Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Lazaro Cardenas and Playa del Carmen

For one person, living is cheaper in Lazaro Cardenas: $1,141 a month against $1,204 in Playa del Carmen, rent and utilities included – about $760 less a year. Other living expenses account for most of the difference.

55

Cost of Living Index in Lazaro Cardenas
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Lazaro Cardenas Living Index
59

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

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Lazaro Cardenas

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,141

/mo nomad

Playa del Carmen

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,204

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,141 in Lazaro Cardenas versus $1,204 in Playa del Carmen.

Lazaro Cardenas $1,141
Playa del Carmen $1,204

Estimated couple costs with rent: $1,839 in Lazaro Cardenas versus $2,102 in Playa del Carmen.

Lazaro Cardenas $1,839
Playa del Carmen $2,102

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $2,537 in Lazaro Cardenas versus $3,000 in Playa del Carmen.

Lazaro Cardenas $2,537
Playa del Carmen $3,000

Living in Lazaro Cardenas costs roughly 5% less than in Playa del Carmen, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in transport.

Both cities sit below the global median: Lazaro Cardenas 16% lower, Playa del Carmen 11% lower.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$10.83 MX$203

$10.86 MX$203

-0.28%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$43.66 MX$817

$44.21 MX$827

-1.24%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$8.70 MX$163

$11.76 MX$220

-26.02%

Cappuccino

$3.61 MX$67.6

$3.68 MX$68.9

-1.90%

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

$1.42 MX$26.59

$1.34 MX$25.11

5.97%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.03 MX$19.24

$0.82 MX$15.44

25.61%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$2.51 MX$46.92

$3.06 MX$57.3

-17.97%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.99 MX$74.7

$4.94 MX$92.4

-19.23%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.66 MX$31.06

$1.47 MX$27.52

12.93%

White Bread (500g)

$2.53 MX$47.41

$2.22 MX$41.47

13.96%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.67 MX$31.19

$1.48 MX$27.67

12.84%

Eggs

$2.43 MX$45.51

$2.49 MX$46.59

-2.41%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$8.19 MX$153

$7.52 MX$141

8.91%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$8.49 MX$159

$7.96 MX$149

6.66%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$11.33 MX$212

$12.57 MX$235

-9.86%

Apples (1kg)

$2.67 MX$49.98

$2.78 MX$52.0

-3.96%

Banana (1kg)

$1.59 MX$29.74

$1.43 MX$26.71

11.19%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.90 MX$35.65

$2.62 MX$48.99

-27.48%

Tomato (1kg)

$1.83 MX$34.27

$2.14 MX$39.99

-14.49%

Potato (1kg)

$1.93 MX$36.05

$2.02 MX$37.86

-4.46%

Onion (1kg)

$1.80 MX$33.61

$1.99 MX$37.21

-9.55%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.48 MX$27.75

$1.14 MX$21.28

29.82%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.08 MX$20.23

$1.20 MX$22.46

-10.00%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$4.32 MX$80.8

$4.26 MX$79.7

1.41%

Wine (Bottle)

