Last update: Nov 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Playa del Carmen and Al-hawamidiyah

For one person, living is cheaper in Al-hawamidiyah: $430 a month against $1,202 in Playa del Carmen, rent and utilities included – about $9,300 less a year. Rent and utilities account for about half of the difference.

57

Cost of Living Index in Playa del Carmen
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Playa del Carmen Living Index
20

Cost of Living Index in Al-hawamidiyah
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Al-hawamidiyah Living Index

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Playa del Carmen

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,202

/mo nomad

Al-hawamidiyah

🇪🇬 Egypt

$430

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Playa del Carmen and in Al-hawamidiyah

Real prices from locals and on-the-ground checks – rent, groceries, transit and the daily extras. Here's what a month in Playa del Carmen and in Al-hawamidiyah actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

A single person spends $1,202 per month in Playa del Carmen vs $430 in Al-hawamidiyah, rent included.

Playa del Carmen $1,202
Al-hawamidiyah $430

A couple spends around $2,082 per month in Playa del Carmen vs $704 in Al-hawamidiyah, rent included.

Playa del Carmen $2,082
Al-hawamidiyah $704

A family of three spends $2,962 per month in Playa del Carmen vs $977 in Al-hawamidiyah, rent included.

Playa del Carmen $2,962
Al-hawamidiyah $977

Playa del Carmen costs about 179% more than Al-hawamidiyah, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in groceries.

Both Playa del Carmen and Al-hawamidiyah are more affordable than the global median – Playa del Carmen 11% lower, Al-hawamidiyah 68% lower.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$10.67 MX$199

$4.04 E£221

164.11%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$43.80 MX$815

$17.42 E£952

151.44%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$11.79 MX$219

$4.42 E£242

166.74%

Cappuccino

$3.79 MX$70.5

$1.22 E£66.7

210.66%

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

$1.30 MX$24.14

$0.30 E£16.59

333.33%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.83 MX$15.51

$0.12 E£6.42

591.67%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.15 MX$58.6

$1.26 E£69.1

150.00%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.93 MX$91.8

$2.74 E£150

79.93%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.41 MX$26.22

$0.81 E£44.05

74.07%

White Bread (500g)

$2.20 MX$40.86

$0.66 E£36.18

233.33%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.47 MX$27.40

$0.61 E£33.12

140.98%

Eggs

$2.50 MX$46.47

$1.09 E£59.7

129.36%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$7.29 MX$136

$3.51 E£192

107.69%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$7.95 MX$148

$4.11 E£225

93.43%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$12.86 MX$239

$8.80 E£481

46.14%

Apples (1kg)

$2.90 MX$53.9

$1.39 E£75.9

108.63%

Banana (1kg)

$1.38 MX$25.74

$0.75 E£40.93

84.00%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.49 MX$46.36

$0.48 E£26.43

418.75%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.03 MX$37.78

$0.32 E£17.52

534.37%

Potato (1kg)

$2.02 MX$37.69

$0.23 E£12.55

778.26%

Onion (1kg)

$1.90 MX$35.42

$0.28 E£15.09

578.57%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.14 MX$21.30

$0.23 E£12.49

395.65%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.24 MX$23.06

$0.17 E£9.09

629.41%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$4.27 MX$79.5

$1.80 E£98.2

137.22%

Wine (Bottle)

