Cost of living comparison

United States

compared to

Mexico

Playa del Carmen vs. Topeka Cost of Living Summary

Playa del Carmen is 20.5% cheaper than Topeka.

Restaurants: pay 14.4% less in Playa del Carmen
Groceries: pay 24.1% less in Playa del Carmen
Transportation: pay 8.4% more in Playa del Carmen
Housing: pay 28.7% less in Playa del Carmen
Childcare: pay 52.3% less in Playa del Carmen
Entertainment and Sports: pay 26.5% less in Playa del Carmen
Clothing: pay 14.0% more in Playa del Carmen

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

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Playa del Carmen vs. Topeka Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 14.4% less for restaurants

	Topeka	Playa del Carmen
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$13.50	$11.13 MX$205.76	-17.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.00	$11.94 MX$220.72	+19.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.32	$1.34 MX$24.83	-42.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.76	$0.82 MX$15.25	-53.1%
Average			-14.4%

Topeka vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of restaurants

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pay 24.1% less for groceries

	Topeka	Playa del Carmen
Bread 1 loaf	$2.73	$2.30 MX$42.51	-15.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.40	$3.80 MX$70.30	-13.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.17	$5.64 MX$104.29	+78.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.99	$2.53 MX$46.87	-36.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.84	$3.67 MX$67.89	-4.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.18	$1.31 MX$24.17	-40.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.73	$0.66 MX$12.13	-10.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.37	$1.20 MX$22.24	-49.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.90	$0.97 MX$17.89	-49.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.58	$0.91 MX$16.82	-42.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.16	$0.89 MX$16.46	-23.3%
Average			-24.1%

Topeka vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of groceries

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pay 8.4% more for transportation

	Topeka	Playa del Carmen
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.39	$5.72 MX$105.85	+68.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$50.00	$27.82 MX$514.40	-44.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$24,000.00	$21,528.95 MX$398K	-10.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$15.18	$32.66 MX$604.00	+115.2%
Average			+8.4%

Topeka vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of transportation

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pay 28.7% less for housing

	Topeka	Playa del Carmen
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$65.33	$29.02 MX$536.69	-55.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$783.80	$998.64 MX$18,467.72	+27.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$850.00	$386.21 MX$7,142.10	-54.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$110.50	$65.50 MX$1,211.29	-40.7%
Average			-28.7%

Topeka vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of housing

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pay 52.3% less for childcare

	Topeka	Playa del Carmen
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$440.00	$210.01 MX$3,883.69	-52.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	??	$4,005.49 MX$74,073.10
Average			-52.3%

Topeka vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of childcare

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pay 26.5% less for entertainment and sports

	Topeka	Playa del Carmen
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.50	$3.17 MX$58.59	-29.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.50	$3.84 MX$71.02	+9.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$9.00	$4.45 MX$82.30	-50.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$45.00	$64.07 MX$1,184.89	+42.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$15.00	$5.00 MX$92.42	-66.7%
Average			-26.5%

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

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pay 14.0% more for clothing

	Topeka	Playa del Carmen
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$38.44	$44.85 MX$829.44	+16.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$28.33	$42.62 MX$788.17	+50.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$89.00	$76.03 MX$1,406.02	-14.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$80.00	$90.05 MX$1,665.28	+12.6%
Average			+14.0%

Topeka 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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