Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Miaoli and Playa del Carmen

For one person, living is cheaper in Miaoli: $768 a month against $1,204 in Playa del Carmen, rent and utilities included – about $5,200 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

37

Cost of Living Index in Miaoli
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Miaoli Living Index
58

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

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Miaoli

🇹🇼 Taiwan

$768

/mo nomad

Playa del Carmen

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,204

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $768 in Miaoli versus $1,204 in Playa del Carmen.

Miaoli $768
Playa del Carmen $1,204

Estimated couple costs with rent: $1,069 in Miaoli versus $2,082 in Playa del Carmen.

Miaoli $1,069
Playa del Carmen $2,082

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $1,370 in Miaoli versus $2,959 in Playa del Carmen.

Miaoli $1,370
Playa del Carmen $2,959

Living in Miaoli costs roughly 36% less than in Playa del Carmen, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

Both cities sit below the global median: Miaoli 44% lower, Playa del Carmen 12% lower.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$2.53 NT$82.1

$10.92 MX$204

-76.83%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$23.04 NT$747

$43.37 MX$808

-46.88%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$4.69 NT$152

$11.78 MX$220

-60.19%

Cappuccino

$2.94 NT$95.3

$3.81 MX$71.0

-22.83%

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

$0.83 NT$26.74

$1.28 MX$23.90

-35.16%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.55 NT$17.89

$0.78 MX$14.59

-29.49%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$1.20 NT$38.78

$3.17 MX$59.0

-62.15%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.28 NT$41.53

$4.93 MX$92.0

-74.04%

Milk (1 liter)

$2.64 NT$85.5

$1.41 MX$26.22

87.23%

White Bread (500g)

$1.22 NT$39.59

$2.22 MX$41.33

-45.05%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$2.64 NT$85.7

$1.42 MX$26.42

85.92%

Eggs

$2.05 NT$66.6

$2.52 MX$47.03

-18.65%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$8.96 NT$290

$7.26 MX$135

23.42%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$7.43 NT$241

$7.70 MX$143

-3.51%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$21.11 NT$684

$12.69 MX$237

66.35%

Apples (1kg)

$3.77 NT$122

$2.78 MX$51.9

35.61%

Banana (1kg)

$1.96 NT$63.5

$1.37 MX$25.50

43.07%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.91 NT$94.3

$2.55 MX$47.55

14.12%

Tomato (1kg)

$3.10 NT$100

$2.12 MX$39.58

46.23%

Potato (1kg)

$2.53 NT$81.9

$1.94 MX$36.13

30.41%

Onion (1kg)

$1.91 NT$61.7

$1.89 MX$35.16

1.06%

Lettuce (1 head)

$2.20 NT$71.2

$1.15 MX$21.37

91.30%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.89 NT$28.98

$1.18 MX$21.98

-24.58%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$3.86 NT$125

$4.30 MX$80.1

-10.23%

Wine (Bottle)

$10.90 NT$353

$9.95 MX$185

9.55%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.40 NT$45.41

$1.58 MX$29.52

-11.39%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.10 NT$68.2

$2.67 MX$49.79

-21.35%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.55 MX$10.31

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$26.62 MX$496

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$2.81 NT$91.1

$4.97 MX$92.6

-43.46%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$0.74 NT$23.95

$3.33 MX$62.1

-77.78%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$7.07 NT$229

$5.36 MX$99.8

31.90%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.01 NT$32.79

$1.44 MX$26.92

-29.86%

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

$36.7K NT$1.2M

$20.7K MX$385.2K

77.48%

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

$22.8K NT$738.3K

$23.5K MX$437.4K

-2.88%

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

$68.0 NT$2,203

$84.8 MX$1,581

-19.81%

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

$17.30 NT$560

$23.41 MX$436

-26.10%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$21.61 NT$700

$28.66 MX$534

-24.60%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$57.1 MX$1,063

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$28.91 MX$539

Cinema Ticket

$10.84 NT$351

$5.14 MX$95.8

110.89%

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

$508 NT$16.5K

$207 MX$3,851

145.93%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$30.8K NT$999.4K

$3,927 MX$73.2K

685.43%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$12.19 NT$395

$43.35 MX$808

-71.88%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$23.87 NT$773

$41.44 MX$772

-42.40%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$62.2 NT$2,014

$74.2 MX$1,383

-16.21%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$94.1 NT$3,049

$89.3 MX$1,664

5.46%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$211 NT$6,834

$980 MX$18.3K

-78.47%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$156 NT$5,060

$381 MX$7,099

-58.99%

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)

$2,374 NT$76.9K

$735 MX$13.7K

223.27%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

2.38

11.45

-79.21%

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

Last update for Miaoli: October 24, 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

Miaoli

$306 39.9%

Playa del Carmen

$255 21.2% 16.9% $52

Accommodation & Living

Miaoli

$156 20.3%

Playa del Carmen

$381 31.6% 144% $225

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Miaoli

$107 13.9%

Playa del Carmen

$137 11.4% 28% $30

Clothing & Footwear

Miaoli

$87 11.3%

Playa del Carmen

$112 9.3% 29.1% $25

Eating Out

Miaoli

$84 10.9%

Playa del Carmen

$202 16.8% 142% $119

Sport & Entertainment

Miaoli

$22 * 2.8%

Playa del Carmen

$67 5.6% 211% $46

Getting Around

Miaoli

$6.5 * 0.9%

Playa del Carmen

$50 4.2% 675% $44

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 $211 in Miaoli and $980 in Playa del Carmen. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Miaoli pays about 3.2 times more on average while also being the cheaper of the two. The combined effect is a noticeably stronger local purchasing power.

Dining out: $23 in Miaoli vs $43 in Playa del Carmen. Groceries flip the comparison at $306 vs $255, with Playa del Carmen cheaper for home cooking.

Good to know

🇹🇼 Miaoli

🇲🇽 Playa del Carmen

🕒 Local time

00:07 12:07 AM

11:07 11:07 AM

13 h behind Miaoli

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

89,892

149,923

💱 Currency

New Taiwan Dollar TWD NT$

Mexican Peso MXN $

📈 Exchange rate

100 TWD = 3.09 USD

100 TWD = 2.77 EUR

100 MXN = 5.36 USD

100 MXN = 4.82 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

MXN, USD, EUR to TWD – New Taiwan Dollar Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇹🇼 New Taiwan Dollar (NT$)

New Taiwan Dollar exchange rates as of October 28, 2026: 1 USD = 32.4 TWD (100 TWD = 3.09 USD). 1 EUR = 36.06 TWD (100 TWD = 2.77 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 TWD in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Miaoli Playa del Carmen 14,150 km ≈ 18 h nonstop flight

From you

Miaoli
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

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

Miaoli and Playa del Carmen differ by about 57% in total monthly costs ($768 vs $1,204 including rent). Miaoli is meaningfully more affordable – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

Average pay in Miaoli is about 3.2 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: $211 in Miaoli versus $980 in Playa del Carmen. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Shoppers in Playa del Carmen pay roughly 17% less for everyday groceries. It’s an unusual reversal that partly offsets higher costs elsewhere.

All in, you’ll spend $768 per month in Miaoli versus $1,204 in Playa del Carmen – a 57% gap that adds up to real savings over time for anyone picking the cheaper option.

At $768 in Miaoli versus $1,204 in Playa del Carmen, a $1,200 budget is realistic in Miaoli but tight or insufficient in Playa del Carmen. The gap between the two cities makes Miaoli 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.