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.84 A$17.03	$11.94 MX$220.72	+0.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.81 A$4.04	$1.34 MX$24.83	-52.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.22 A$3.19	$0.82 MX$15.25	-62.8%
Average			-31.0%

Sydney vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of restaurants

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pay 33.6% less for groceries

	Sydney	Playa del Carmen
Bread 1 loaf	$2.85 A$4.09	$2.30 MX$42.51	-19.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.93 A$8.54	$3.80 MX$70.30	-35.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.42 A$9.24	$5.64 MX$104.29	-12.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.56 A$7.99	$2.53 MX$46.87	-54.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.34 A$6.24	$3.67 MX$67.89	-15.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.81 A$2.60	$1.31 MX$24.17	-27.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.45 A$2.09	$0.66 MX$12.13	-54.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.56 A$2.24	$1.20 MX$22.24	-22.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.98 A$2.85	$0.97 MX$17.89	-51.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.48 A$2.12	$0.91 MX$16.82	-38.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.07 A$1.54	$0.89 MX$16.46	-16.8%
Average			-33.6%

Sydney vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of groceries

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pay 34.4% less for transportation

	Sydney	Playa del Carmen
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.40 A$7.77	$5.72 MX$105.85	+6.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$151.36 A$217.75	$27.82 MX$514.40	-81.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$28,893.97 A$41,568.07	$21,528.95 MX$398K	-25.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$16.24 A$23.36	$32.66 MX$604.00	+101.2%
Average			-34.4%

Sydney vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of transportation

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pay 68.3% less for housing

	Sydney	Playa del Carmen
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$56.21 A$80.87	$29.02 MX$536.69	-48.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$2,517.32 A$3,621.52	$998.64 MX$18,467.72	-60.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,743.66 A$2,508.51	$386.21 MX$7,142.10	-77.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$168.46 A$242.35	$65.50 MX$1,211.29	-61.1%
Average			-68.3%

Sydney vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of housing

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pay 88.4% less for childcare

	Sydney	Playa del Carmen
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$2,195.71 A$3,158.84	$210.01 MX$3,883.69	-90.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$28,441.13 A$40,916.61	$4,005.49 MX$74,073.10	-85.9%
Average			-88.4%

Sydney vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of childcare

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pay 53.5% less for entertainment and sports

	Sydney	Playa del Carmen
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$7.66 A$11.02	$3.17 MX$58.59	-58.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.97 A$5.72	$3.84 MX$71.02	-3.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$44.55 A$64.09	$4.45 MX$82.30	-90.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$75.28 A$108.30	$64.07 MX$1,184.89	-14.9%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$17.41 A$25.04	$5.00 MX$92.42	-71.3%
Average			-53.5%

Sydney vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 36.7% less for clothing

	Sydney	Playa del Carmen
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$78.68 A$113.19	$44.85 MX$829.44	-43.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$69.62 A$100.16	$42.62 MX$788.17	-38.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$111.40 A$160.26	$76.03 MX$1,406.02	-31.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$133.24 A$191.68	$90.05 MX$1,665.28	-32.4%
Average			-36.7%

Sydney vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of clothing

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We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated October 2026). How we calculate this

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