Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Castelldefels and Playa del Carmen

For one person, living is cheaper in Playa del Carmen: $1,204 a month against $1,903 in Castelldefels, rent and utilities included – about $8,400 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

91

Cost of Living Index in Castelldefels
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Castelldefels Living Index
58

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

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Castelldefels

🇪🇸 Spain

$1,903

/mo nomad

Playa del Carmen

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,204

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,903 in Castelldefels versus $1,204 in Playa del Carmen.

Castelldefels $1,903
Playa del Carmen $1,204

Estimated couple costs with rent: $2,753 in Castelldefels versus $2,082 in Playa del Carmen.

Castelldefels $2,753
Playa del Carmen $2,082

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $3,603 in Castelldefels versus $2,959 in Playa del Carmen.

Castelldefels $3,603
Playa del Carmen $2,959

Living in Castelldefels is roughly 58% 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: Castelldefels is 40% above, Playa del Carmen is 12% below.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$18.29 €16.38

$10.92 MX$205

67.49%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$66.4 €59.5

$43.37 MX$814

53.19%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$12.55 €11.24

$11.78 MX$221

6.54%

Cappuccino

$2.64 €2.36

$3.81 MX$71.5

-30.71%

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

$2.61 €2.34

$1.28 MX$24.07

103.91%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.93 €1.73

$0.78 MX$14.70

147.44%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.38 €3.03

$3.17 MX$59.5

6.62%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.52 €4.05

$4.93 MX$92.7

-8.32%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.22 €1.09

$1.41 MX$26.40

-13.48%

White Bread (500g)

$1.37 €1.23

$2.22 MX$41.62

-38.29%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.84 €1.65

$1.42 MX$26.61

29.58%

Eggs

$3.52 €3.15

$2.52 MX$47.36

39.68%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$11.03 €9.87

$7.26 MX$136

51.93%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$7.98 €7.14

$7.70 MX$144

3.64%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$15.57 €13.94

$12.69 MX$238

22.70%

Apples (1kg)

$2.59 €2.32

$2.78 MX$52.3

-6.83%

Banana (1kg)

$1.81 €1.62

$1.37 MX$25.68

32.12%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.83 €1.64

$2.55 MX$47.89

-28.24%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.58 €2.31

$2.12 MX$39.86

21.70%

Potato (1kg)

$1.69 €1.52

$1.94 MX$36.39

-12.89%

Onion (1kg)

$1.78 €1.60

$1.89 MX$35.41

-5.82%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.10 €0.98

$1.15 MX$21.53

-4.35%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.76 €0.68

$1.18 MX$22.13

-35.59%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$6.65 €5.95

$4.30 MX$80.6

54.65%

Wine (Bottle)

