Last update: Nov 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Bedford and Playa del Carmen

For one person, living is cheaper in Playa del Carmen: $1,202 a month against $2,117 in Bedford, rent and utilities included – about $11,000 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

102

Cost of Living Index in Bedford
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Bedford Living Index
57

Cost of Living Index in Playa del Carmen
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Playa del Carmen Living Index

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Bedford

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

$2,117

/mo nomad

Playa del Carmen

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,202

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Bedford and in Playa del Carmen

Real prices from locals and on-the-ground checks – rent, groceries, transit and the daily extras. Here's what a month in Bedford and in Playa del Carmen actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

A single person spends $2,117 per month in Bedford vs $1,202 in Playa del Carmen, rent included.

Bedford $2,117
Playa del Carmen $1,202

A couple spends around $3,333 per month in Bedford vs $2,082 in Playa del Carmen, rent included.

Bedford $3,333
Playa del Carmen $2,082

A family of three spends $4,549 per month in Bedford vs $2,962 in Playa del Carmen, rent included.

Bedford $4,549
Playa del Carmen $2,962

Bedford costs about 76% more than Playa del Carmen, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

Bedford sits 57% above the global median, while Playa del Carmen is 11% below – they fall on opposite sides of the world average.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$19.85 £14.78

$10.67 MX$201

86.04%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$88.8 £66.1

$43.80 MX$824

102.79%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$10.89 £8.11

$11.79 MX$222

-7.63%

Cappuccino

$4.54 £3.38

$3.79 MX$71.2

19.79%

Coke/Pepsi/Fanta/Sprite (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.00 £1.49

$1.30 MX$24.41

53.85%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.18 £0.88

$0.83 MX$15.69

42.17%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$6.72 £5.00

$3.15 MX$59.2

113.33%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$5.98 £4.45

$4.93 MX$92.9

21.30%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.73 £1.28

$1.41 MX$26.51

22.70%

White Bread (500g)

$1.49 £1.11

$2.20 MX$41.32

-32.27%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.64 £1.22

$1.47 MX$27.71

11.56%

Eggs

$3.81 £2.84

$2.50 MX$46.99

52.40%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$9.42 £7.01

$7.29 MX$137

29.22%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$8.63 £6.42

$7.95 MX$150

8.55%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$12.96 £9.65

$12.86 MX$242

0.78%

Apples (1kg)

$3.35 £2.50

$2.90 MX$54.5

15.52%

Banana (1kg)

$1.34 £1.00

$1.38 MX$26.03

-2.90%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.54 £1.89

$2.49 MX$46.88

2.01%

Tomato (1kg)

$3.12 £2.32

$2.03 MX$38.20

53.69%

Potato (1kg)

$1.34 £1.00

$2.02 MX$38.11

-33.66%

Onion (1kg)

$1.36 £1.01

$1.90 MX$35.82

-28.42%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.04 £0.78

$1.14 MX$21.54

-8.77%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.35 £1.00

$1.24 MX$23.32

8.87%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$23.59 £17.56

$4.27 MX$80.4

452.46%

Wine (Bottle)

$10.80 £8.04

$9.81 MX$185

10.09%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$2.66 £1.98

$1.59 MX$29.85

67.30%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.46 £1.83

$2.75 MX$51.7

-10.55%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$2.61 £1.94

$0.51 MX$9.69

411.76%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$27.39 MX$515

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$5.05 £3.76

$4.76 MX$89.6

6.09%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.64 £1.22

$3.25 MX$61.1

-49.54%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$20.36 £15.15

$5.39 MX$101

277.74%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.97 £1.46

$1.53 MX$28.76

28.76%

Midsize Hatchback 1.4l (Volkswagen Golf, Toyota Prius, Honda Civic, etc)

$39.2K £29.2K

$21.2K MX$399.2K

84.63%

Compact Sedan 1.6l (Toyota Corolla, Mazda3, Kia K4, Hyundai Elantra, etc)

$40.4K £30.1K

$23.3K MX$437.8K

73.63%

Utilities for 2 People in 2-bedroom Apartment (Heating, Electricity, Gas, Water, Garbage) (85m2)

$316 £235

$83.5 MX$1,571

278.52%

SIM Card Monthly Plan (Calls and 10GB+ Data)

$17.74 £13.20

$23.19 MX$436

-23.50%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$39.87 £29.68

$27.61 MX$520

44.40%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$38.18 £28.42

$56.4 MX$1,062

-32.34%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$28.19 MX$531

Cinema Ticket

$16.11 £11.99

$5.00 MX$94.1

222.20%

Preschool or Kindergarten, Full Day, Private, 1 Child (Monthly)

$1,366 £1,017

$207 MX$3,897

559.69%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$23.7K £17.6K

$5,231 MX$98.4K

352.79%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$23.98 £17.85

$43.45 MX$818

-44.81%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$25.73 £19.15

$42.54 MX$801

-39.52%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$79.6 £59.3

$72.8 MX$1,369

9.46%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$88.8 £66.1

$88.4 MX$1,663

0.49%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,126 £838

$995 MX$18.7K

13.16%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$965 £718

$382 MX$7,197

152.36%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$2,461 £1,832

$1,674 MX$31.5K

47.00%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$2,037 £1,516

$1,081 MX$20.3K

88.50%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$3,909 MX$73.6K

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$6,138 MX$115.5K

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$3,303 £2,459

$832 MX$15.7K

296.91%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

4.67

11.45

-59.21%

CityCost data is based on AI and user input – minor inaccuracies may occur.

