Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Hamamatsu and Playa del Carmen

For one person, living is cheaper in Hamamatsu: $783 a month against $1,204 in Playa del Carmen, rent and utilities included – about $5,100 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

38

Cost of Living Index in Hamamatsu
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Hamamatsu Living Index
58

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

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Hamamatsu

🇯🇵 Japan

$783

/mo nomad

Playa del Carmen

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,204

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $783 in Hamamatsu versus $1,204 in Playa del Carmen.

Hamamatsu $783
Playa del Carmen $1,204

Estimated couple costs with rent: $1,266 in Hamamatsu versus $2,082 in Playa del Carmen.

Hamamatsu $1,266
Playa del Carmen $2,082

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $1,750 in Hamamatsu versus $2,959 in Playa del Carmen.

Hamamatsu $1,750
Playa del Carmen $2,959

Living in Hamamatsu costs roughly 35% less than in Playa del Carmen, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

Both cities sit below the global median: Hamamatsu 42% lower, Playa del Carmen 12% lower.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$3.90 ¥614

$10.92 MX$205

-64.29%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$41.78 ¥6,581

$43.37 MX$814

-3.67%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$5.19 ¥818

$11.78 MX$221

-55.94%

Cappuccino

$3.41 ¥538

$3.81 MX$71.5

-10.50%

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

$1.10 ¥173

$1.28 MX$24.07

-14.06%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.75 ¥118

$0.78 MX$14.70

-3.85%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$2.61 ¥411

$3.17 MX$59.5

-17.67%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.11 ¥489

$4.93 MX$92.7

-36.92%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.08 ¥170

$1.41 MX$26.40

-23.40%

White Bread (500g)

$1.70 ¥267

$2.22 MX$41.62

-23.42%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$3.67 ¥578

$1.42 MX$26.61

158.45%

Eggs

$1.68 ¥265

$2.52 MX$47.36

-33.33%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$10.25 ¥1,615

$7.26 MX$136

41.18%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$6.17 ¥971

$7.70 MX$144

-19.87%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$14.24 ¥2,242

$12.69 MX$238

12.21%

Apples (1kg)

$5.80 ¥914

$2.78 MX$52.3

108.63%

Banana (1kg)

$2.84 ¥447

$1.37 MX$25.68

107.30%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.95 ¥465

$2.55 MX$47.89

15.69%

Tomato (1kg)

$4.30 ¥678

$2.12 MX$39.86

102.83%

Potato (1kg)

$2.61 ¥412

$1.94 MX$36.39

34.54%

Onion (1kg)

$2.59 ¥407

$1.89 MX$35.41

37.04%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.29 ¥204

$1.15 MX$21.53

12.17%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.66 ¥104

$1.18 MX$22.13

-44.07%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$3.89 ¥612

$4.30 MX$80.6

-9.53%

Wine (Bottle)

