Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Madinat As Sultan Qaboos and Playa del Carmen

For one person, living is cheaper in Madinat As Sultan Qaboos: $953 a month against $1,210 in Playa del Carmen, rent and utilities included – about $3,100 less a year. Higher rent and utilities in Playa del Carmen outweigh lower spending on other living expenses.

46

Cost of Living Index in Madinat As Sultan Qaboos
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Madinat As Sultan Qaboos Living Index
59

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

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Madinat As Sultan Qaboos

🇴🇲 Oman

$953

/mo nomad

Playa del Carmen

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,210

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $953 in Madinat As Sultan Qaboos versus $1,210 in Playa del Carmen.

Madinat As Sultan Qaboos $953
Playa del Carmen $1,210

Estimated couple costs with rent: $1,433 in Madinat As Sultan Qaboos versus $2,113 in Playa del Carmen.

Madinat As Sultan Qaboos $1,433
Playa del Carmen $2,113

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $1,914 in Madinat As Sultan Qaboos versus $3,016 in Playa del Carmen.

Madinat As Sultan Qaboos $1,914
Playa del Carmen $3,016

Living in Madinat As Sultan Qaboos costs roughly 21% less than in Playa del Carmen, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in leisure.

Both cities sit below the global median: Madinat As Sultan Qaboos 29% lower, Playa del Carmen 10% lower.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$5.29 OMR 2.04

$10.76 MX$199

-50.84%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$39.70 OMR 15.29

$43.03 MX$795

-7.74%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$7.76 OMR 2.99

$11.79 MX$218

-34.18%

Cappuccino

$4.94 OMR 1.90

$3.87 MX$71.4

27.65%

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

$0.84 OMR 0.32

$1.37 MX$25.29

-38.69%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.29 OMR 0.11

$0.84 MX$15.44

-65.48%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$12.92 OMR 4.97

$3.10 MX$57.3

316.77%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$12.93 OMR 4.98

$5.07 MX$93.6

155.03%

Milk (1 liter)

$2.31 OMR 0.89

$1.44 MX$26.55

60.42%

White Bread (500g)

$1.20 OMR 0.46

$2.23 MX$41.23

-46.19%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.82 OMR 0.70

$1.47 MX$27.17

23.81%

Eggs

$3.03 OMR 1.17

$2.53 MX$46.71

19.76%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$7.11 OMR 2.74

$7.30 MX$135

-2.60%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$7.00 OMR 2.70

$7.86 MX$145

-10.94%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$10.58 OMR 4.07

$12.79 MX$236

-17.28%

Apples (1kg)

$3.59 OMR 1.38

$2.90 MX$53.6

23.79%

Banana (1kg)

$2.03 OMR 0.78

$1.44 MX$26.53

40.97%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.34 OMR 0.90

$2.55 MX$47.07

-8.24%

Tomato (1kg)

$1.31 OMR 0.50

$2.06 MX$38.03

-36.41%

Potato (1kg)

$1.16 OMR 0.45

$2.00 MX$36.97

-42.00%

Onion (1kg)

$1.28 OMR 0.49

$2.01 MX$37.07

-36.32%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.85 OMR 0.71

$1.19 MX$22.02

55.46%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.71 OMR 0.27

$1.26 MX$23.23

-43.65%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$6.65 OMR 2.56

$4.40 MX$81.4

51.14%

Wine (Bottle)

$15.76 OMR 6.07

$9.59 MX$177

64.34%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$6.08 OMR 2.34

$1.59 MX$29.41

282.39%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$10.22 OMR 3.93

$2.81 MX$51.9

263.70%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.57 MX$10.47

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$27.82 MX$514

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$3.32 OMR 1.28

$4.98 MX$92.1

-33.33%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$2.56 OMR 0.98

$3.50 MX$64.6

-26.86%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$7.74 OMR 2.98

$5.40 MX$99.8

43.33%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$0.64 OMR 0.25

$1.47 MX$27.08

-56.46%

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

$25.3K OMR 9,736

$21.0K MX$387.8K

20.50%

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

$22.3K OMR 8,570

$23.9K MX$441.8K

-6.89%

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

$176 OMR 67.9

$84.2 MX$1,556

109.36%

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

$31.16 OMR 12.00

$23.99 MX$443

29.89%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$71.5 OMR 27.51

$29.02 MX$536

146.28%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$63.0 MX$1,164

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$29.14 MX$539

Cinema Ticket

$10.43 OMR 4.01

$4.94 MX$91.3

111.13%

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

$292 OMR 112

$204 MX$3,763

43.50%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$10.5K OMR 4,033

$3,941 MX$72.8K

165.78%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$55.4 OMR 21.33

$43.60 MX$806

27.06%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$43.86 OMR 16.89

$43.12 MX$797

1.72%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$88.6 OMR 34.12

$75.8 MX$1,400

16.97%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$88.4 OMR 34.02

$88.6 MX$1,637

-0.25%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,008 MX$18.6K

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$374 MX$6,911

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,708 MX$31.6K

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,106 MX$20.4K

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)

