Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Kawagoe and Playa del Carmen

For one person, living is cheaper in Kawagoe: $1,075 a month against $1,204 in Playa del Carmen, rent and utilities included – about $1,500 less a year. Rent and utilities account for about half of the difference.

52

Cost of Living Index in Kawagoe
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Kawagoe Living Index
58

Cost of Living Index in Playa del Carmen
Learn more

Playa del Carmen Living Index

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Kawagoe

🇯🇵 Japan

$1,075

/mo nomad

Playa del Carmen

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,204

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,075 in Kawagoe versus $1,204 in Playa del Carmen.

Kawagoe $1,075
Playa del Carmen $1,204

Estimated couple costs with rent: $1,744 in Kawagoe versus $2,082 in Playa del Carmen.

Kawagoe $1,744
Playa del Carmen $2,082

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $2,413 in Kawagoe versus $2,959 in Playa del Carmen.

Kawagoe $2,413
Playa del Carmen $2,959

Living in Kawagoe costs roughly 11% less than in Playa del Carmen, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

Both cities sit below the global median: Kawagoe 21% lower, Playa del Carmen 12% lower.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$6.33 ¥1,000

$10.92 MX$205

-42.03%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$41.23 ¥6,511

$43.37 MX$813

-4.93%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$4.95 ¥782

$11.78 MX$221

-57.98%

Cappuccino

$3.50 ¥552

$3.81 MX$71.4

-8.14%

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

$0.92 ¥145

$1.28 MX$24.03

-28.13%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.52 ¥82.7

$0.78 MX$14.67

-33.33%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$1.91 ¥301

$3.17 MX$59.3

-39.75%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.74 ¥432

$4.93 MX$92.5

-44.42%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.15 ¥182

$1.41 MX$26.35

-18.44%

White Bread (500g)

$1.28 ¥203

$2.22 MX$41.54

-42.34%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$3.67 ¥579

$1.42 MX$26.56

158.45%

Eggs

$2.08 ¥328

$2.52 MX$47.27

-17.46%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$6.34 ¥1,002

$7.26 MX$136

-12.67%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$5.90 ¥932

$7.70 MX$144

-23.38%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$14.16 ¥2,237

$12.69 MX$238

11.58%

Apples (1kg)

$5.82 ¥919

$2.78 MX$52.2

109.35%

Banana (1kg)

$2.34 ¥369

$1.37 MX$25.64

70.80%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.88 ¥455

$2.55 MX$47.80

12.94%

Tomato (1kg)

$3.12 ¥492

$2.12 MX$39.78

47.17%

Potato (1kg)

$2.54 ¥401

$1.94 MX$36.32

30.93%

Onion (1kg)

$1.85 ¥292

$1.89 MX$35.34

-2.12%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.27 ¥201

$1.15 MX$21.49

10.43%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.76 ¥120

$1.18 MX$22.09

-35.59%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$3.83 ¥605

$4.30 MX$80.5

-10.93%

Wine (Bottle)

