Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Linz and Playa del Carmen

For one person, living is cheaper in Playa del Carmen: $1,204 a month against $2,088 in Linz, rent and utilities included – about $10,600 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

100

Cost of Living Index in Linz
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Linz Living Index
58

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

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Linz

🇦🇹 Austria

$2,088

/mo nomad

Playa del Carmen

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,204

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $2,088 in Linz versus $1,204 in Playa del Carmen.

Linz $2,088
Playa del Carmen $1,204

Estimated couple costs with rent: $3,246 in Linz versus $2,082 in Playa del Carmen.

Linz $3,246
Playa del Carmen $2,082

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $4,403 in Linz versus $2,959 in Playa del Carmen.

Linz $4,403
Playa del Carmen $2,959

Living in Linz is roughly 73% more expensive than in Playa del Carmen, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in groceries.

The two cities straddle the global median: Linz is 53% above, Playa del Carmen is 12% below.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$16.74 €15.00

$10.92 MX$205

53.30%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$78.0 €69.9

$43.37 MX$815

79.87%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$12.87 €11.53

$11.78 MX$221

9.25%

Cappuccino

$4.51 €4.04

$3.81 MX$71.6

18.37%

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

$3.88 €3.48

$1.28 MX$24.10

203.12%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.79 €2.50

$0.78 MX$14.71

257.69%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$6.10 €5.47

$3.17 MX$59.5

92.43%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$5.73 €5.13

$4.93 MX$92.7

16.23%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.47 €1.32

$1.41 MX$26.43

4.26%

White Bread (500g)

$2.71 €2.43

$2.22 MX$41.66

22.07%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.74 €1.56

$1.42 MX$26.64

22.54%

Eggs

$4.67 €4.18

$2.52 MX$47.41

85.32%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$19.38 €17.37

$7.26 MX$137

166.94%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$14.35 €12.86

$7.70 MX$145

86.36%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$21.07 €18.88

$12.69 MX$239

66.04%

Apples (1kg)

$2.70 €2.42

$2.78 MX$52.3

-2.88%

Banana (1kg)

$2.27 €2.04

$1.37 MX$25.71

65.69%

Oranges (1kg)

$3.25 €2.91

$2.55 MX$47.94

27.45%

Tomato (1kg)

$5.53 €4.96

$2.12 MX$39.90

160.85%

Potato (1kg)

$2.34 €2.10

$1.94 MX$36.43

20.62%

Onion (1kg)

$2.26 €2.03

$1.89 MX$35.44

19.58%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.99 €1.78

$1.15 MX$21.55

73.04%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.98 €0.88

$1.18 MX$22.16

-16.95%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$6.96 €6.24

$4.30 MX$80.7

61.86%

Wine (Bottle)

$6.49 €5.82

$9.95 MX$187

-34.77%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.63 €1.46

$1.58 MX$29.76

3.16%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.71 €1.53

$2.67 MX$50.2

-35.96%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$3.32 €2.98

$0.55 MX$10.40

503.64%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$65.0 €58.2

$26.62 MX$500

144.10%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$7.17 €6.42

$4.97 MX$93.4

44.27%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.09 €0.97

$3.33 MX$62.6

-67.27%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$27.63 €24.76

$5.36 MX$101

415.49%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.86 €1.66

$1.44 MX$27.14

29.17%

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

$29.7K €26.6K

$20.7K MX$388.4K

43.61%

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

$34.2K €30.6K

$23.5K MX$441.0K

45.60%

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

$288 €258

$84.8 MX$1,594

239.98%

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

$15.08 €13.51

$23.41 MX$440

-35.58%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$40.57 €36.36

$28.66 MX$539

41.56%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$44.43 €39.81

$57.1 MX$1,072

-22.12%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$22.43 €20.10

$28.91 MX$543

-22.41%

Cinema Ticket

$13.34 €11.96

$5.14 MX$96.6

159.53%

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

$449 €402

$207 MX$3,882

117.34%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$13.9K €12.4K

$3,927 MX$73.8K

253.45%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$98.6 €88.4

$43.35 MX$815

127.54%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$39.29 €35.21

$41.44 MX$779

-5.19%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$130 €116

$74.2 MX$1,394

74.87%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$125 €112

$89.3 MX$1,677

39.71%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$804 €720

$980 MX$18.4K

-17.93%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$726 €651

$381 MX$7,157

90.76%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,559 €1,397

$1,708 MX$32.1K

-8.70%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,408 €1,262

$1,075 MX$20.2K

30.95%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$5,606 €5,023

$3,943 MX$74.1K

42.17%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$3,692 €3,308

$6,158 MX$115.7K

-40.04%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$2,861 €2,564

$735 MX$13.8K

289.57%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

3.66

11.45

-68.03%

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

Last update for Linz: 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

Linz

$726 34.8%

Playa del Carmen

$381 31.6% 47.6% $346

Groceries & Markets

Linz

$384 18.4%

Playa del Carmen

$255 21.2% 33.7% $129

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Linz

$344 16.5%

Playa del Carmen

$137 11.4% 60.2% $207

Eating Out

Linz

$295 14.1%

Playa del Carmen

$202 16.8% 31.5% $93

Clothing & Footwear

Linz

$177 8.5%

Playa del Carmen

$112 9.3% 36.7% $65

Getting Around

Linz

$91 4.4%

Playa del Carmen

$50 4.2% 44.5% $40

Sport & Entertainment

Linz

$71 3.4%

Playa del Carmen

$67 5.6% 5.3% $3.8

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $804 in Linz and $980 in Playa del Carmen. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Linz pays about 3.9 times more on average. How far that income stretches comes down to housing choices and lifestyle.

Dining out: $78 in Linz vs $43 in Playa del Carmen for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $384 vs $255 per month, with Playa del Carmen cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇦🇹 Linz

🇲🇽 Playa del Carmen

🕒 Local time

09:12 9:12 AM

03:12 3:12 AM

6 h behind Linz

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

207,812

149,923

💱 Currency

Euro EUR €

Mexican Peso MXN $

📈 Exchange rate

1 EUR = 1.12 USD

100 MXN = 5.32 USD

100 MXN = 4.77 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

MXN, USD to EUR – Euro Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇪🇺 Euro (€)

Euro exchange rates as of November 2, 2026: 1 USD = 0.896 EUR (1 EUR = 1.12 USD).

Mexican Peso exchange rates as of November 2, 2026: 1 USD = 18.79 MXN (100 MXN = 5.32 USD). 1 EUR = 20.97 MXN (100 MXN = 4.77 EUR).

USD to EUR in detail →

On the map

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Highest

Between locations

Linz Playa del Carmen 9,110 km ≈ 12 h nonstop flight

From you

Linz
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

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

Playa del Carmen is about 42% cheaper overall, especially in groceries, eating out, and clothing. That difference adds up to real monthly savings that compound significantly over time.

Average pay in Linz is about 3.9 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: $804 in Linz versus $980 in Playa del Carmen. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

All in, you’ll spend $2,088 per month in Linz versus $1,204 in Playa del Carmen – Playa del Carmen is about 42% cheaper, which adds up to real savings over time.

A monthly transit pass in Playa del Carmen runs roughly 59% less than in Linz. The price difference matters if you commute daily and watch your budget.

At $1,204 in Playa del Carmen versus $2,088 in Linz, a $1,500 budget is realistic in Playa del Carmen but tight or insufficient in Linz. The gap between the two cities makes Playa del Carmen the clear choice for anyone on this budget.

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