$754 MX$13.9K

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

5.25

11.45

-54.15%

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

Last update for Madinat As Sultan Qaboos: October 13, 2026

Last update for Playa del Carmen: October 10, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Groceries & Markets

Madinat As Sultan Qaboos

$293 30.7%

Playa del Carmen

$258 21.4% 11.8% $35

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Madinat As Sultan Qaboos

$279 29.3%

Playa del Carmen

$137 11.3% 50.8% $142

Eating Out

Madinat As Sultan Qaboos

$220 23.1%

Playa del Carmen

$202 16.7% 8% $18

Clothing & Footwear

Madinat As Sultan Qaboos

$124 13%

Playa del Carmen

$113 9.3% 9.1% $11

Sport & Entertainment

Madinat As Sultan Qaboos

$21 * 2.2%

Playa del Carmen

$73 6% 250% $52

Getting Around

Madinat As Sultan Qaboos

$16 * 1.7%

Playa del Carmen

$53 4.3% 226% $36

Accommodation & Living

Madinat As Sultan Qaboos

- * 0%

Playa del Carmen

$374 30.9%

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

Cost Breakdown

Dining out: $40.00 in Madinat As Sultan Qaboos vs $43.00 in Playa del Carmen. Groceries flip the comparison at $293 vs $258, with Playa del Carmen cheaper for home cooking.

Good to know

🇴🇲 Madinat As Sultan Qaboos

🇲🇽 Playa del Carmen

🕒 Local time

07:42 7:42 AM

22:42 10:42 PM

9 h behind Madinat As Sultan Qaboos

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

149,923

💱 Currency

Omani Rial OMR ر.ع.

Mexican Peso MXN $

📈 Exchange rate

1 OMR = 2.6 USD

1 OMR = 2.31 EUR

100 MXN = 5.41 USD

100 MXN = 4.81 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

MXN, USD, EUR to OMR – Omani Rial Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇴🇲 Omani Rial (ر.ع.)

Omani Rial exchange rates as of October 20, 2026: 1 USD = 0.385 OMR (1 OMR = 2.6 USD). 1 EUR = 0.433 OMR (1 OMR = 2.31 EUR).

Mexican Peso exchange rates as of October 20, 2026: 1 USD = 18.48 MXN (100 MXN = 5.41 USD). 1 EUR = 20.77 MXN (100 MXN = 4.81 EUR).

USD to OMR in detail →

On the map

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Highest

Between locations

Madinat As Sultan Qaboos Playa del Carmen 13,840 km ≈ 18 h nonstop flight

From you

Madinat As Sultan Qaboos
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

Madinat As Sultan Qaboos vs Playa del Carmen: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Madinat As Sultan Qaboos wins on cost – living expenses run 27% lower than in Playa del Carmen. Housing and daily spending are where you'll feel the difference most, making Madinat As Sultan Qaboos the obvious pick if budget is a priority.

You'd need roughly $1,430 in Madinat As Sultan Qaboos and $1,816 in Playa del Carmen to live well. The gap comes down to housing and overall price levels. Both cities are liveable on less, but these numbers represent actual comfort.

Shoppers in Playa del Carmen pay roughly 13% less for everyday groceries. It's an unusual reversal that partly offsets higher costs elsewhere.

All in, you'll spend $953 per month in Madinat As Sultan Qaboos versus $1,210 in Playa del Carmen – a 27% gap that adds up to real savings over time for anyone picking the cheaper option.

At $953 in Madinat As Sultan Qaboos versus $1,210 in Playa del Carmen, a $1,000 budget is realistic in Madinat As Sultan Qaboos but tight or insufficient in Playa del Carmen. The gap between the two cities makes Madinat As Sultan Qaboos the clear choice for anyone on this budget.

Both work as nomad bases, but Madinat As Sultan Qaboos delivers better value – similar infrastructure at $953 monthly. If stretching your runway or maximizing savings is the goal, the price difference makes Madinat As Sultan Qaboos hard to pass up.

Safety-wise, Madinat As Sultan Qaboos 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 Madinat As Sultan Qaboos gentler on the wallet – expenses run 27% less than in Playa del Carmen. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.