Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Playa del Carmen and Burnie

For one person, living is cheaper in Playa del Carmen: $1,204 a month against $1,651 in Burnie, rent and utilities included – about $5,400 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

58

Cost of Living Index in Playa del Carmen
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Playa del Carmen Living Index
79

Cost of Living Index in Burnie
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Burnie Living Index

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Playa del Carmen

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,204

/mo nomad

Burnie

🇦🇺 Australia

$1,651

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,204 in Playa del Carmen versus $1,651 in Burnie.

Playa del Carmen $1,204
Burnie $1,651

Estimated couple costs with rent: $2,082 in Playa del Carmen versus $2,475 in Burnie.

Playa del Carmen $2,082
Burnie $2,475

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $2,959 in Playa del Carmen versus $3,298 in Burnie.

Playa del Carmen $2,959
Burnie $3,298

Living in Playa del Carmen costs roughly 27% less than in Burnie, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in groceries.

The two cities straddle the global median: Playa del Carmen is 12% below, Burnie is 21% above.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$10.92 MX$205

$18.39 A$26.14

-40.62%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$43.37 MX$814

$91.0 A$129

-52.35%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$11.78 MX$221

$5.74 A$8.15

105.23%

Cappuccino

$3.81 MX$71.5

$3.95 A$5.62

-3.54%

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

$1.28 MX$24.07

$3.51 A$4.99

-63.53%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.78 MX$14.70

$1.73 A$2.46

-54.91%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.17 MX$59.5

$4.10 A$5.83

-22.68%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.93 MX$92.7

$5.98 A$8.51

-17.56%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.41 MX$26.40

$1.79 A$2.54

-21.23%

White Bread (500g)

$2.22 MX$41.62

$2.42 A$3.44

-8.26%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.42 MX$26.61

$1.83 A$2.60

-22.40%

Eggs

$2.52 MX$47.36

$5.14 A$7.31

-50.97%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$7.26 MX$136

$10.07 A$14.31

-27.90%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$7.70 MX$144

$6.48 A$9.21

18.83%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$12.69 MX$238

$17.21 A$24.46

-26.26%

Apples (1kg)

$2.78 MX$52.3

$2.81 A$4.00

-1.07%

Banana (1kg)

$1.37 MX$25.68

$2.87 A$4.08

-52.26%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.55 MX$47.89

$2.07 A$2.95

23.19%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.12 MX$39.86

$2.87 A$4.08

-26.13%

Potato (1kg)

$1.94 MX$36.39

$2.64 A$3.75

-26.52%

Onion (1kg)

$1.89 MX$35.41

$2.13 A$3.03

-11.27%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.15 MX$21.53

$2.09 A$2.97

-44.98%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.18 MX$22.13

$1.63 A$2.32

-27.61%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$4.30 MX$80.6

$36.32 A$51.6

-88.16%

Wine (Bottle)