$10.32 MX$193

$10.02 MX$187

2.99%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.76 MX$32.88

$1.54 MX$28.77

14.29%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.20 MX$59.8

$2.66 MX$49.80

20.30%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.69 MX$12.92

$0.53 MX$9.85

30.19%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$27.51 MX$515

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$2.53 MX$47.26

$4.90 MX$91.8

-48.37%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.92 MX$35.92

$3.43 MX$64.3

-44.02%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$11.01 MX$206

$5.38 MX$101

104.65%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.48 MX$27.62

$1.45 MX$27.10

2.07%

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

$21.1K MX$395.7K

$21.2K MX$396.0K

-0.08%

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

$23.8K MX$445.7K

$23.0K MX$430.8K

3.45%

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

$58.7 MX$1,099

$85.4 MX$1,598

-31.21%

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

$22.31 MX$417

$23.46 MX$439

-4.90%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$29.94 MX$560

$28.43 MX$532

5.31%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$34.30 MX$642

$62.2 MX$1,164

-44.85%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$20.49 MX$384

$28.68 MX$537

-28.56%

Cinema Ticket

$5.11 MX$95.7

$5.10 MX$95.5

0.20%

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

$221 MX$4,141

$201 MX$3,763

10.03%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$4,553 MX$85.2K

$3,947 MX$73.9K

15.34%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$55.3 MX$1,035

$44.39 MX$831

24.56%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$39.96 MX$748

$41.35 MX$774

-3.36%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$99.7 MX$1,867

$72.7 MX$1,362

37.12%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$90.1 MX$1,687

$89.6 MX$1,677

0.56%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$602 MX$11.3K

$979 MX$18.3K

-38.56%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$393 MX$7,352

$373 MX$6,976

5.38%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,055 MX$19.8K

$1,681 MX$31.5K

-37.22%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$780 MX$14.6K

$1,095 MX$20.5K

-28.76%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$1,921 MX$36.0K

$3,949 MX$73.9K

-51.36%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$1,169 MX$21.9K

$6,137 MX$114.9K

-80.95%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$552 MX$10.3K

$738 MX$13.8K

-25.17%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

11.3

11.45

-1.31%

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

Last update for Lazaro Cardenas: October 19, 2026

Last update for Playa del Carmen: October 17, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Lazaro Cardenas

$393 34.4%

Playa del Carmen

$373 31% 5.1% $20

Groceries & Markets

Lazaro Cardenas

$263 23.1%

Playa del Carmen

$258 21.5% 1.8% $4.7

Eating Out

Lazaro Cardenas

$186 16.3%

Playa del Carmen

$200 16.6% 7.4% $14

Clothing & Footwear

Lazaro Cardenas

$128 11.3%

Playa del Carmen

$112 9.3% 13% $17

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Lazaro Cardenas

$111 9.7%

Playa del Carmen

$137 11.4% 23.7% $26

Sport & Entertainment

Lazaro Cardenas

$45 3.9%

Playa del Carmen

$72 6% 62.6% $28

Getting Around

Lazaro Cardenas

$15 * 1.3%

Playa del Carmen

$52 4.3% 247% $37

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 $602 in Lazaro Cardenas and $979 in Playa del Carmen. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Playa del Carmen pays 34% more on average. How far that income stretches comes down to housing choices and lifestyle.

Dining out: $44 in Lazaro Cardenas vs $44 in Playa del Carmen. Groceries flip the comparison at $263 vs $258, with Playa del Carmen cheaper for home cooking.

Good to know

🇲🇽 Lazaro Cardenas

🇲🇽 Playa del Carmen

🕒 Local time

02:18 2:18 AM

03:18 3:18 AM

1 h ahead of Lazaro Cardenas

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

83,637

149,923

💱 Currency

Mexican Peso MXN $

📈 Exchange rate

100 MXN = 5.34 USD

100 MXN = 4.76 EUR

100 MXN = 5.34 USD

100 MXN = 4.76 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

On the map

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Between locations

Lazaro Cardenas Playa del Carmen 1,610 km ≈ 2 h 30 min nonstop flight

From you

Lazaro Cardenas
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

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

Lazaro Cardenas wins on cost – living expenses run 5% lower than in Playa del Carmen. Housing and daily spending are where you’ll feel the difference most, making Lazaro Cardenas the obvious pick if budget is a priority.

On paper, salaries run 25% lower in Lazaro Cardenas. That’s worth factoring in alongside costs, though remote workers earning in a stronger currency may not notice the difference at all.

Rent for a central apartment: $602 in Lazaro Cardenas versus $979 in Playa del Carmen. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $221 in Lazaro Cardenas versus $201 in Playa del Carmen. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

All in, you’ll spend $1,141 per month in Lazaro Cardenas versus $1,204 in Playa del Carmen – a 6% gap that adds up to real savings over time for anyone picking the cheaper option.

Both cities are expensive relative to $1,000. Lazaro Cardenas is the more realistic option, but even there you’ll need to be disciplined with housing, food, and fun money.

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 – Lazaro Cardenas wins on affordability, Playa del Carmen on earning potential. Factor in climate, language, visa rules, and proximity to places that matter to you before deciding.