Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Mandeville and Playa del Carmen

For one person, living is cheaper in Mandeville: $810 a month against $1,204 in Playa del Carmen, rent and utilities included – about $4,700 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

39

Cost of Living Index in Mandeville
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Mandeville Living Index
58

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

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Mandeville

🇯🇲 Jamaica

$810

/mo nomad

Playa del Carmen

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,204

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $810 in Mandeville versus $1,204 in Playa del Carmen.

Mandeville $810
Playa del Carmen $1,204

Estimated couple costs with rent: $1,395 in Mandeville versus $2,082 in Playa del Carmen.

Mandeville $1,395
Playa del Carmen $2,082

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $1,980 in Mandeville versus $2,959 in Playa del Carmen.

Mandeville $1,980
Playa del Carmen $2,959

Living in Mandeville costs roughly 33% less than in Playa del Carmen, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

Both cities sit below the global median: Mandeville 40% lower, Playa del Carmen 12% lower.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$6.47 JMD 1,021

$10.92 MX$204

-40.75%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$73.4 JMD 11.6K

$43.37 MX$808

69.33%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$8.04 JMD 1,268

$11.78 MX$220

-31.75%

Cappuccino

$2.24 JMD 353

$3.81 MX$71.0

-41.21%

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

$1.12 JMD 176

$1.28 MX$23.90

-12.50%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.68 JMD 108

$0.78 MX$14.59

-12.82%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$2.18 JMD 344

$3.17 MX$59.0

-31.23%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.85 JMD 450

$4.93 MX$92.0

-42.19%

Milk (1 liter)

$4.25 JMD 670

$1.41 MX$26.22

201.42%

White Bread (500g)

$1.77 JMD 279

$2.22 MX$41.33

-20.27%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.56 JMD 246

$1.42 MX$26.42

9.86%

Eggs

$3.63 JMD 572

$2.52 MX$47.03

44.05%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$11.61 JMD 1,830

$7.26 MX$135

59.92%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$6.23 JMD 983

$7.70 MX$143

-19.09%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$10.22 JMD 1,612

$12.69 MX$237

-19.46%

Apples (1kg)

$5.99 JMD 944

$2.78 MX$51.9

115.47%

Banana (1kg)

$3.84 JMD 605

$1.37 MX$25.50

180.29%

Oranges (1kg)

$7.15 JMD 1,127

$2.55 MX$47.55

180.39%

Tomato (1kg)

$3.07 JMD 484

$2.12 MX$39.58

44.81%

Potato (1kg)

$3.27 JMD 515

$1.94 MX$36.13

68.56%

Onion (1kg)

$2.62 JMD 413

$1.89 MX$35.16

38.62%

Lettuce (1 head)

$3.15 JMD 497

$1.15 MX$21.37

173.91%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.49 JMD 235

$1.18 MX$21.98

26.27%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$9.64 JMD 1,520

$4.30 MX$80.1

124.19%

Wine (Bottle)

$11.36 JMD 1,791

$9.95 MX$185

14.17%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$2.94 JMD 463

$1.58 MX$29.52

86.08%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.10 JMD 647

$2.67 MX$49.79

53.56%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.55 MX$10.31

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$26.62 MX$496

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$1.24 JMD 196

$4.97 MX$92.6

-75.05%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$3.19 JMD 504

$3.33 MX$62.1

-4.20%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$6.43 JMD 1,013

$5.36 MX$99.8

19.96%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.47 JMD 232

$1.44 MX$26.92

2.08%

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

$43.7K JMD 6.9M

$20.7K MX$385.2K

111.28%

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

$33.1K JMD 5.2M

$23.5K MX$437.4K

41.25%

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

$95.0 JMD 15.0K

$84.8 MX$1,581

12.09%

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

$22.22 JMD 3,505

$23.41 MX$436

-5.08%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$50.9 JMD 8,033

$28.66 MX$534

77.74%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$57.1 MX$1,063

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$28.91 MX$539

Cinema Ticket

$13.28 JMD 2,095

$5.14 MX$95.8

158.37%

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

$365 JMD 57.6K

$207 MX$3,851

76.88%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$8,207 JMD 1.3M

$3,927 MX$73.2K

108.98%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$23.80 JMD 3,753

$43.35 MX$808

-45.10%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$31.27 JMD 4,932

$41.44 MX$772

-24.54%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$77.3 JMD 12.2K

$74.2 MX$1,383

4.14%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$103 JMD 16.3K

$89.3 MX$1,664

15.78%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$467 JMD 73.6K

$980 MX$18.3K

-52.37%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$381 MX$7,099

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,708 MX$31.8K

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,075 MX$20.0K

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$3,943 MX$73.5K

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$6,158 MX$114.8K

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$735 MX$13.7K

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

9.45

11.45

-17.47%

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

Last update for Mandeville: 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.

Groceries & Markets

Mandeville

$366 45.1%

Playa del Carmen

$255 21.2% 30.3% $111

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Mandeville

$168 20.8%

Playa del Carmen

$137 11.4% 18.6% $31

Eating Out

Mandeville

$127 15.6%

Playa del Carmen

$202 16.8% 59.9% $76

Clothing & Footwear

Mandeville

$106 13.1%

Playa del Carmen

$112 9.3% 5.3% $5.7

Sport & Entertainment

Mandeville

$27 * 3.3%

Playa del Carmen

$67 5.6% 153% $41

Getting Around

Mandeville

$17 * 2.1%

Playa del Carmen

$50 4.2% 193% $33

Accommodation & Living

Mandeville

- * 0%

Playa del Carmen

$381 31.6%

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 $467 in Mandeville and $980 in Playa del Carmen. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Dining out: $73 in Mandeville vs $43 in Playa del Carmen for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $366 vs $255 per month, with Playa del Carmen cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇯🇲 Mandeville

🇲🇽 Playa del Carmen

🕒 Local time

15:35 3:35 PM

Same time as Mandeville

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

47,115

149,923

💱 Currency

Jamaican Dollar JMD $

Mexican Peso MXN $

📈 Exchange rate

1,000 JMD = 6.34 USD

1,000 JMD = 5.7 EUR

100 MXN = 5.36 USD

100 MXN = 4.82 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

MXN, USD, EUR to JMD – Jamaican Dollar Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇯🇲 Jamaican Dollar ($)

Jamaican Dollar exchange rates as of October 28, 2026: 1 USD = 158 JMD (1,000 JMD = 6.34 USD). 1 EUR = 176 JMD (1,000 JMD = 5.7 EUR).

Mexican Peso exchange rates as of October 28, 2026: 1 USD = 18.64 MXN (100 MXN = 5.36 USD). 1 EUR = 20.75 MXN (100 MXN = 4.82 EUR).

USD to JMD in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Mandeville Playa del Carmen 1,040 km ≈ 1 h 45 min nonstop flight

From you

Mandeville
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

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

Mandeville is about 33% cheaper overall, especially in eating out, leisure, and transport. That difference adds up to real monthly savings that compound significantly over time.

You’d need roughly $1,215 in Mandeville and $1,806 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.

Rent for a central apartment: $467 in Mandeville versus $980 in Playa del Carmen. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $365 in Mandeville 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 Playa del Carmen – a meal for two runs $43 versus $73 in Mandeville. If you eat out regularly, this makes a real dent in your monthly spending.

At $810 in Mandeville versus $1,204 in Playa del Carmen, a $1,000 budget is realistic in Mandeville but tight or insufficient in Playa del Carmen. The gap between the two cities makes Mandeville 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.