Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Playa del Carmen and Buzau

For one person, living is cheaper in Buzau: $979 a month against $1,210 in Playa del Carmen, rent and utilities included – about $2,800 less a year. Other living expenses account for most of the difference.

59

Cost of Living Index in Playa del Carmen
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Playa del Carmen Living Index
47

Cost of Living Index in Buzau
Learn more

Buzau Living Index

Jump to prices

Playa del Carmen

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,210

/mo nomad

Buzau

🇷🇴 Romania

$979

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,210 in Playa del Carmen versus $979 in Buzau.

Playa del Carmen $1,210
Buzau $979

Estimated couple costs with rent: $2,113 in Playa del Carmen versus $1,449 in Buzau.

Playa del Carmen $2,113
Buzau $1,449

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $3,016 in Playa del Carmen versus $1,919 in Buzau.

Playa del Carmen $3,016
Buzau $1,919

Living in Playa del Carmen is roughly 24% more expensive than in Buzau, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in groceries.

Both cities sit below the global median: Playa del Carmen 10% lower, Buzau 27% lower.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$10.76 MX$199

$10.42 RON 49.30

3.26%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$43.03 MX$795

$24.71 RON 117

74.14%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$11.79 MX$218

$6.30 RON 29.79

87.14%

Cappuccino

$3.87 MX$71.4

$2.02 RON 9.58

91.58%

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

$1.37 MX$25.29

$1.93 RON 9.12

-29.02%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.84 MX$15.44

$1.50 RON 7.08

-44.00%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.10 MX$57.3

$1.66 RON 7.85

86.75%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$5.07 MX$93.6

$1.71 RON 8.10

196.49%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.44 MX$26.55

$1.76 RON 8.32

-18.18%

White Bread (500g)

$2.23 MX$41.23

$1.31 RON 6.21

70.23%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.47 MX$27.17

$1.45 RON 6.84

1.38%

Eggs

$2.53 MX$46.71

$3.10 RON 14.67

-18.39%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$7.30 MX$135

$7.50 RON 35.47

-2.67%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$7.86 MX$145

$6.62 RON 31.33

18.73%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$12.79 MX$236

$11.10 RON 52.5

15.23%

Apples (1kg)

$2.90 MX$53.6

$0.95 RON 4.50

205.26%

Banana (1kg)

$1.44 MX$26.53

$1.63 RON 7.72

-11.66%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.55 MX$47.07

$1.11 RON 5.25

129.73%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.06 MX$38.03

$1.23 RON 5.83

67.48%

Potato (1kg)

$2.00 MX$36.97

$0.67 RON 3.18

198.51%

Onion (1kg)

$2.01 MX$37.07

$0.78 RON 3.68

157.69%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.19 MX$22.02

$0.48 RON 2.28

147.92%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.26 MX$23.23

$0.66 RON 3.11

90.91%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$4.40 MX$81.4

$6.24 RON 29.54

-29.49%

Wine (Bottle)

