Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Playa del Carmen and Alexandria, Romania

Name: Alexandria
Address: Alexandria, RO

For one person, living is cheaper in Alexandria: $866 a month against $1,204 in Playa del Carmen, rent and utilities included – about $4,100 less a year. Other living expenses account for most of the difference.

58

Cost of Living Index in Playa del Carmen
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Playa del Carmen Living Index
42

Cost of Living Index in Alexandria
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Alexandria Living Index

Jump to prices

Playa del Carmen

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,204

/mo nomad

Alexandria

🇷🇴 Romania

$866

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Playa del Carmen and in Alexandria

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 Alexandria actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,204 in Playa del Carmen versus $866 in Alexandria.

Playa del Carmen $1,204
Alexandria $866

Estimated couple costs with rent: $2,082 in Playa del Carmen versus $1,322 in Alexandria.

Playa del Carmen $2,082
Alexandria $1,322

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $2,959 in Playa del Carmen versus $1,778 in Alexandria.

Playa del Carmen $2,959
Alexandria $1,778

Living in Playa del Carmen is roughly 39% more expensive than in Alexandria, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in groceries.

Both cities sit below the global median: Playa del Carmen 12% lower, Alexandria 36% lower.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$10.92 MX$203

$8.43 RON 40.43

29.54%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$43.37 MX$808

$29.79 RON 143

45.59%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$11.78 MX$219

$7.52 RON 36.06

56.65%

Cappuccino

$3.81 MX$71.0

$1.69 RON 8.12

125.44%

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

$1.28 MX$23.89

$1.75 RON 8.41

-26.86%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.78 MX$14.58

$1.43 RON 6.87

-45.45%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.17 MX$59.0

$2.07 RON 9.92

53.14%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.93 MX$91.9

$2.47 RON 11.84

99.60%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.41 MX$26.20

$1.43 RON 6.87

-1.40%

White Bread (500g)

$2.22 MX$41.30

$0.87 RON 4.17

155.17%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.42 MX$26.40

$1.13 RON 5.43

25.66%

Eggs

$2.52 MX$47.00

$2.11 RON 10.11

19.43%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$7.26 MX$135

$5.07 RON 24.33

43.20%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$7.70 MX$143

$4.41 RON 21.13

74.60%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$12.69 MX$236

$7.92 RON 38.00

60.23%

Apples (1kg)

$2.78 MX$51.9

$0.91 RON 4.34

205.49%

Banana (1kg)

$1.37 MX$25.49

$1.18 RON 5.66

16.10%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.55 MX$47.52

$0.97 RON 4.66

162.89%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.12 MX$39.55

$0.92 RON 4.40

130.43%

Potato (1kg)

$1.94 MX$36.11

$0.65 RON 3.10

198.46%

Onion (1kg)

$1.89 MX$35.13

$0.62 RON 2.95

204.84%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.15 MX$21.36

$0.75 RON 3.61

53.33%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.18 MX$21.96

$0.83 RON 3.96

42.17%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$4.30 MX$80.0

$5.29 RON 25.35

-18.71%

Wine (Bottle)

