Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Piedras Negras and Playa del Carmen

For one person, living is cheaper in Piedras Negras: $1,143 a month against $1,204 in Playa del Carmen, rent and utilities included – about $730 less a year. Other living expenses account for most of the difference.

55

Cost of Living Index in Piedras Negras
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Piedras Negras Living Index
59

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

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Piedras Negras

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,143

/mo nomad

Playa del Carmen

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,204

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,143 in Piedras Negras versus $1,204 in Playa del Carmen.

Piedras Negras $1,143
Playa del Carmen $1,204

Estimated couple costs with rent: $1,832 in Piedras Negras versus $2,102 in Playa del Carmen.

Piedras Negras $1,832
Playa del Carmen $2,102

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $2,521 in Piedras Negras versus $3,000 in Playa del Carmen.

Piedras Negras $2,521
Playa del Carmen $3,000

Living in Piedras Negras costs roughly 5% less than in Playa del Carmen, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in transport.

Both cities sit below the global median: Piedras Negras 16% lower, Playa del Carmen 11% lower.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$11.07 MX$204

$10.86 MX$201

1.93%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$44.31 MX$819

$44.21 MX$817

0.23%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$8.74 MX$162

$11.76 MX$217

-25.68%

Cappuccino

$3.64 MX$67.3

$3.68 MX$68.0

-1.09%

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

$1.40 MX$25.83

$1.34 MX$24.79

4.48%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.06 MX$19.54

$0.82 MX$15.24

29.27%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$2.41 MX$44.57

$3.06 MX$56.6

-21.24%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.00 MX$73.9

$4.94 MX$91.2

-19.03%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.59 MX$29.34

$1.47 MX$27.17

8.16%

White Bread (500g)

$2.67 MX$49.36

$2.22 MX$40.95

20.27%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.67 MX$30.82

$1.48 MX$27.32

12.84%

Eggs

$2.43 MX$44.94

$2.49 MX$45.99

-2.41%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$8.38 MX$155

$7.52 MX$139

11.44%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$8.51 MX$157

$7.96 MX$147

6.91%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$11.31 MX$209

$12.57 MX$232

-10.02%

Apples (1kg)

$2.72 MX$50.2

$2.78 MX$51.3

-2.16%

Banana (1kg)

$1.54 MX$28.45

$1.43 MX$26.37

7.69%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.93 MX$35.67

$2.62 MX$48.37

-26.34%

Tomato (1kg)

$1.80 MX$33.34

$2.14 MX$39.49

-15.89%

Potato (1kg)

$1.93 MX$35.59

$2.02 MX$37.38

-4.46%

Onion (1kg)

$1.82 MX$33.71

$1.99 MX$36.74

-8.54%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.43 MX$26.41

$1.14 MX$21.01

25.44%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.12 MX$20.73

$1.20 MX$22.18

-6.67%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$4.28 MX$79.1

$4.26 MX$78.7

0.47%

Wine (Bottle)

