Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Marsaxlokk and Playa del Carmen

For one person, living is cheaper in Playa del Carmen: $1,204 a month against $2,023 in Marsaxlokk, rent and utilities included – about $9,800 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

94

Cost of Living Index in Marsaxlokk
Learn more

Marsaxlokk Living Index
58

Cost of Living Index in Playa del Carmen
Learn more

Playa del Carmen Living Index

Jump to prices

Marsaxlokk

🇲🇹 Malta

$2,023

/mo nomad

Playa del Carmen

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,204

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $2,023 in Marsaxlokk versus $1,204 in Playa del Carmen.

Marsaxlokk $2,023
Playa del Carmen $1,204

Estimated couple costs with rent: $2,964 in Marsaxlokk versus $2,082 in Playa del Carmen.

Marsaxlokk $2,964
Playa del Carmen $2,082

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $3,905 in Marsaxlokk versus $2,959 in Playa del Carmen.

Marsaxlokk $3,905
Playa del Carmen $2,959

Living in Marsaxlokk is roughly 68% 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: Marsaxlokk is 49% above, Playa del Carmen is 12% below.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$19.75 €17.69

$10.92 MX$205

80.86%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$87.0 €77.9

$43.37 MX$814

100.53%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$13.39 €11.99

$11.78 MX$221

13.67%

Cappuccino

$2.63 €2.36

$3.81 MX$71.5

-30.97%

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

$3.01 €2.69

$1.28 MX$24.07

135.16%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.25 €2.02

$0.78 MX$14.70

188.46%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$4.63 €4.14

$3.17 MX$59.5

46.06%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$5.02 €4.50

$4.93 MX$92.7

1.83%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.39 €1.24

$1.41 MX$26.40

-1.42%

White Bread (500g)

$1.35 €1.21

$2.22 MX$41.62

-39.19%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$4.36 €3.91

$1.42 MX$26.61

207.04%

Eggs

$4.33 €3.88

$2.52 MX$47.36

71.83%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$8.19 €7.33

$7.26 MX$136

12.81%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$10.32 €9.24

$7.70 MX$144

34.03%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$17.95 €16.08

$12.69 MX$238

41.45%

Apples (1kg)

$4.12 €3.69

$2.78 MX$52.3

48.20%

Banana (1kg)

$2.72 €2.44

$1.37 MX$25.68

98.54%

Oranges (1kg)

$3.70 €3.31

$2.55 MX$47.89

45.10%

Tomato (1kg)

$3.46 €3.10

$2.12 MX$39.86

63.21%

Potato (1kg)

$2.31 €2.07

$1.94 MX$36.39

19.07%

Onion (1kg)

$1.90 €1.70

$1.89 MX$35.41

0.53%

Lettuce (1 head)

$2.39 €2.14

$1.15 MX$21.53

107.83%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.33 €1.19

$1.18 MX$22.13

12.71%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$6.70 €6.00

$4.30 MX$80.6

55.81%

Wine (Bottle)

$7.94 €7.11

$9.95 MX$187

-20.20%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.62 €1.45

$1.58 MX$29.73

2.53%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.42 €2.17

$2.67 MX$50.1

-9.36%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$2.55 €2.28

$0.55 MX$10.39

363.64%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$26.62 MX$500

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$5.48 €4.90

$4.97 MX$93.3

10.26%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$2.29 €2.05

$3.33 MX$62.5

-31.23%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$27.24 €24.40

$5.36 MX$101

408.21%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.46 €1.30

$1.44 MX$27.11

1.39%

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

$37.9K €34.0K

$20.7K MX$388.0K

83.55%

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

$39.0K €34.9K

$23.5K MX$440.5K

66.12%

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

$102 €91.5

$84.8 MX$1,592

20.50%

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

$25.33 €22.69

$23.41 MX$439

8.20%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$43.14 €38.63

$28.66 MX$538

50.52%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$55.5 €49.68

$57.1 MX$1,071

-2.77%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$28.91 MX$543

Cinema Ticket

$9.99 €8.95

$5.14 MX$96.5

94.36%

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

$364 €326

$207 MX$3,878

76.05%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$11.1K €9,932

$3,927 MX$73.7K

182.38%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$88.4 €79.1

$43.35 MX$814

103.83%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$39.86 €35.70

$41.44 MX$778

-3.81%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$101 €90.8

$74.2 MX$1,393

36.59%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$77.0 €68.9

$89.3 MX$1,676

-13.76%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,097 €982

$980 MX$18.4K

11.96%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,001 €897

$381 MX$7,150

162.88%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,974 €1,768

$1,708 MX$32.1K

15.59%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,417 €1,269

$1,075 MX$20.2K

31.76%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$4,350 €3,896

$3,943 MX$74.0K

10.34%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$3,312 €2,966

$6,158 MX$115.6K

-46.22%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$735 MX$13.8K

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

2.9

11.45

-74.67%

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

Last update for Marsaxlokk: October 27, 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

Marsaxlokk

$1K 49.5%

Playa del Carmen

$381 31.6% 62% $620

Groceries & Markets

Marsaxlokk

$326 16.1%

Playa del Carmen

$255 21.2% 21.9% $72

Eating Out

Marsaxlokk

$284 14%

Playa del Carmen

$202 16.8% 28.7% $82

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Marsaxlokk

$171 8.4%

Playa del Carmen

$137 11.4% 19.8% $34

Clothing & Footwear

Marsaxlokk

$138 6.8%

Playa del Carmen

$112 9.3% 19% $26

Sport & Entertainment

Marsaxlokk

$75 3.7%

Playa del Carmen

$67 5.6% 10.8% $8.1

Getting Around

Marsaxlokk

$27 * 1.3%

Playa del Carmen

$50 4.2% 86.1% $23

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 $1,097 in Marsaxlokk and $980 in Playa del Carmen. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Dining out: $87 in Marsaxlokk vs $43 in Playa del Carmen for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $326 vs $255 per month, with Playa del Carmen cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇲🇹 Marsaxlokk

🇲🇽 Playa del Carmen

🕒 Local time

11:09 11:09 AM

05:09 5:09 AM

6 h behind Marsaxlokk

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

3,500

149,923

💱 Currency

Euro EUR €

Mexican Peso MXN $

📈 Exchange rate

1 EUR = 1.12 USD

100 MXN = 5.33 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 = 18.77 MXN (100 MXN = 5.33 USD). 1 EUR = 20.95 MXN (100 MXN = 4.77 EUR).

USD to EUR in detail →

On the map

Lowest

Highest

Between locations

Marsaxlokk Playa del Carmen 9,670 km ≈ 13 h nonstop flight

From you

Marsaxlokk
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

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

Playa del Carmen wins on cost – living expenses run 40% lower than in Marsaxlokk. Housing and daily spending are where you’ll feel the difference most, making Playa del Carmen the obvious pick if budget is a priority.

You’d need roughly $3,034 in Marsaxlokk 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: $1,097 in Marsaxlokk versus $980 in Playa del Carmen. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Supermarket bills run roughly 28% higher in Marsaxlokk. For households that cook at home regularly, that difference adds up over a month.

All in, you’ll spend $2,023 per month in Marsaxlokk versus $1,204 in Playa del Carmen – Playa del Carmen is about 40% cheaper, which adds up to real savings over time.

At $1,204 in Playa del Carmen versus $2,023 in Marsaxlokk, a $1,500 budget is realistic in Playa del Carmen but tight or insufficient in Marsaxlokk. 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.