Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Playa del Carmen and Avila

For one person, living is cheaper in Playa del Carmen: $1,210 a month against $1,448 in Avila, rent and utilities included – about $2,900 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

59

Cost of Living Index in Playa del Carmen
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Playa del Carmen Living Index
70

Cost of Living Index in Avila
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Avila Living Index

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Playa del Carmen

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,210

/mo nomad

Avila

🇪🇸 Spain

$1,448

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,210 in Playa del Carmen versus $1,448 in Avila.

Playa del Carmen $1,210
Avila $1,448

Estimated couple costs with rent: $2,113 in Playa del Carmen versus $2,146 in Avila.

Playa del Carmen $2,113
Avila $2,146

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $3,016 in Playa del Carmen versus $2,845 in Avila.

Playa del Carmen $3,016
Avila $2,845

Living in Playa del Carmen costs roughly 16% less than in Avila, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

The two cities straddle the global median: Playa del Carmen is 10% below, Avila is 7% above.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$10.76 MX$199

$17.09 €15.21

-37.04%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$43.03 MX$795

$61.5 €54.7

-29.98%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$11.79 MX$218

$11.37 €10.11

3.69%

Cappuccino

$3.87 MX$71.4

$2.11 €1.87

83.41%

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

$1.37 MX$25.29

$3.29 €2.93

-58.36%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.84 MX$15.44

$1.92 €1.71

-56.25%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.10 MX$57.3

$3.31 €2.94

-6.34%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$5.07 MX$93.6

$4.47 €3.98

13.42%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.44 MX$26.55

$1.18 €1.05

22.03%

White Bread (500g)

$2.23 MX$41.23

$0.82 €0.73

171.95%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.47 MX$27.17

$1.48 €1.32

-0.68%

Eggs

$2.53 MX$46.71

$2.99 €2.66

-15.38%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$7.30 MX$135

$25.41 €22.60

-71.27%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$7.86 MX$145

$4.27 €3.80

84.07%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$12.79 MX$236

$10.04 €8.93

27.39%

Apples (1kg)

$2.90 MX$53.6

$2.70 €2.40

7.41%

Banana (1kg)

$1.44 MX$26.53

$1.25 €1.12

15.20%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.55 MX$47.07

$2.21 €1.97

15.38%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.06 MX$38.03

$5.04 €4.48

-59.13%

Potato (1kg)

$2.00 MX$36.97

$2.15 €1.91

-6.98%

Onion (1kg)

$2.01 MX$37.07

$1.95 €1.73

3.08%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.19 MX$22.02

$1.25 €1.11

-4.80%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.26 MX$23.23

$0.56 €0.50

125.00%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$4.40 MX$81.4

$6.21 €5.52

-29.15%

Wine (Bottle)

$9.59 MX$177

$3.00 €2.67

219.67%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.59 MX$29.41

$1.03 €0.92

54.37%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.81 MX$51.9

$2.24 €2.00

25.45%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.57 MX$10.47

$1.25 €1.12

-54.40%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$27.82 MX$514

$33.01 €29.36

-15.72%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$4.98 MX$92.1

$4.37 €3.89

13.96%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$3.50 MX$64.6

$2.19 €1.94

59.82%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$5.40 MX$99.8

$23.41 €20.82

-76.93%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.47 MX$27.08

$1.79 €1.59

-17.88%

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

$21.0K MX$387.8K

$35.3K €31.4K

-40.59%

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

$23.9K MX$441.8K

$29.5K €26.3K

-19.10%

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

$84.2 MX$1,556

$75.0 €66.7

12.35%

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

$23.99 MX$443

$16.61 €14.77

44.43%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$29.02 MX$536

$25.95 €23.08

11.83%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$63.0 MX$1,164

$40.25 €35.80

56.47%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$29.14 MX$539

$15.55 €13.83

87.40%

Cinema Ticket

$4.94 MX$91.3

$8.76 €7.79

-43.61%

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

$204 MX$3,763

$177 €158

14.72%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$3,941 MX$72.8K

$6,058 €5,389

-34.95%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$43.60 MX$806

$72.3 €64.3

-39.66%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$43.12 MX$797

$35.53 €31.60

21.36%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$75.8 MX$1,400

$76.5 €68.1

-0.95%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$88.6 MX$1,637

$94.6 €84.2

-6.39%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,008 MX$18.6K

$817 €726

23.48%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$374 MX$6,911

$593 €527

-36.90%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,708 MX$31.6K

$1,029 €915

66.01%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,106 MX$20.4K

$779 €693

42.00%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$3,944 MX$72.9K

$2,363 €2,102

66.90%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$6,169 MX$114.0K

$1,743 €1,550

253.98%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$754 MX$13.9K

$2,513 €2,235

-69.98%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

11.45

3.08

271.75%

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 Avila: October 10, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Playa del Carmen

$374 30.9%

Avila

$593 41% 58.5% $219

Groceries & Markets

Playa del Carmen

$258 21.4%

Avila

$258 17.8% 0% $0.1

Eating Out

Playa del Carmen

$202 16.7%

Avila

$242 16.8% 19.9% $40

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Playa del Carmen

$137 11.3%

Avila

$118 8.1% 14.4% $20

Clothing & Footwear

Playa del Carmen

$113 9.3%

Avila

$126 8.7% 11.1% $13

Sport & Entertainment

Playa del Carmen

$73 6%

Avila

$58 4% 20.7% $15

Getting Around

Playa del Carmen

$53 4.3%

Avila

$53 3.7% 1.5% $0.8

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $1,008 in Playa del Carmen and $817 in Avila. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Avila pays 233% more on average. The extra income cushions the higher costs, though housing choices and lifestyle decide how much of the gap is truly closed.

Dining out: $43.00 in Playa del Carmen vs $61.0 in Avila for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $258 vs $258 per month, with Playa del Carmen cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇲🇽 Playa del Carmen

🇪🇸 Avila

🕒 Local time

22:03 10:03 PM

05:03 5:03 AM

7 h ahead of Playa del Carmen

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

149,923

57,741

💱 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 18, 2026: 1 USD = 18.48 MXN (100 MXN = 5.41 USD). 1 EUR = 20.77 MXN (100 MXN = 4.81 EUR).

Euro exchange rates as of October 18, 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 Avila 7,910 km ≈ 10 h nonstop flight

From you

Playa del Carmen
Avila

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 Avila: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Playa del Carmen wins on cost – living expenses run 20% lower than in Avila. Housing and daily spending are where you'll feel the difference most, making Playa del Carmen the obvious pick if budget is a priority.

On paper, salaries run 233% lower in Avila. 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 $817 in Avila. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

All in, you'll spend $1,210 per month in Playa del Carmen versus $1,448 in Avila – a 20% gap that adds up to real savings over time for anyone picking the cheaper option.

A monthly transit pass in Playa del Carmen runs roughly 19% less than in Avila. Both cities have functional networks, but the price difference matters if you're watching your budget.

At $1,210 in Playa del Carmen versus $1,448 in Avila, a $1,500 budget is realistic in Playa del Carmen but tight or insufficient in Avila. The gap between the two cities makes Playa del Carmen the clear choice for anyone on this budget.

Both work as nomad bases, but Playa del Carmen delivers better value – similar infrastructure at $1,210 monthly. If stretching your runway or maximizing savings is the goal, the price difference makes Playa del Carmen hard to pass up.

Safety-wise, Playa del Carmen and Avila 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 Playa del Carmen gentler on the wallet – expenses run 20% less than in Avila. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.