Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Dartford and Playa del Carmen

For one person, living is cheaper in Playa del Carmen: $1,204 a month against $2,939 in Dartford, rent and utilities included – about $20,800 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

143

Cost of Living Index in Dartford
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Dartford Living Index
58

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

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Dartford

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

$2,939

/mo nomad

Playa del Carmen

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,204

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

A single person spends $2,939 per month in Dartford vs $1,204 in Playa del Carmen, rent included.

Dartford $2,939
Playa del Carmen $1,204

A couple spends around $4,203 per month in Dartford vs $2,082 in Playa del Carmen, rent included.

Dartford $4,203
Playa del Carmen $2,082

A family of three spends $5,467 per month in Dartford vs $2,959 in Playa del Carmen, rent included.

Dartford $5,467
Playa del Carmen $2,959

Dartford costs about 144% more than Playa del Carmen, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

Dartford sits 116% above the global median, while Playa del Carmen is 12% below – they fall on opposite sides of the world average.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$23.91 £17.83

$10.92 MX$205

118.96%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$107 £80.1

$43.37 MX$813

147.73%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$10.54 £7.86

$11.78 MX$221

-10.53%

Cappuccino

$4.82 £3.60

$3.81 MX$71.4

26.51%

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

$2.96 £2.21

$1.28 MX$24.03

131.25%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.75 £1.30

$0.78 MX$14.67

124.36%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$7.17 £5.35

$3.17 MX$59.3

126.18%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$6.81 £5.08

$4.93 MX$92.5

38.13%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.58 £1.18

$1.41 MX$26.35

12.06%

White Bread (500g)

$1.99 £1.49

$2.22 MX$41.54

-10.36%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$2.44 £1.82

$1.42 MX$26.56

71.83%

Eggs

$4.15 £3.09

$2.52 MX$47.27

64.68%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$8.64 £6.44

$7.26 MX$136

19.01%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$10.04 £7.48

$7.70 MX$144

30.39%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$16.28 £12.14

$12.69 MX$238

28.29%

Apples (1kg)

$3.05 £2.28

$2.78 MX$52.2

9.71%

Banana (1kg)

$1.48 £1.10

$1.37 MX$25.64

8.03%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.71 £2.02

$2.55 MX$47.80

6.27%

Tomato (1kg)

$3.35 £2.50

$2.12 MX$39.78

58.02%

Potato (1kg)

$1.46 £1.09

$1.94 MX$36.32

-24.74%

Onion (1kg)

$1.83 £1.36

$1.89 MX$35.34

-3.17%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.44 £1.07

$1.15 MX$21.49

25.22%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.98 £0.73

$1.18 MX$22.09

-16.95%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$23.28 £17.36

$4.30 MX$80.5

441.40%

Wine (Bottle)

$10.73 £8.00

$9.95 MX$186

7.84%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$2.28 £1.70

$1.58 MX$29.67

44.30%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.44 £1.82

$2.67 MX$50.1

-8.61%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$2.80 £2.08

$0.55 MX$10.37

409.09%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$26.62 MX$499

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$5.43 £4.05

$4.97 MX$93.1

9.26%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$3.39 £2.53

$3.33 MX$62.4

1.80%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$57.1 £42.56

$5.36 MX$100

965.11%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$2.00 £1.49

$1.44 MX$27.06

38.89%

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

$38.1K £28.4K

$20.7K MX$387.3K

84.53%

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

$40.8K £30.4K

$23.5K MX$439.7K

73.92%

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

$285 £212

$84.8 MX$1,589

235.91%

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

$16.52 £12.32

$23.41 MX$439

-29.43%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$39.69 £29.59

$28.66 MX$537

38.49%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$44.44 £33.14

$57.1 MX$1,069

-22.10%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$28.91 MX$542

Cinema Ticket

$19.41 £14.47

$5.14 MX$96.3

277.63%

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

$2,229 £1,662

$207 MX$3,871

979.11%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$29.8K £22.2K

$3,927 MX$73.6K

659.83%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$54.1 £40.30

$43.35 MX$812

24.68%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$24.07 £17.95

$41.44 MX$777

-41.92%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$90.1 £67.1

$74.2 MX$1,390

21.36%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$95.2 £71.0

$89.3 MX$1,672

6.66%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$2,235 £1,666

$980 MX$18.4K

128.15%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,711 £1,276

$381 MX$7,136

349.33%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$2,951 £2,200

$1,708 MX$32.0K

72.77%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$2,655 £1,980

$1,075 MX$20.1K

146.96%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$5,354 £3,991

$3,943 MX$73.9K

35.78%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$4,479 £3,339

$6,158 MX$115.4K

-27.26%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$4,472 £3,334

$735 MX$13.8K

508.88%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

4.79

11.45

-58.17%

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

Last update for Dartford: October 25, 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

Dartford

$1.7K 58.2%

Playa del Carmen

$381 31.6% 77.7% $1.3K

Eating Out

Dartford

$349 11.9%

Playa del Carmen

$202 16.8% 42% $147

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Dartford

$341 11.6%

Playa del Carmen

$137 11.4% 59.9% $204

Groceries & Markets

Dartford

$302 10.3%

Playa del Carmen

$255 21.2% 15.7% $47

Clothing & Footwear

Dartford

$119 4%

Playa del Carmen

$112 9.3% 5.7% $6.8

Sport & Entertainment

Dartford

$83 2.8%

Playa del Carmen

$67 5.6% 19.1% $16

Getting Around

Dartford

$34 * 1.1%

Playa del Carmen

$50 4.2% 50.3% $17

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

Cost Breakdown

A central one-bedroom costs $2,235 in Dartford versus $980 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 Dartford are about 6.1 times higher. Purchasing power depends on which expenses matter most to you.

A mid-range dinner for two costs $107 in Dartford versus $43 in Playa del Carmen. Monthly groceries follow the same trend: $302 vs $255 – making Playa del Carmen the more affordable choice for daily food spending.

Good to know

🇬🇧 Dartford

🇲🇽 Playa del Carmen

🕒 Local time

15:16 3:16 PM

10:16 10:16 AM

5 h behind Dartford

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

51,240

149,923

💱 Currency

British Pound GBP £

Mexican Peso MXN $

📈 Exchange rate

1 GBP = 1.34 USD

1 GBP = 1.2 EUR

100 MXN = 5.34 USD

100 MXN = 4.78 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 = 0.746 GBP (1 GBP = 1.34 USD). 1 EUR = 0.832 GBP (1 GBP = 1.2 EUR).

Mexican Peso exchange rates as of November 2, 2026: 1 USD = 18.74 MXN (100 MXN = 5.34 USD). 1 EUR = 20.91 MXN (100 MXN = 4.78 EUR).

USD to GBP in detail →

On the map

Lowest

Highest

Between locations

Dartford Playa del Carmen 8,050 km ≈ 11 h nonstop flight

From you

Dartford
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

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

Yes – Dartford is pricier by about 144%, and outside of rent the gap shows up most in eating out.

For a comfortable life, plan on about $4,408 per month in Dartford and $1,806 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 $980 there versus $2,235 in Dartford.

A mid-range dinner for two costs $107 in Dartford and $43 in Playa del Carmen. That’s a good indicator of the overall restaurant and café pricing gap between the two cities.

Groceries cost about 19% more in Dartford, though the gap depends on what you buy.

A $1,500 monthly budget goes further in Playa del Carmen, where all-in costs run around $1,204, than in Dartford at $2,939. In Playa del Carmen it covers expenses comfortably, while in Dartford 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, Dartford makes more sense. Both are solid long-term options with distinct trade-offs.