$6.39 ¥1,006

$9.95 MX$187

-35.78%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.82 ¥287

$1.58 MX$29.73

15.19%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.10 ¥331

$2.67 MX$50.1

-21.35%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.55 MX$10.39

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$50.1 ¥7,896

$26.62 MX$500

88.32%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$3.11 ¥489

$4.97 MX$93.3

-37.42%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$2.63 ¥414

$3.33 MX$62.5

-21.02%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$20.62 ¥3,248

$5.36 MX$101

284.70%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.06 ¥167

$1.44 MX$27.11

-26.39%

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

$21.6K ¥3.4M

$20.7K MX$388.0K

4.51%

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

$15.8K ¥2.5M

$23.5K MX$440.5K

-32.54%

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

$130 ¥20.5K

$84.8 MX$1,592

53.82%

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

$8.59 ¥1,353

$23.41 MX$439

-63.31%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$32.78 ¥5,164

$28.66 MX$538

14.38%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$57.1 MX$1,071

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$17.40 ¥2,741

$28.91 MX$543

-39.81%

Cinema Ticket

$13.08 ¥2,060

$5.14 MX$96.5

154.47%

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

$819 ¥129.0K

$207 MX$3,878

296.62%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$14.8K ¥2.3M

$3,927 MX$73.7K

277.81%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$63.6 ¥10.0K

$43.35 MX$814

46.78%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$37.10 ¥5,844

$41.44 MX$778

-10.47%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$61.3 ¥9,655

$74.2 MX$1,393

-17.40%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$103 ¥16.2K

$89.3 MX$1,676

15.57%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$980 MX$18.4K

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$381 MX$7,150

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,708 MX$32.1K

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,075 MX$20.2K

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$7,787 ¥1.2M

$3,943 MX$74.0K

97.50%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$5,298 ¥834.5K

$6,158 MX$115.6K

-13.96%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$1,602 ¥252.4K

$735 MX$13.8K

118.17%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

2.64

11.45

-76.94%

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

Last update for Hamamatsu: October 24, 2026

Last update for Playa del Carmen: October 25, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Groceries & Markets

Hamamatsu

$285 36.4%

Playa del Carmen

$255 21.2% 10.6% $30

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Hamamatsu

$172 21.9%

Playa del Carmen

$137 11.4% 20.3% $35

Clothing & Footwear

Hamamatsu

$119 15.2%

Playa del Carmen

$112 9.3% 6.4% $7.6

Eating Out

Hamamatsu

$114 14.6%

Playa del Carmen

$202 16.8% 76.9% $88

Getting Around

Hamamatsu

$66 * 8.5%

Playa del Carmen

$50 4.2% 24% $16

Sport & Entertainment

Hamamatsu

$26 * 3.3%

Playa del Carmen

$67 5.6% 157% $41

Accommodation & Living

Hamamatsu

- * 0%

Playa del Carmen

$381 31.6%

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

Cost Breakdown

Hamamatsu pays about 2.2 times more on average while also being the cheaper of the two. The combined effect is a noticeably stronger local purchasing power.

Dining out: $42 in Hamamatsu vs $43 in Playa del Carmen. Groceries flip the comparison at $285 vs $255, with Playa del Carmen cheaper for home cooking.

Good to know

🇯🇵 Hamamatsu

🇲🇽 Playa del Carmen

🕒 Local time

08:16 8:16 AM

18:16 6:16 PM

14 h behind Hamamatsu

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

797,033

149,923

💱 Currency

Japanese Yen JPY ¥

Mexican Peso MXN $

📈 Exchange rate

1,000 JPY = 6.35 USD

1,000 JPY = 5.69 EUR

100 MXN = 5.33 USD

100 MXN = 4.77 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

MXN, USD, EUR to JPY – Japanese Yen Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇯🇵 Japanese Yen (¥)

Japanese Yen exchange rates as of November 1, 2026: 1 USD = 158 JPY (1,000 JPY = 6.35 USD). 1 EUR = 176 JPY (1,000 JPY = 5.69 EUR).

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 JPY in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Hamamatsu Playa del Carmen 12,250 km ≈ 16 h nonstop flight

From you

Hamamatsu
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

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

Total monthly costs including rent come to $783 in Hamamatsu and $1,204 in Playa del Carmen, so Hamamatsu is about 35% cheaper – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

Average pay in Hamamatsu is about 2.2 times higher, which matters when comparing affordability. Whether that higher income actually nets you more depends on your spending habits and housing choices.

Childcare runs $819 in Hamamatsu versus $207 in Playa del Carmen. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

A monthly transit pass in Playa del Carmen runs roughly 47% less than in Hamamatsu. The price difference matters if you commute daily and watch your budget.

At $783 in Hamamatsu versus $1,204 in Playa del Carmen, a $1,200 budget is realistic in Hamamatsu but tight or insufficient in Playa del Carmen. The gap between the two cities makes Hamamatsu the clear choice for anyone on this budget.

Both work as nomad bases, but Hamamatsu delivers better value at $783 monthly. If stretching your runway or maximizing savings is the goal, the price difference makes Hamamatsu hard to pass up.