$4.65 ¥734

$9.95 MX$186

-53.27%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.81 ¥286

$1.58 MX$29.67

14.56%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.03 ¥321

$2.67 MX$50.1

-23.97%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$2.97 ¥469

$0.55 MX$10.37

440.00%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$52.8 ¥8,343

$26.62 MX$499

98.46%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$3.11 ¥491

$4.97 MX$93.1

-37.42%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$2.63 ¥415

$3.33 MX$62.4

-21.02%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$20.31 ¥3,207

$5.36 MX$100

278.92%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.06 ¥168

$1.44 MX$27.06

-26.39%

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

$15.6K ¥2.5M

$20.7K MX$387.3K

-24.43%

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

$12.8K ¥2.0M

$23.5K MX$439.7K

-45.29%

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

$133 ¥21.0K

$84.8 MX$1,589

56.79%

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

$22.18 ¥3,502

$23.41 MX$439

-5.25%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$31.10 ¥4,912

$28.66 MX$537

8.51%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$43.19 ¥6,821

$57.1 MX$1,069

-24.29%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$30.97 ¥4,891

$28.91 MX$542

7.13%

Cinema Ticket

$10.95 ¥1,730

$5.14 MX$96.3

113.04%

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

$320 ¥50.6K

$207 MX$3,871

55.15%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$6,292 ¥993.6K

$3,927 MX$73.6K

60.20%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$31.66 ¥5,000

$43.35 MX$812

-26.97%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$33.72 ¥5,326

$41.44 MX$777

-18.63%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$43.55 ¥6,879

$74.2 MX$1,390

-41.31%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$93.2 ¥14.7K

$89.3 MX$1,672

4.45%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$407 ¥64.3K

$980 MX$18.4K

-58.45%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$267 ¥42.1K

$381 MX$7,136

-29.96%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$862 ¥136.2K

$1,708 MX$32.0K

-49.52%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$605 ¥95.5K

$1,075 MX$20.1K

-43.74%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$2,474 ¥390.7K

$3,943 MX$73.9K

-37.25%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$1,772 ¥279.8K

$6,158 MX$115.4K

-71.23%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$1,597 ¥252.2K

$735 MX$13.8K

117.38%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

1.6

11.45

-86.03%

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

Last update for Kawagoe: 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

Kawagoe

$267 24.8%

Playa del Carmen

$381 31.6% 42.8% $114

Groceries & Markets

Kawagoe

$257 23.9%

Playa del Carmen

$255 21.2% 0.7% $1.7

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Kawagoe

$186 17.3%

Playa del Carmen

$137 11.4% 26.5% $49

Eating Out

Kawagoe

$128 11.9%

Playa del Carmen

$202 16.8% 57.8% $74

Clothing & Footwear

Kawagoe

$91 8.5%

Playa del Carmen

$112 9.3% 22.8% $21

Getting Around

Kawagoe

$81 7.5%

Playa del Carmen

$50 4.2% 37.7% $31

Sport & Entertainment

Kawagoe

$65 6.1%

Playa del Carmen

$67 5.6% 3.4% $2.2

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $407 in Kawagoe and $980 in Playa del Carmen. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Kawagoe 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: $41 in Kawagoe vs $43 in Playa del Carmen. Groceries flip the comparison at $257 vs $255, with Playa del Carmen cheaper for home cooking.

Good to know

🇯🇵 Kawagoe

🇲🇽 Playa del Carmen

🕒 Local time

02:35 2:35 AM

12:35 12:35 PM

14 h behind Kawagoe

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

350,745

149,923

💱 Currency

Japanese Yen JPY ¥

Mexican Peso MXN $

📈 Exchange rate

1,000 JPY = 6.33 USD

1,000 JPY = 5.67 EUR

100 MXN = 5.34 USD

100 MXN = 4.78 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 2, 2026: 1 USD = 158 JPY (1,000 JPY = 6.33 USD). 1 EUR = 176 JPY (1,000 JPY = 5.67 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 JPY in detail →

On the map

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Kawagoe Playa del Carmen 12,040 km ≈ 16 h nonstop flight

From you

Kawagoe
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

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

Total monthly costs including rent come to $1,075 in Kawagoe and $1,204 in Playa del Carmen, so Kawagoe is about 11% cheaper – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

Average pay in Kawagoe 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.

Rent for a central apartment: $407 in Kawagoe versus $980 in Playa del Carmen. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $320 in Kawagoe versus $207 in Playa del Carmen. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Dining out is cheaper in Kawagoe – a meal for two runs $41 versus $43 in Playa del Carmen. If you eat out regularly, this makes a real dent in your monthly spending.

Either city works on $2,000 a month, though Kawagoe gives you more room to save. At this income level, the choice is more about lifestyle than financial pressure.

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.