$9.95 MX$187

$14.68 A$20.87

-32.22%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.58 MX$29.73

$3.46 A$4.92

-54.34%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.67 MX$50.1

$5.44 A$7.73

-50.92%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.55 MX$10.39

$1.99 A$2.83

-72.36%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$26.62 MX$500

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$4.97 MX$93.3

$2.68 A$3.80

85.45%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$3.33 MX$62.5

$2.06 A$2.92

61.65%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$5.36 MX$101

$42.35 A$60.2

-87.34%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.44 MX$27.11

$1.31 A$1.86

9.92%

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

$20.7K MX$388.0K

$28.5K A$40.4K

-27.38%

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

$23.5K MX$440.5K

$31.6K A$44.9K

-25.79%

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

$84.8 MX$1,592

$208 A$296

-59.30%

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

$23.41 MX$439

$20.79 A$29.55

12.60%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$28.66 MX$538

$49.42 A$70.2

-42.01%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$57.1 MX$1,071

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$28.91 MX$543

Cinema Ticket

$5.14 MX$96.5

$13.97 A$19.86

-63.21%

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

$207 MX$3,878

$1,990 A$2,828

-89.62%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$3,927 MX$73.7K

$21.0K A$29.9K

-81.33%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$43.35 MX$814

$78.4 A$111

-44.70%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$41.44 MX$778

$24.30 A$34.53

70.53%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$74.2 MX$1,393

$108 A$154

-31.41%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$89.3 MX$1,676

$94.2 A$134

-5.26%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$980 MX$18.4K

$815 A$1,158

20.22%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$381 MX$7,150

$586 A$832

-34.98%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,708 MX$32.1K

$1,157 A$1,644

47.65%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,075 MX$20.2K

$828 A$1,177

29.87%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$3,943 MX$74.0K

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$6,158 MX$115.6K

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$735 MX$13.8K

$5,173 A$7,353

-85.80%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

11.45

5.6

104.46%

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 Burnie: October 26, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Playa del Carmen

$381 31.6%

Burnie

$586 35.5% 53.8% $205

Groceries & Markets

Playa del Carmen

$255 21.2%

Burnie

$336 20.3% 31.8% $81

Eating Out

Playa del Carmen

$202 16.8%

Burnie

$265 16.1% 31.1% $63

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Playa del Carmen

$137 11.4%

Burnie

$279 16.9% 104% $142

Clothing & Footwear

Playa del Carmen

$112 9.3%

Burnie

$137 8.3% 22.9% $26

Sport & Entertainment

Playa del Carmen

$67 5.6%

Burnie

$28 * 1.7% 58.5% $39

Getting Around

Playa del Carmen

$50 4.2%

Burnie

$21 * 1.3% 58.6% $30

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 $980 in Playa del Carmen and $815 in Burnie. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Burnie pays about 7 times more on average. How far that income stretches comes down to housing choices and lifestyle.

Dining out: $43 in Playa del Carmen vs $91 in Burnie for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $255 vs $336 per month, with Playa del Carmen cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇲🇽 Playa del Carmen

🇦🇺 Burnie

🕒 Local time

09:02 9:02 AM

01:02 1:02 AM

16 h ahead of Playa del Carmen

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

149,923

20,267

💱 Currency

Mexican Peso MXN $

Australian Dollar AUD $

📈 Exchange rate

100 MXN = 5.33 USD

100 MXN = 4.77 EUR

1 AUD = 0.704 USD

1 AUD = 0.63 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

AUD, USD, EUR to MXN – Mexican Peso Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇲🇽 Mexican Peso ($)

Mexican Peso exchange rates as of October 31, 2026: 1 USD = 18.77 MXN (100 MXN = 5.33 USD). 1 EUR = 20.96 MXN (100 MXN = 4.77 EUR).

Australian Dollar exchange rates as of October 31, 2026: 1 USD = 1.42 AUD (1 AUD = 0.704 USD). 1 EUR = 1.59 AUD (1 AUD = 0.63 EUR).

USD to MXN in detail →

On the map

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Highest

Between locations

Playa del Carmen Burnie 14,570 km ≈ 19 h nonstop flight

From you

Playa del Carmen
Burnie

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 Burnie: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Playa del Carmen is about 27% cheaper overall, especially in groceries, eating out, and clothing. That difference adds up to real monthly savings that compound significantly over time.

On paper, salaries run 86% 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 $815 in Burnie. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Supermarket bills run roughly 32% higher in Burnie. For households that cook at home regularly, that difference adds up over a month.

All in, you’ll spend $1,204 per month in Playa del Carmen versus $1,651 in Burnie – Playa del Carmen is about 27% cheaper, which adds up to real savings over time.

At $1,204 in Playa del Carmen versus $1,651 in Burnie, a $1,500 budget is realistic in Playa del Carmen but tight or insufficient in Burnie. The gap between the two cities makes Playa del Carmen 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.

It comes down to priorities – Playa del Carmen wins on affordability, Burnie on earning potential. Factor in climate, language, visa rules, and proximity to places that matter to you before deciding.