Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Kettering and Playa del Carmen

For one person, living is cheaper in Playa del Carmen: $1,210 a month against $1,921 in Kettering, rent and utilities included – about $8,500 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

94

Cost of Living Index in Kettering
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Kettering Living Index
59

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

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Kettering

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

$1,921

/mo nomad

Playa del Carmen

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,210

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,921 in Kettering versus $1,210 in Playa del Carmen.

Kettering $1,921
Playa del Carmen $1,210

Estimated couple costs with rent: $2,555 in Kettering versus $2,113 in Playa del Carmen.

Kettering $2,555
Playa del Carmen $2,113

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $3,189 in Kettering versus $3,016 in Playa del Carmen.

Kettering $3,189
Playa del Carmen $3,016

Living in Kettering is roughly 59% 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: Kettering is 42% above, Playa del Carmen is 10% below.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$19.80 £14.86

$10.76 MX$199

84.01%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$80.4 £60.3

$43.03 MX$795

86.80%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$10.75 £8.07

$11.79 MX$218

-8.82%

Cappuccino

$4.59 £3.44

$3.87 MX$71.4

18.60%

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

$2.10 £1.58

$1.37 MX$25.29

53.28%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.53 £1.15

$0.84 MX$15.44

82.14%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$5.75 £4.31

$3.10 MX$57.3

85.48%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$5.35 £4.01

$5.07 MX$93.6

5.52%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.44 £1.08

$1.44 MX$26.55

White Bread (500g)

$1.76 £1.32

$2.23 MX$41.23

-21.08%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$2.71 £2.03

$1.47 MX$27.17

84.35%

Eggs

$3.98 £2.99

$2.53 MX$46.71

57.31%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$9.01 £6.76

$7.30 MX$135

23.42%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$7.54 £5.66

$7.86 MX$145

-4.07%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$16.40 £12.30

$12.79 MX$236

28.23%

Apples (1kg)

$3.30 £2.48

$2.90 MX$53.6

13.79%

Banana (1kg)

$1.54 £1.15

$1.44 MX$26.53

6.94%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.67 £2.01

$2.55 MX$47.07

4.71%

Tomato (1kg)

$3.16 £2.37

$2.06 MX$38.03

53.40%

Potato (1kg)

$1.21 £0.91

$2.00 MX$36.97

-39.50%

Onion (1kg)

$1.71 £1.28

$2.01 MX$37.07

-14.93%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.21 £0.91

$1.19 MX$22.02

1.68%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.24 £0.93

$1.26 MX$23.23

-1.59%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$23.65 £17.74

$4.40 MX$81.4

437.50%

Wine (Bottle)