$9.59 MX$177

$6.43 RON 30.42

49.14%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.59 MX$29.41

$0.76 RON 3.58

109.21%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.81 MX$51.9

$1.43 RON 6.77

96.50%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.57 MX$10.47

$0.66 RON 3.10

-13.64%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$27.82 MX$514

$21.60 RON 102

28.80%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$4.98 MX$92.1

$0.52 RON 2.47

857.69%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$3.50 MX$64.6

$0.49 RON 2.32

614.29%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$5.40 MX$99.8

$6.19 RON 29.27

-12.76%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.47 MX$27.08

$1.65 RON 7.81

-10.91%

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

$21.0K MX$387.8K

$19.4K RON 91.7K

8.25%

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

$23.9K MX$441.8K

$21.1K RON 100.0K

13.10%

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

$84.2 MX$1,556

$119 RON 563

-29.18%

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

$23.99 MX$443

$7.87 RON 37.24

204.83%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$29.02 MX$536

$7.72 RON 36.53

275.91%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$63.0 MX$1,164

$32.03 RON 152

96.63%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$29.14 MX$539

$17.85 RON 84.5

63.25%

Cinema Ticket

$4.94 MX$91.3

$6.89 RON 32.60

-28.30%

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

$204 MX$3,763

$285 RON 1,348

-28.53%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$3,941 MX$72.8K

$6,766 RON 32.0K

-41.75%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$43.60 MX$806

$54.5 RON 258

-19.97%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$43.12 MX$797

$57.7 RON 273

-25.26%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$75.8 MX$1,400

$97.5 RON 461

-22.30%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$88.6 MX$1,637

$84.1 RON 398

5.31%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,008 MX$18.6K

$344 RON 1,629

192.85%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$374 MX$6,911

$292 RON 1,379

28.30%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,708 MX$31.6K

$606 RON 2,867

181.95%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,106 MX$20.4K

$423 RON 2,002

161.46%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$3,944 MX$72.9K

$1,475 RON 6,976

167.50%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$6,169 MX$114.0K

$1,194 RON 5,648

416.80%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$754 MX$13.9K

$850 RON 4,021

-11.26%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

11.45

6.97

64.28%

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 Buzau: October 12, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Playa del Carmen

$374 30.9%

Buzau

$292 29.8% 22.1% $82

Groceries & Markets

Playa del Carmen

$258 21.4%

Buzau

$196 20% 24.2% $63

Eating Out

Playa del Carmen

$202 16.7%

Buzau

$152 15.5% 24.9% $50

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Playa del Carmen

$137 11.3%

Buzau

$134 13.7% 2% $2.7

Clothing & Footwear

Playa del Carmen

$113 9.3%

Buzau

$132 13.5% 17% $19

Sport & Entertainment

Playa del Carmen

$73 6%

Buzau

$46 4.7% 37.1% $27

Getting Around

Playa del Carmen

$53 4.3%

Buzau

$27 2.8% 48.2% $25

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $1,008 in Playa del Carmen and $344 in Buzau. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Buzau pays 13% 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 $25.00 in Buzau for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $258 vs $196 per month, with Buzau cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇲🇽 Playa del Carmen

🇷🇴 Buzau

🕒 Local time

20:38 8:38 PM

04:38 4:38 AM

8 h ahead of Playa del Carmen

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

149,923

115,494

💱 Currency

Mexican Peso MXN $

Romanian Leu RON lei

📈 Exchange rate

100 MXN = 5.41 USD

100 MXN = 4.81 EUR

1 RON = 0.211 USD

1 RON = 0.188 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 18, 2026: 1 USD = 18.48 MXN (100 MXN = 5.41 USD). 1 EUR = 20.77 MXN (100 MXN = 4.81 EUR).

Romanian Leu exchange rates as of October 18, 2026: 1 USD = 4.73 RON (1 RON = 0.211 USD). 1 EUR = 5.32 RON (1 RON = 0.188 EUR).

USD to MXN in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Playa del Carmen Buzau 10,120 km ≈ 13 h nonstop flight

From you

Playa del Carmen
Buzau

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 Buzau: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Playa del Carmen and Buzau differ by about 24% in total monthly costs ($1,210 vs $979 including rent). Buzau is meaningfully more affordable – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

On paper, salaries run 13% lower in Buzau. 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 $344 in Buzau. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

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

Dining out is cheaper in Buzau – a meal for two runs $25.00 versus $43.00 in Playa del Carmen. If you eat out regularly, this makes a real dent in your monthly spending.

At $979 in Buzau versus $1,210 in Playa del Carmen, a $2,000 budget is realistic in Buzau but tight or insufficient in Playa del Carmen. The gap between the two cities makes Buzau 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.

Expats usually find Buzau gentler on the wallet – expenses run 24% less than in Playa del Carmen. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.