Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Playa del Carmen and Algeciras

For one person, living is cheaper in Algeciras: $1,125 a month against $1,210 in Playa del Carmen, rent and utilities included – about $1,000 less a year. The total is higher in Playa del Carmen despite lower rent and utilities.

59

Cost of Living Index in Playa del Carmen
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Playa del Carmen Living Index
55

Cost of Living Index in Algeciras
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Algeciras Living Index

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Playa del Carmen

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,210

/mo nomad

Algeciras

🇪🇸 Spain

$1,125

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,210 in Playa del Carmen versus $1,125 in Algeciras.

Playa del Carmen $1,210
Algeciras $1,125

Estimated couple costs with rent: $2,113 in Playa del Carmen versus $1,800 in Algeciras.

Playa del Carmen $2,113
Algeciras $1,800

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $3,016 in Playa del Carmen versus $2,476 in Algeciras.

Playa del Carmen $3,016
Algeciras $2,476

Living in Playa del Carmen is roughly 8% more expensive than in Algeciras, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

Both cities sit below the global median: Playa del Carmen 10% lower, Algeciras 17% lower.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$10.76 MX$199

$8.88 €7.90

21.17%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$43.03 MX$795

$36.75 €32.69

17.09%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$11.79 MX$218

$6.50 €5.78

81.38%

Cappuccino

$3.87 MX$71.4

$1.70 €1.51

127.65%

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

$1.37 MX$25.29

$1.32 €1.18

3.79%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.84 MX$15.44

$1.15 €1.02

-26.96%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.10 MX$57.3

$2.55 €2.27

21.57%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$5.07 MX$93.6

$4.01 €3.57

26.43%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.44 MX$26.55

$1.21 €1.08

19.01%

White Bread (500g)

$2.23 MX$41.23

$1.18 €1.05

88.98%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.47 MX$27.17

$1.68 €1.49

-12.50%

Eggs

$2.53 MX$46.71

$3.35 €2.98

-24.48%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$7.30 MX$135

$11.07 €9.84

-34.06%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$7.86 MX$145

$7.49 €6.66

4.94%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$12.79 MX$236

$14.35 €12.76

-10.87%

Apples (1kg)

$2.90 MX$53.6

$2.15 €1.92

34.88%

Banana (1kg)

$1.44 MX$26.53

$1.96 €1.74

-26.53%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.55 MX$47.07

$1.76 €1.56

44.89%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.06 MX$38.03

$2.07 €1.84

-0.48%

Potato (1kg)

$2.00 MX$36.97

$1.52 €1.36

31.58%

Onion (1kg)

$2.01 MX$37.07

$1.34 €1.19

50.00%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.19 MX$22.02

$1.06 €0.95

12.26%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.26 MX$23.23

$0.65 €0.58

93.85%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$4.40 MX$81.4

$6.45 €5.73

-31.78%

Wine (Bottle)

