Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Bristol and Playa del Carmen

For one person, living is cheaper in Playa del Carmen: $1,204 a month against $2,883 in Bristol, rent and utilities included – about $20,100 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

140

Cost of Living Index in Bristol
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Bristol Living Index
58

Cost of Living Index in Playa del Carmen
Learn more

Playa del Carmen Living Index

Jump to prices

Bristol

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

$2,883

/mo nomad

Playa del Carmen

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,204

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Bristol 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 Bristol and in Playa del Carmen actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $2,883 in Bristol versus $1,204 in Playa del Carmen.

Bristol $2,883
Playa del Carmen $1,204

Estimated couple costs with rent: $4,161 in Bristol versus $2,082 in Playa del Carmen.

Bristol $4,161
Playa del Carmen $2,082

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $5,440 in Bristol versus $2,959 in Playa del Carmen.

Bristol $5,440
Playa del Carmen $2,959

Living in Bristol is roughly 139% more expensive than in Playa del Carmen, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

The two cities straddle the global median: Bristol is 112% above, Playa del Carmen is 12% below.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$23.78 £17.77

$10.92 MX$205

117.77%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$114 £85.1

$43.37 MX$815

162.55%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$10.82 £8.08

$11.78 MX$221

-8.15%

Cappuccino

$5.14 £3.84

$3.81 MX$71.6

34.91%

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

$2.69 £2.01

$1.28 MX$24.10

110.16%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.84 £1.38

$0.78 MX$14.71

135.90%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$7.83 £5.85

$3.17 MX$59.5

147.00%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$6.74 £5.04

$4.93 MX$92.7

36.71%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.52 £1.14

$1.41 MX$26.43

7.80%

White Bread (500g)

$1.71 £1.28

$2.22 MX$41.66

-22.97%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$2.10 £1.57

$1.42 MX$26.64

47.89%

Eggs

$4.25 £3.18

$2.52 MX$47.41

68.65%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$8.15 £6.09

$7.26 MX$137

12.26%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$9.82 £7.34

$7.70 MX$145

27.53%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$12.88 £9.62

$12.69 MX$239

1.50%

Apples (1kg)

$3.22 £2.40

$2.78 MX$52.3

15.83%

Banana (1kg)

$1.76 £1.31

$1.37 MX$25.71

28.47%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.70 £2.02

$2.55 MX$47.94

5.88%

Tomato (1kg)

$4.13 £3.08

$2.12 MX$39.90

94.81%

Potato (1kg)

$2.07 £1.55

$1.94 MX$36.43

6.70%

Onion (1kg)

$1.45 £1.08

$1.89 MX$35.44

-23.28%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.23 £0.92

$1.15 MX$21.55

6.96%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$2.02 £1.51

$1.18 MX$22.16

71.19%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$23.31 £17.41

$4.30 MX$80.7

442.09%

Wine (Bottle)