$9.95 MX$185

$5.21 RON 24.98

90.98%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.58 MX$29.50

$0.95 RON 4.57

66.32%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.67 MX$49.76

$1.07 RON 5.12

149.53%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.55 MX$10.31

$0.65 RON 3.14

-15.38%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$26.62 MX$496

$41.63 RON 200

-36.06%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$4.97 MX$92.6

$0.43 RON 2.07

1055.81%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$3.33 MX$62.1

$0.40 RON 1.92

732.50%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$5.36 MX$99.8

$5.33 RON 25.54

0.56%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.44 MX$26.90

$1.76 RON 8.45

-18.18%

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

$20.7K MX$385.0K

$16.5K RON 79.1K

25.24%

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

$23.5K MX$437.2K

$22.4K RON 107.4K

4.74%

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

$84.8 MX$1,580

$116 RON 555

-26.79%

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

$23.41 MX$436

$5.26 RON 25.24

345.06%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$28.66 MX$534

$7.55 RON 36.20

279.60%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$57.1 MX$1,063

$57.9 RON 278

-1.47%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$28.91 MX$539

$24.58 RON 118

17.62%

Cinema Ticket

$5.14 MX$95.7

$6.09 RON 29.22

-15.60%

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

$207 MX$3,848

$318 RON 1,524

-35.02%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$3,927 MX$73.2K

$6,749 RON 32.4K

-41.81%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$43.35 MX$808

$52.0 RON 249

-16.59%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$41.44 MX$772

$22.29 RON 107

85.91%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$74.2 MX$1,382

$62.0 RON 297

19.70%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$89.3 MX$1,663

$63.6 RON 305

40.42%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$980 MX$18.2K

$309 RON 1,480

217.46%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$381 MX$7,095

$242 RON 1,159

57.61%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,708 MX$31.8K

$573 RON 2,748

198.02%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,075 MX$20.0K

$411 RON 1,973

161.28%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$3,943 MX$73.5K

$1,269 RON 6,086

210.71%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$6,158 MX$114.7K

$793 RON 3,805

676.06%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$735 MX$13.7K

$846 RON 4,057

-13.17%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

11.45

6.73

70.13%

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

Last update for Playa del Carmen: October 25, 2026

Last update for Alexandria: October 26, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Playa del Carmen

$381 31.6%

Alexandria

$242 27.9% 36.6% $139

Groceries & Markets

Playa del Carmen

$255 21.2%

Alexandria

$151 17.4% 40.9% $104

Eating Out

Playa del Carmen

$202 16.8%

Alexandria

$138 16% 31.6% $64

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Playa del Carmen

$137 11.4%

Alexandria

$129 14.9% 6% $8.2

Clothing & Footwear

Playa del Carmen

$112 9.3%

Alexandria

$90 10.4% 19.5% $22

Sport & Entertainment

Playa del Carmen

$67 5.6%

Alexandria

$70 8.1% 4.1% $2.8

Getting Around

Playa del Carmen

$50 4.2%

Alexandria

$47 5.4% 7.5% $3.8

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $980 in Playa del Carmen and $309 in Alexandria. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Alexandria pays 15% more on average while also being the cheaper of the two. The combined effect is a noticeably stronger local purchasing power.

Dining out: $43 in Playa del Carmen vs $30 in Alexandria for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $255 vs $151 per month, with Alexandria cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇲🇽 Playa del Carmen

🇷🇴 Alexandria

🕒 Local time

23:28 11:28 PM

06:28 6:28 AM

7 h ahead of Playa del Carmen

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

149,923

45,434

💱 Currency

Mexican Peso MXN $

Romanian Leu RON lei

📈 Exchange rate

100 MXN = 5.37 USD

100 MXN = 4.82 EUR

1 RON = 0.209 USD

1 RON = 0.187 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

RON, USD, EUR to MXN – Mexican Peso Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇲🇽 Mexican Peso ($)

Mexican Peso exchange rates as of October 29, 2026: 1 USD = 18.63 MXN (100 MXN = 5.37 USD). 1 EUR = 20.74 MXN (100 MXN = 4.82 EUR).

Romanian Leu exchange rates as of October 29, 2026: 1 USD = 4.8 RON (1 RON = 0.209 USD). 1 EUR = 5.34 RON (1 RON = 0.187 EUR).

USD to MXN in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Playa del Carmen Alexandria 10,080 km ≈ 13 h nonstop flight

From you

Playa del Carmen
Alexandria

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 Alexandria: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Alexandria wins on cost – living expenses run 28% lower than in Playa del Carmen. Housing and daily spending are where you’ll feel the difference most, making Alexandria the obvious pick if budget is a priority.

On paper, salaries run 13% lower in Playa del Carmen. That’s worth factoring in alongside costs, though remote workers earning in a stronger currency may not notice the difference at all.

Rent for a central apartment: $980 in Playa del Carmen versus $309 in Alexandria. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

All in, you’ll spend $1,204 per month in Playa del Carmen versus $866 in Alexandria – Alexandria is about 28% cheaper, which adds up to real savings over time.

A monthly transit pass in Playa del Carmen runs roughly 36% less than in Alexandria. The price difference matters if you commute daily and watch your budget.

Both cities are expensive relative to $800. Alexandria is the more realistic option, but even there you’ll need to be disciplined with housing, food, and fun money.

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.