$9.59 MX$177

$4.79 €4.26

100.21%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.59 MX$29.41

$1.10 €0.98

44.55%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.81 MX$51.9

$1.68 €1.49

67.26%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.57 MX$10.47

$1.53 €1.36

-62.75%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$27.82 MX$514

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$4.98 MX$92.1

$3.82 €3.39

30.37%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$3.50 MX$64.6

$1.43 €1.27

144.76%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$5.40 MX$99.8

$28.17 €25.05

-80.83%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.47 MX$27.08

$1.62 €1.44

-9.26%

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

$21.0K MX$387.8K

$30.4K €27.1K

-31.08%

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

$23.9K MX$441.8K

$28.5K €25.3K

-16.12%

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

$84.2 MX$1,556

$86.3 €76.7

-2.37%

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

$23.99 MX$443

$11.05 €9.83

117.10%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$29.02 MX$536

$29.37 €26.12

-1.19%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$63.0 MX$1,164

$35.21 €31.31

78.87%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$29.14 MX$539

Cinema Ticket

$4.94 MX$91.3

$9.87 €8.78

-49.95%

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

$204 MX$3,763

$338 €301

-39.83%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$3,941 MX$72.8K

$7,905 €7,030

-50.14%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$43.60 MX$806

$65.2 €58.0

-33.13%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$43.12 MX$797

$32.83 €29.20

31.34%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$75.8 MX$1,400

$124 €110

-38.84%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$88.6 MX$1,637

$135 €120

-34.14%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,008 MX$18.6K

$472 €420

113.53%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$374 MX$6,911

$389 €346

-3.79%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,708 MX$31.6K

$948 €843

80.27%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,106 MX$20.4K

$805 €716

37.41%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$3,944 MX$72.9K

$2,135 €1,899

84.75%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$6,169 MX$114.0K

$1,741 €1,548

254.38%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$754 MX$13.9K

$1,876 €1,669

-59.80%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

11.45

3.32

244.88%

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

Last update for Playa del Carmen: October 10, 2026

Last update for Algeciras: October 11, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Playa del Carmen

$374 30.9%

Algeciras

$389 34.6% 3.9% $15

Groceries & Markets

Playa del Carmen

$258 21.4%

Algeciras

$235 20.9% 8.9% $23

Eating Out

Playa del Carmen

$202 16.7%

Algeciras

$142 12.6% 30% $61

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Playa del Carmen

$137 11.3%

Algeciras

$127 11.3% 7.7% $11

Clothing & Footwear

Playa del Carmen

$113 9.3%

Algeciras

$160 14.3% 42% $47

Sport & Entertainment

Playa del Carmen

$73 6%

Algeciras

$55 4.9% 24.6% $18

Getting Around

Playa del Carmen

$53 4.3%

Algeciras

$17 * 1.5% 67.5% $35

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 $1,008 in Playa del Carmen and $472 in Algeciras. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Algeciras pays 149% more on average while also being the cheaper of the two. The combined effect is a noticeably stronger local purchasing power.

Dining out: $43.00 in Playa del Carmen vs $37.00 in Algeciras for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $258 vs $235 per month, with Algeciras cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇲🇽 Playa del Carmen

🇪🇸 Algeciras

🕒 Local time

15:30 3:30 PM

22:30 10:30 PM

7 h ahead of Playa del Carmen

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

149,923

123,639

💱 Currency

Mexican Peso MXN $

Euro EUR €

📈 Exchange rate

100 MXN = 5.41 USD

100 MXN = 4.81 EUR

1 EUR = 1.12 USD

Exchange rates and currency converter

EUR, USD to MXN – Mexican Peso Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇲🇽 Mexican Peso ($)

Mexican Peso exchange rates as of October 17, 2026: 1 USD = 18.48 MXN (100 MXN = 5.41 USD). 1 EUR = 20.78 MXN (100 MXN = 4.81 EUR).

Euro exchange rates as of October 17, 2026: 1 USD = 0.889 EUR (1 EUR = 1.12 USD).

USD to MXN in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Playa del Carmen Algeciras 7,950 km ≈ 10 h nonstop flight

From you

Playa del Carmen
Algeciras

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 Algeciras: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Playa del Carmen and Algeciras differ by about 8% in total monthly costs ($1,210 vs $1,125 including rent). Algeciras is meaningfully more affordable – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

On paper, salaries run 149% lower in Algeciras. 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: $1,008 in Playa del Carmen versus $472 in Algeciras. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $204 in Playa del Carmen versus $338 in Algeciras. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Dining out is cheaper in Algeciras – a meal for two runs $37.00 versus $43.00 in Playa del Carmen. If you eat out regularly, this makes a real dent in your monthly spending.

At $1,125 in Algeciras versus $1,210 in Playa del Carmen, a $2,000 budget is realistic in Algeciras but tight or insufficient in Playa del Carmen. The gap between the two cities makes Algeciras 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.

Safety-wise, Playa del Carmen and Algeciras are on par. Petty crime is typical for cities this size, and most residents feel comfortable going about their daily routines in either place.

Expats usually find Algeciras gentler on the wallet – expenses run 8% less than in Playa del Carmen. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.