$9.70 £7.28

$9.59 MX$177

1.15%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$3.28 £2.46

$1.59 MX$29.41

106.29%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.39 £1.79

$2.81 MX$51.9

-14.95%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$2.59 £1.94

$0.57 MX$10.47

354.39%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$27.82 MX$514

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$4.09 £3.07

$4.98 MX$92.1

-17.87%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.59 £1.19

$3.50 MX$64.6

-54.57%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$31.82 £23.87

$5.40 MX$99.8

489.26%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$2.00 £1.50

$1.47 MX$27.08

36.05%

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

$37.6K £28.2K

$21.0K MX$387.8K

78.94%

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

$41.0K £30.7K

$23.9K MX$441.8K

71.40%

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

$200 £150

$84.2 MX$1,556

137.58%

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

$16.23 £12.17

$23.99 MX$443

-32.35%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$43.94 £32.96

$29.02 MX$536

51.41%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$39.72 £29.80

$63.0 MX$1,164

-36.93%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$29.14 MX$539

Cinema Ticket

$12.96 £9.73

$4.94 MX$91.3

162.35%

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

$1,503 £1,128

$204 MX$3,763

638.37%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$22.3K £16.7K

$3,941 MX$72.8K

465.57%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$86.4 £64.8

$43.60 MX$806

98.05%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$31.23 £23.43

$43.12 MX$797

-27.57%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$73.9 £55.4

$75.8 MX$1,400

-2.53%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$97.2 £72.9

$88.6 MX$1,637

9.69%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,053 £790

$1,008 MX$18.6K

4.46%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$851 £638

$374 MX$6,911

127.41%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,071 £804

$1,708 MX$31.6K

-37.30%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$758 £569

$1,106 MX$20.4K

-31.46%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$3,944 MX$72.9K

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$6,169 MX$114.0K

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$4,330 £3,248

$754 MX$13.9K

474.06%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

5.06

11.45

-55.81%

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

Last update for Kettering: October 11, 2026

Last update for Playa del Carmen: October 10, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Kettering

$851 44.3%

Playa del Carmen

$374 30.9% 56% $477

Eating Out

Kettering

$300 15.6%

Playa del Carmen

$202 16.7% 32.5% $97

Groceries & Markets

Kettering

$292 15.2%

Playa del Carmen

$258 21.4% 11.6% $34

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Kettering

$260 13.6%

Playa del Carmen

$137 11.3% 47.3% $123

Clothing & Footwear

Kettering

$130 6.8%

Playa del Carmen

$113 9.3% 13% $17

Sport & Entertainment

Kettering

$66 3.4%

Playa del Carmen

$73 6% 11% $7.2

Getting Around

Kettering

$22 * 1.2%

Playa del Carmen

$53 4.3% 135% $30

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

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $1,053 in Kettering and $1,008 in Playa del Carmen. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Kettering pays 474% more on average. The extra income cushions the higher costs, though housing choices and lifestyle decide how much of the gap is truly closed.

Dining out: $80.0 in Kettering vs $43.00 in Playa del Carmen for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $292 vs $258 per month, with Playa del Carmen cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇬🇧 Kettering

🇲🇽 Playa del Carmen

🕒 Local time

19:26 7:26 PM

13:26 1:26 PM

6 h behind Kettering

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

56,676

149,923

💱 Currency

British Pound GBP £

Mexican Peso MXN $

📈 Exchange rate

1 GBP = 1.33 USD

1 GBP = 1.19 EUR

100 MXN = 5.41 USD

100 MXN = 4.81 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 October 19, 2026: 1 USD = 0.75 GBP (1 GBP = 1.33 USD). 1 EUR = 0.843 GBP (1 GBP = 1.19 EUR).

Mexican Peso exchange rates as of October 19, 2026: 1 USD = 18.48 MXN (100 MXN = 5.41 USD). 1 EUR = 20.77 MXN (100 MXN = 4.81 EUR).

USD to GBP in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Kettering Playa del Carmen 7,960 km ≈ 10 h nonstop flight

From you

Kettering
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

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

Playa del Carmen is cheaper overall, especially in eating out, groceries, and clothing. The 59% gap adds up to real monthly savings that compound significantly over time.

Average pay runs 474% higher in Kettering, 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: $1,053 in Kettering versus $1,008 in Playa del Carmen. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Supermarket bills run roughly 13% higher in Kettering. For households that cook at home regularly, that difference adds up over a month.

All in, you'll spend $1,921 per month in Kettering versus $1,210 in Playa del Carmen – a 59% gap that adds up to real savings over time for anyone picking the cheaper option.

At $1,210 in Playa del Carmen versus $1,921 in Kettering, a $1,500 budget is realistic in Playa del Carmen but tight or insufficient in Kettering. The gap between the two cities makes Playa del Carmen the clear choice for anyone on this budget.

For families, Playa del Carmen is more practical. Housing and childcare are both notably cheaper than in Kettering, and the savings on those two alone free up budget for education, activities, and family trips.

Safety-wise, Kettering and Playa del Carmen are on par. Petty crime is typical for cities this size, and most residents feel comfortable going about their daily routines in either place.

Expats usually find Playa del Carmen gentler on the wallet – expenses run 59% less than in Kettering. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.