$10.39 MX$192

$10.02 MX$185

3.69%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.76 MX$32.46

$1.54 MX$28.41

14.29%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.23 MX$59.7

$2.66 MX$49.17

21.43%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.64 MX$11.90

$0.53 MX$9.73

20.75%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$27.51 MX$508

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$2.54 MX$46.95

$4.90 MX$90.6

-48.16%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$2.01 MX$37.21

$3.43 MX$63.5

-41.40%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$10.83 MX$200

$5.38 MX$99.4

101.30%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.29 MX$23.90

$1.45 MX$26.76

-11.03%

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

$20.9K MX$386.5K

$21.2K MX$391.0K

-1.14%

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

$23.9K MX$442.6K

$23.0K MX$425.3K

4.05%

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

$58.1 MX$1,073

$85.4 MX$1,577

-31.97%

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

$23.02 MX$425

$23.46 MX$434

-1.88%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$29.92 MX$553

$28.43 MX$525

5.24%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$33.75 MX$624

$62.2 MX$1,149

-45.73%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$19.83 MX$366

$28.68 MX$530

-30.86%

Cinema Ticket

$5.33 MX$98.5

$5.10 MX$94.3

4.51%

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

$219 MX$4,051

$201 MX$3,715

9.02%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$4,618 MX$85.3K

$3,947 MX$72.9K

17.01%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$54.9 MX$1,015

$44.39 MX$820

23.70%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$40.64 MX$751

$41.35 MX$764

-1.72%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$99.3 MX$1,835

$72.7 MX$1,344

36.53%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$90.7 MX$1,675

$89.6 MX$1,656

1.16%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$599 MX$11.1K

$979 MX$18.1K

-38.81%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$391 MX$7,221

$373 MX$6,887

4.84%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,038 MX$19.2K

$1,681 MX$31.1K

-38.27%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$753 MX$13.9K

$1,095 MX$20.2K

-31.27%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$1,878 MX$34.7K

$3,949 MX$73.0K

-52.45%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$1,167 MX$21.6K

$6,137 MX$113.4K

-80.98%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$1,645 MX$30.4K

$738 MX$13.6K

123.01%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

11.3

11.45

-1.31%

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

Last update for Piedras Negras: October 17, 2026

Last update for Playa del Carmen: October 17, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Piedras Negras

$391 34.2%

Playa del Carmen

$373 31% 4.6% $18

Groceries & Markets

Piedras Negras

$265 23.2%

Playa del Carmen

$258 21.5% 2.4% $6.4

Eating Out

Piedras Negras

$188 16.5%

Playa del Carmen

$200 16.6% 6.3% $12

Clothing & Footwear

Piedras Negras

$128 11.2%

Playa del Carmen

$112 9.3% 13.1% $17

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Piedras Negras

$111 9.7%

Playa del Carmen

$137 11.4% 23.6% $26

Sport & Entertainment

Piedras Negras

$44 3.9%

Playa del Carmen

$72 6% 63% $28

Getting Around

Piedras Negras

$15 * 1.3%

Playa del Carmen

$52 4.3% 240% $37

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 $599 in Piedras Negras and $979 in Playa del Carmen. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Piedras Negras pays 123% more on average while also being the cheaper of the two. The combined effect is a noticeably stronger local purchasing power.

Dining out: $44.00 in Piedras Negras vs $44.00 in Playa del Carmen. Groceries flip the comparison at $265 vs $258, with Playa del Carmen cheaper for home cooking.

Good to know

🇲🇽 Piedras Negras

🇲🇽 Playa del Carmen

🕒 Local time

07:25 7:25 AM

Same time as Piedras Negras

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

173,959

149,923

💱 Currency

Mexican Peso MXN $

📈 Exchange rate

100 MXN = 5.41 USD

100 MXN = 4.81 EUR

100 MXN = 5.41 USD

100 MXN = 4.81 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

On the map

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Between locations

Piedras Negras Playa del Carmen 1,630 km ≈ 2 h 30 min nonstop flight

From you

Piedras Negras
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

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

Piedras Negras is cheaper overall, especially in eating out, leisure, and transport. The 5% gap adds up to real monthly savings that compound significantly over time.

Average pay runs 123% higher in Piedras Negras, 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: $599 in Piedras Negras versus $979 in Playa del Carmen. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $219 in Piedras Negras versus $201 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 Piedras Negras – a meal for two runs $44.00 versus $44.00 in Playa del Carmen. If you eat out regularly, this makes a real dent in your monthly spending.

At $1,143 in Piedras Negras versus $1,204 in Playa del Carmen, a $1,500 budget is realistic in Piedras Negras but tight or insufficient in Playa del Carmen. The gap between the two cities makes Piedras Negras the clear choice for anyone on this budget.

For families, Piedras Negras is more practical. Housing and childcare are both notably cheaper than in Playa del Carmen, and the savings on those two alone free up budget for education, activities, and family trips.

Expats usually find Piedras Negras gentler on the wallet – expenses run 5% less than in Playa del Carmen. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.