Cost of living comparison

compared to

Playa del Carmen vs. Washington Cost of Living Summary

Playa del Carmen is 45.0% cheaper than Washington.

Restaurants: pay 40.8% less in Playa del Carmen
Groceries: pay 41.8% less in Playa del Carmen
Transportation: pay 4.7% more in Playa del Carmen
Housing: pay 61.8% less in Playa del Carmen
Childcare: pay 89.5% less in Playa del Carmen
Entertainment and Sports: pay 56.8% less in Playa del Carmen
Clothing: pay 29.1% less in Playa del Carmen

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

Playa del Carmen vs. Washington Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 40.8% less for restaurants

	Washington	Playa del Carmen
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$25.00	$11.90 MX$214.28	-52.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$12.00	$10.83 MX$195.11	-9.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$3.20	$1.62 MX$29.24	-49.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.79	$1.34 MX$24.17	-51.9%
Average			-40.8%

Washington vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of restaurants

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pay 41.8% less for groceries

	Washington	Playa del Carmen
Bread 1 loaf	$4.43	$1.98 MX$35.62	-55.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.04	$4.33 MX$78.04	-46.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.19	$5.50 MX$99.04	+31.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.55	$2.27 MX$40.85	-50.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$7.74	$3.76 MX$67.72	-51.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.95	$1.30 MX$23.34	-56.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.92	$0.64 MX$11.59	-30.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.20	$0.90 MX$16.15	-59.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$3.00	$0.94 MX$16.88	-68.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.35	$0.85 MX$15.34	-36.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.64	$1.02 MX$18.44	-37.4%
Average			-41.8%

Washington vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of groceries

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pay 4.7% more for transportation

	Washington	Playa del Carmen
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.53	$5.02 MX$90.51	+42.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$77.50	$27.08 MX$487.76	-65.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,699.74	$31,003.27 MX$558,489.75	-13.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$16.73	$25.93 MX$467.05	+55.0%
Average			+4.7%

Washington vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of transportation

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pay 61.8% less for housing

	Washington	Playa del Carmen
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$69.41	$30.51 MX$549.55	-56.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$2,568.48	$1,072.23 MX$19,315.05	-58.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$2,088.16	$484.68 MX$8,730.98	-76.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$146.54	$64.40 MX$1,160.10	-56.1%
Average			-61.8%

Washington vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of housing

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pay 89.5% less for childcare

	Washington	Playa del Carmen
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$2,650.00	$204.43 MX$3,682.62	-92.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$40,166.67	$5,361.26 MX$96,577.27	-86.7%
Average			-89.5%

Washington vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of childcare

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pay 56.8% less for entertainment and sports

	Washington	Playa del Carmen
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$8.00	$3.12 MX$56.20	-61.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$6.07	$3.46 MX$62.34	-43.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$13.00	$4.17 MX$75.12	-67.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$103.76	$60.49 MX$1,089.73	-41.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$16.75	$4.98 MX$89.79	-70.2%
Average			-56.8%

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

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pay 29.1% less for clothing

	Washington	Playa del Carmen
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$76.00	$43.98 MX$792.24	-42.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$48.40	$41.89 MX$754.55	-13.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$104.31	$75.82 MX$1,365.74	-27.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$133.22	$88.61 MX$1,596.30	-33.5%
Average			-29.1%

Washington 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: December 2025

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