$9.81 MX$183

$5.28 E£289

85.80%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.59 MX$29.51

$1.13 E£61.7

40.71%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.75 MX$51.1

$2.05 E£112

34.15%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.51 MX$9.58

$0.20 E£11.21

155.00%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$27.39 MX$510

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$4.76 MX$88.6

$0.55 E£29.89

765.45%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$3.25 MX$60.5

$0.17 E£9.03

1811.76%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$5.39 MX$100

$1.06 E£57.9

408.49%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.53 MX$28.44

$0.40 E£21.94

282.50%

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

$21.2K MX$394.8K

$31.4K E£1.7M

-32.42%

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

$23.3K MX$432.9K

$24.0K E£1.3M

-3.26%

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

$83.5 MX$1,554

$13.45 E£736

520.74%

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

$23.19 MX$431

$6.43 E£352

260.65%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$27.61 MX$514

$12.64 E£691

118.43%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$56.4 MX$1,050

$15.26 E£834

269.79%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$28.19 MX$525

Cinema Ticket

$5.00 MX$93.1

$2.65 E£145

88.68%

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

$207 MX$3,854

$80.8 E£4,415

156.41%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$5,231 MX$97.4K

$1,946 E£106.4K

168.76%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$43.45 MX$809

$31.19 E£1,705

39.31%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$42.54 MX$792

$42.90 E£2,345

-0.84%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$72.8 MX$1,354

$119 E£6,500

-38.81%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$88.4 MX$1,645

$53.0 E£2,896

66.85%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$995 MX$18.5K

$127 E£6,948

682.79%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$382 MX$7,116

$72.4 E£3,957

428.25%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,674 MX$31.2K

$246 E£13.5K

580.00%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,081 MX$20.1K

$137 E£7,471

690.71%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$3,909 MX$72.7K

$704 E£38.5K

455.04%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$6,138 MX$114.2K

$326 E£17.8K

1782.60%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$832 MX$15.5K

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

11.45

21.33

-46.32%

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

Last update for Playa del Carmen: November 2, 2026

Last update for Al-hawamidiyah: October 31, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Playa del Carmen

$382 31.8%

Al-hawamidiyah

$72 16.8% 81.1% $310

Groceries & Markets

Playa del Carmen

$257 21.4%

Al-hawamidiyah

$118 27.5% 54% $139

Eating Out

Playa del Carmen

$200 16.7%

Al-hawamidiyah

$74 17.1% 63.2% $127

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Playa del Carmen

$134 11.2%

Al-hawamidiyah

$33 7.6% 75.8% $102

Clothing & Footwear

Playa del Carmen

$111 9.3%

Al-hawamidiyah

$111 25.7% 0.5% $0.5

Sport & Entertainment

Playa del Carmen

$66 5.5%

Al-hawamidiyah

$21 4.8% 69% $46

Getting Around

Playa del Carmen

$50 4.2%

Al-hawamidiyah

$2.2 * 0.5% 95.7% $48

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

Cost Breakdown

A central one-bedroom costs $995 in Playa del Carmen versus $127 in Al-hawamidiyah. Rent is usually the largest line item in a monthly budget, so the gap here sets the tone for the overall comparison.

A mid-range dinner for two costs $44 in Playa del Carmen versus $17 in Al-hawamidiyah. Monthly groceries follow the same trend: $257 vs $118 – making Al-hawamidiyah the more affordable choice for daily food spending.

Good to know

🇲🇽 Playa del Carmen

🇪🇬 Al-hawamidiyah

🕒 Local time

13:31 1:31 PM

20:31 8:31 PM

7 h ahead of Playa del Carmen

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

149,923

155,055

💱 Currency

Mexican Peso MXN $

Egyptian Pound EGP £

📈 Exchange rate

100 MXN = 5.37 USD

100 MXN = 4.79 EUR

100 EGP = 1.83 USD

100 EGP = 1.63 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

EGP, USD, EUR to MXN – Mexican Peso Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇲🇽 Mexican Peso ($)

Mexican Peso exchange rates as of November 4, 2026: 1 USD = 18.61 MXN (100 MXN = 5.37 USD). 1 EUR = 20.86 MXN (100 MXN = 4.79 EUR).

Egyptian Pound exchange rates as of November 4, 2026: 1 USD = 54.67 EGP (100 EGP = 1.83 USD). 1 EUR = 61.29 EGP (100 EGP = 1.63 EUR).

USD to MXN in detail →

On the map

Lowest

Highest

Between locations

Playa del Carmen Al-hawamidiyah 11,350 km ≈ 15 h nonstop flight

From you

Playa del Carmen
Al-hawamidiyah

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

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

Playa del Carmen costs about 179% more than Al-hawamidiyah, and outside of rent the gap comes mainly from groceries. That’s enough to noticeably affect everyday spending and lifestyle for anyone choosing between the two.

For a comfortable life, plan on about $1,804 per month in Playa del Carmen and $646 in Al-hawamidiyah. That covers rent, food, utilities, transport, and enough left over to feel settled – not just surviving.

Rent is clearly cheaper in Al-hawamidiyah, especially for central apartments: a one-bedroom in the center costs $127 there versus $995 in Playa del Carmen.

A mid-range dinner for two costs $44 in Playa del Carmen and $17 in Al-hawamidiyah. That’s a good indicator of the overall restaurant and café pricing gap between the two cities.

Groceries cost about 118% more in Playa del Carmen, though the gap depends on what you buy.

A $800 monthly budget goes further in Al-hawamidiyah, where all-in costs run around $430, than in Playa del Carmen at $1,202. In Al-hawamidiyah it covers expenses comfortably, while in Playa del Carmen it requires careful planning or may not stretch far enough.

Families tend to lean toward Al-hawamidiyah – lower housing and cheaper childcare make a real difference, especially on a single income or when paying for private education.