$5.72 €5.13

$9.95 MX$187

-42.51%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.30 €1.16

$1.58 MX$29.73

-17.72%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.70 €1.52

$2.67 MX$50.1

-36.33%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$1.75 €1.57

$0.55 MX$10.39

218.18%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$32.27 €28.90

$26.62 MX$500

21.22%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$3.00 €2.69

$4.97 MX$93.3

-39.64%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.51 €1.35

$3.33 MX$62.5

-54.65%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$23.69 €21.22

$5.36 MX$101

341.98%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.76 €1.57

$1.44 MX$27.11

22.22%

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

$33.3K €29.8K

$20.7K MX$388.0K

61.17%

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

$31.5K €28.2K

$23.5K MX$440.5K

34.13%

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

$182 €163

$84.8 MX$1,592

114.64%

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

$16.04 €14.37

$23.41 MX$439

-31.48%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$34.33 €30.75

$28.66 MX$538

19.78%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$45.47 €40.72

$57.1 MX$1,071

-20.30%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$15.49 €13.87

$28.91 MX$543

-46.42%

Cinema Ticket

$11.39 €10.20

$5.14 MX$96.5

121.60%

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

$606 €543

$207 MX$3,878

193.54%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$11.9K €10.7K

$3,927 MX$73.7K

203.88%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$88.0 €78.8

$43.35 MX$814

102.91%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$38.68 €34.64

$41.44 MX$778

-6.66%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$96.2 €86.2

$74.2 MX$1,393

29.64%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$118 €106

$89.3 MX$1,676

32.04%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,024 €917

$980 MX$18.4K

4.56%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$885 €793

$381 MX$7,150

132.47%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,825 €1,634

$1,708 MX$32.1K

6.83%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,293 €1,158

$1,075 MX$20.2K

20.30%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$3,331 €2,983

$3,943 MX$74.0K

-15.53%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$2,219 €1,987

$6,158 MX$115.6K

-63.96%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$4,358 €3,903

$735 MX$13.8K

493.30%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

3.28

11.45

-71.35%

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

Last update for Castelldefels: 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

Castelldefels

$885 46.5%

Playa del Carmen

$381 31.6% 57% $504

Eating Out

Castelldefels

$260 13.7%

Playa del Carmen

$202 16.8% 22.1% $57

Groceries & Markets

Castelldefels

$255 13.4%

Playa del Carmen

$255 21.2% 0.1% $0.2

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Castelldefels

$232 12.2%

Playa del Carmen

$137 11.4% 41.1% $96

Clothing & Footwear

Castelldefels

$153 8.1%

Playa del Carmen

$112 9.3% 27.1% $42

Sport & Entertainment

Castelldefels

$68 3.6%

Playa del Carmen

$67 5.6% 1.4% $0.9

Getting Around

Castelldefels

$50 2.6%

Playa del Carmen

$50 4.2% 1.2% $0.6

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $1,024 in Castelldefels and $980 in Playa del Carmen. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Castelldefels pays about 5.9 times more on average. How far that income stretches comes down to housing choices and lifestyle.

Dining out: $66 in Castelldefels vs $43 in Playa del Carmen. Groceries flip the comparison at $255 vs $255, with Castelldefels cheaper for home cooking.

Good to know

🇪🇸 Castelldefels

🇲🇽 Playa del Carmen

🕒 Local time

11:46 11:46 AM

05:46 5:46 AM

6 h behind Castelldefels

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

68,427

149,923

💱 Currency

Euro EUR €

Mexican Peso MXN $

📈 Exchange rate

1 EUR = 1.12 USD

100 MXN = 5.33 USD

100 MXN = 4.77 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

MXN, USD to EUR – Euro Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇪🇺 Euro (€)

Euro exchange rates as of November 1, 2026: 1 USD = 0.896 EUR (1 EUR = 1.12 USD).

Mexican Peso exchange rates as of November 1, 2026: 1 USD = 18.77 MXN (100 MXN = 5.33 USD). 1 EUR = 20.96 MXN (100 MXN = 4.77 EUR).

USD to EUR in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Castelldefels Playa del Carmen 8,440 km ≈ 11 h nonstop flight

From you

Castelldefels
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

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

Playa del Carmen is about 37% cheaper overall, especially in eating out and clothing. That difference adds up to real monthly savings that compound significantly over time.

Average pay in Castelldefels is about 5.9 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: $1,024 in Castelldefels versus $980 in Playa del Carmen. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

A monthly transit pass in Playa del Carmen runs roughly 18% less than in Castelldefels. The price difference matters if you commute daily and watch your budget.

All in, you’ll spend $1,903 per month in Castelldefels versus $1,204 in Playa del Carmen – Playa del Carmen is about 37% cheaper, which adds up to real savings over time.

At $1,204 in Playa del Carmen versus $1,903 in Castelldefels, a $1,500 budget is realistic in Playa del Carmen but tight or insufficient in Castelldefels. 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.

It comes down to priorities – Playa del Carmen wins on affordability, Castelldefels on earning potential. Factor in climate, language, visa rules, and proximity to places that matter to you before deciding.