Last update for Bedford: November 3, 2026

Last update for Playa del Carmen: November 2, 2026

Monthly budget structure

Share of the monthly basket for one person, rent included.

Accommodation & Living

Bedford

$965 45.6%

Playa del Carmen

$382 31.8% 60.4% $583

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Bedford

$374 17.7%

Playa del Carmen

$134 11.2% 64.1% $239

Eating Out

Bedford

$304 14.4%

Playa del Carmen

$200 16.7% 34.2% $104

Groceries & Markets

Bedford

$282 13.3%

Playa del Carmen

$257 21.4% 8.6% $24

Clothing & Footwear

Bedford

$98 4.6%

Playa del Carmen

$111 9.3% 13.3% $13

Sport & Entertainment

Bedford

$70 3.3%

Playa del Carmen

$66 5.5% 5.6% $4

Getting Around

Bedford

$24 * 1.1%

Playa del Carmen

$50 4.2% 113% $27

Categories marked with * are only partly priced – their share counts the items that do have prices.

Cost Breakdown

A central one-bedroom costs $1,126 in Bedford versus $995 in Playa del Carmen. Rent is usually the largest line item in a monthly budget, so the gap here sets the tone for the overall comparison.

Salaries in Bedford are about 4 times higher. Purchasing power depends on which expenses matter most to you.

A mid-range dinner for two costs $89 in Bedford versus $44 in Playa del Carmen. Monthly groceries follow the same trend: $282 vs $257 – making Playa del Carmen the more affordable choice for daily food spending.

Good to know

🇬🇧 Bedford

🇲🇽 Playa del Carmen

🕒 Local time

13:09 1:09 PM

08:09 8:09 AM

5 h behind Bedford

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

80,000

149,923

💱 Currency

British Pound GBP £

Mexican Peso MXN $

📈 Exchange rate

1 GBP = 1.34 USD

1 GBP = 1.2 EUR

100 MXN = 5.31 USD

100 MXN = 4.74 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

MXN, USD, EUR to GBP – British Pound Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇬🇧 British Pound (£)

British Pound exchange rates as of November 4, 2026: 1 USD = 0.744 GBP (1 GBP = 1.34 USD). 1 EUR = 0.835 GBP (1 GBP = 1.2 EUR).

Mexican Peso exchange rates as of November 4, 2026: 1 USD = 18.82 MXN (100 MXN = 5.31 USD). 1 EUR = 21.1 MXN (100 MXN = 4.74 EUR).

USD to GBP in detail →

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Between locations

Bedford Playa del Carmen 7,990 km ≈ 10 h nonstop flight

From you

Bedford
Playa del Carmen

Distances are measured in a straight line. Your location is detected approximately.

City Median Internet Speeds Comparison (Updated April 2026)

The chart highlights the Precision Threshold for mobile and fixed broadband internet speeds, updated quarterly.

Digital Nomad Cost of Living Index

Bedford vs Playa del Carmen: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Bedford costs about 76% more than Playa del Carmen, and outside of rent the gap comes mainly from eating out. That’s enough to noticeably affect everyday spending and lifestyle for anyone choosing between the two.

For a comfortable life, plan on about $3,175 per month in Bedford and $1,804 in Playa del Carmen. That covers rent, food, utilities, transport, and enough left over to feel settled – not just surviving.

Rent is clearly cheaper in Playa del Carmen, especially for central apartments: a one-bedroom in the center costs $995 there versus $1,126 in Bedford.

Monthly expenses with rent come to $2,117 in Bedford and $1,202 in Playa del Carmen. That makes Playa del Carmen about 43% cheaper.

Kindergarten costs $1,366 per month in Bedford and $207 in Playa del Carmen. For families with young kids, this one expense can tip the scales when choosing between the two cities.

A $1,500 monthly budget goes further in Playa del Carmen, where all-in costs run around $1,202, than in Bedford at $2,117. In Playa del Carmen it covers expenses comfortably, while in Bedford it requires careful planning or may not stretch far enough.

Families tend to lean toward Playa del Carmen – lower housing and cheaper childcare make a real difference, especially on a single income or when paying for private education.

If budget matters most, go with Playa del Carmen. If higher salaries or specific career opportunities are the priority, Bedford makes more sense. Both are solid long-term options with distinct trade-offs.