$10.57 £7.90

$9.95 MX$187

6.23%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$2.89 £2.16

$1.58 MX$29.76

82.91%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.65 £2.73

$2.67 MX$50.2

36.70%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$3.40 £2.54

$0.55 MX$10.40

518.18%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$125 £93.2

$26.62 MX$500

368.41%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$3.50 £2.62

$4.97 MX$93.4

-29.58%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.62 £1.21

$3.33 MX$62.6

-51.35%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$26.41 £19.73

$5.36 MX$101

392.72%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$2.17 £1.62

$1.44 MX$27.14

50.69%

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

$38.0K £28.4K

$20.7K MX$388.4K

83.68%

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

$40.0K £29.9K

$23.5K MX$441.0K

70.48%

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

$326 £244

$84.8 MX$1,594

285.00%

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

$17.56 £13.12

$23.41 MX$440

-24.99%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$38.06 £28.44

$28.66 MX$539

32.80%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$41.92 £31.31

$57.1 MX$1,072

-26.52%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$11.75 £8.77

$28.91 MX$543

-59.36%

Cinema Ticket

$15.58 £11.64

$5.14 MX$96.6

203.11%

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

$2,366 £1,767

$207 MX$3,882

1045.19%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$25.2K £18.8K

$3,927 MX$73.8K

542.09%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$100 £74.9

$43.35 MX$815

131.12%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$47.78 £35.69

$41.44 MX$779

15.30%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$108 £80.4

$74.2 MX$1,394

44.99%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$96.6 £72.1

$89.3 MX$1,677

8.18%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,963 £1,466

$980 MX$18.4K

100.37%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,455 £1,087

$381 MX$7,157

282.10%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$3,048 £2,277

$1,708 MX$32.1K

78.46%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$2,225 £1,662

$1,075 MX$20.2K

106.92%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$7,040 £5,259

$3,943 MX$74.1K

78.54%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$5,142 £3,841

$6,158 MX$115.7K

-16.50%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$3,801 £2,839

$735 MX$13.8K

417.42%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

4.87

11.45

-57.47%

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

Last update for Bristol: October 26, 2026

Last update for Playa del Carmen: October 25, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Bristol

$1.5K 50.5%

Playa del Carmen

$381 31.6% 73.8% $1.1K

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Bristol

$382 13.3%

Playa del Carmen

$137 11.4% 64.2% $245

Eating Out

Bristol

$355 12.3%

Playa del Carmen

$202 16.8% 43% $153

Groceries & Markets

Bristol

$309 10.7%

Playa del Carmen

$255 21.2% 17.6% $54

Clothing & Footwear

Bristol

$158 5.5%

Playa del Carmen

$112 9.3% 29.5% $47

Getting Around

Bristol

$150 5.2%

Playa del Carmen

$50 4.2% 66.3% $99

Sport & Entertainment

Bristol

$73 2.5%

Playa del Carmen

$67 5.6% 7.9% $5.8

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $1,963 in Bristol and $980 in Playa del Carmen. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Bristol pays about 5.2 times more on average. How far that income stretches comes down to housing choices and lifestyle.

Dining out: $114 in Bristol vs $43 in Playa del Carmen for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $309 vs $255 per month, with Playa del Carmen cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇬🇧 Bristol

🇲🇽 Playa del Carmen

🕒 Local time

01:32 1:32 AM

20:32 8:32 PM

5 h behind Bristol

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

463,400

149,923

💱 Currency

British Pound GBP £

Mexican Peso MXN $

📈 Exchange rate

1 GBP = 1.34 USD

1 GBP = 1.2 EUR

100 MXN = 5.32 USD

100 MXN = 4.77 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 2, 2026: 1 USD = 0.747 GBP (1 GBP = 1.34 USD). 1 EUR = 0.834 GBP (1 GBP = 1.2 EUR).

Mexican Peso exchange rates as of November 2, 2026: 1 USD = 18.79 MXN (100 MXN = 5.32 USD). 1 EUR = 20.98 MXN (100 MXN = 4.77 EUR).

USD to GBP in detail →

On the map

Lowest

Highest

Between locations

Bristol Playa del Carmen 7,850 km ≈ 10 h nonstop flight

From you

Bristol
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

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

Total monthly costs including rent come to $2,883 in Bristol and $1,204 in Playa del Carmen, so Playa del Carmen is about 58% cheaper – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

Average pay in Bristol is about 5.2 times higher, which matters when comparing affordability. Whether that higher income actually nets you more depends on your spending habits and housing choices.

Rent for a central apartment: $1,963 in Bristol versus $980 in Playa del Carmen. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Supermarket bills run roughly 21% higher in Bristol. For households that cook at home regularly, that difference adds up over a month.

Dining out is cheaper in Playa del Carmen – a meal for two runs $43 versus $114 in Bristol. If you eat out regularly, this makes a real dent in your monthly spending.

At $1,204 in Playa del Carmen versus $2,883 in Bristol, a $1,500 budget is realistic in Playa del Carmen but tight or insufficient in Bristol. The gap between the two cities makes Playa del Carmen the clear choice for anyone on this budget.

Both cities offer a good standard of living with different trade-offs. Neither is objectively better – the right pick depends on what matters most: affordability, career, cultural scene, or climate.

Expats usually find Playa del Carmen gentler on the wallet – expenses run 58% less than in Bristol. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.