Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Playa del Carmen and Castrocaro Terme

For one person, living is cheaper in Playa del Carmen: $1,210 a month against $1,638 in Castrocaro Terme, rent and utilities included – about $5,100 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
82

Cost of Living Index in Castrocaro Terme
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Castrocaro Terme Living Index

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Playa del Carmen

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,210

/mo nomad

Castrocaro Terme

🇮🇹 Italy

$1,638

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Playa del Carmen and in Castrocaro Terme

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,210 in Playa del Carmen versus $1,638 in Castrocaro Terme.

Playa del Carmen $1,210
Castrocaro Terme $1,638

Estimated couple costs with rent: $2,113 in Playa del Carmen versus $2,462 in Castrocaro Terme.

Playa del Carmen $2,113
Castrocaro Terme $2,462

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $3,016 in Playa del Carmen versus $3,286 in Castrocaro Terme.

Playa del Carmen $3,016
Castrocaro Terme $3,286

Living in Playa del Carmen costs roughly 26% less than in Castrocaro Terme, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in groceries.

The two cities straddle the global median: Playa del Carmen is 10% below, Castrocaro Terme is 21% above.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$10.76 MX$199

$18.34 €16.32

-41.33%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$43.03 MX$795

$63.0 €56.0

-31.68%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$11.79 MX$218

$12.63 €11.24

-6.65%

Cappuccino

$3.87 MX$71.4

$1.93 €1.72

100.52%

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

$1.37 MX$25.29

$2.69 €2.39

-49.07%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.84 MX$15.44

$1.43 €1.27

-41.26%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.10 MX$57.3

$5.71 €5.08

-45.71%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$5.07 MX$93.6

$4.31 €3.84

17.63%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.44 MX$26.55

$1.44 €1.28

White Bread (500g)

$2.23 MX$41.23

$2.13 €1.90

4.69%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.47 MX$27.17

$2.52 €2.24

-41.67%

Eggs

$2.53 MX$46.71

$4.13 €3.67

-38.74%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$7.30 MX$135

$15.51 €13.80

-52.93%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$7.86 MX$145

$12.01 €10.68

-34.55%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$12.79 MX$236

$18.56 €16.51

-31.09%

Apples (1kg)

$2.90 MX$53.6

$2.72 €2.42

6.62%

Banana (1kg)

$1.44 MX$26.53

$2.43 €2.17

-40.74%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.55 MX$47.07

$2.33 €2.07

9.44%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.06 MX$38.03

$2.91 €2.59

-29.21%

Potato (1kg)

$2.00 MX$36.97

$2.05 €1.83

-2.44%

Onion (1kg)

$2.01 MX$37.07

$1.50 €1.34

34.00%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.19 MX$22.02

$1.45 €1.29

-17.93%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.26 MX$23.23

$0.60 €0.54

110.00%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$4.40 MX$81.4

$6.91 €6.15

-36.32%

Wine (Bottle)

$9.59 MX$177

$7.27 €6.47

31.91%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.59 MX$29.41

$1.83 €1.63

-13.11%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.81 MX$51.9

$2.11 €1.88

33.18%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.57 MX$10.47

$1.81 €1.61

-68.51%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$27.82 MX$514

$40.99 €36.46

-32.13%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$4.98 MX$92.1

$6.18 €5.50

-19.42%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$3.50 MX$64.6

$1.74 €1.55

101.15%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$5.40 MX$99.8

$34.32 €30.53

-84.27%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.47 MX$27.08

$2.11 €1.88

-30.33%

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

$21.0K MX$387.8K

$41.4K €36.9K

-49.35%

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

$23.9K MX$441.8K

$31.2K €27.7K

-23.32%

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

$84.2 MX$1,556

$203 €181

-58.59%

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

$23.99 MX$443

$9.08 €8.08

164.21%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$29.02 MX$536

$25.65 €22.81

13.14%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$63.0 MX$1,164

$54.2 €48.17

16.31%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$29.14 MX$539

$25.13 €22.35

15.96%

Cinema Ticket

$4.94 MX$91.3

$10.35 €9.21

-52.27%

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

$204 MX$3,763

$530 €472

-61.59%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$3,941 MX$72.8K

$11.3K €10.0K

-65.11%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$43.60 MX$806

$89.2 €79.4

-51.13%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$43.12 MX$797

$39.86 €35.46

8.18%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$75.8 MX$1,400

$92.2 €82.0

-17.78%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$88.6 MX$1,637

$138 €123

-35.94%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,008 MX$18.6K

$826 €735

22.03%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$374 MX$6,911

$512 €455

-26.88%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,708 MX$31.6K

$988 €879

72.86%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,106 MX$20.4K

$760 €676

45.63%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$3,944 MX$72.9K

$3,008 €2,675

31.15%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$6,169 MX$114.0K

$2,316 €2,060

166.36%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$754 MX$13.9K

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

11.45

3.33

243.84%

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 Castrocaro Terme: October 12, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Playa del Carmen

$374 30.9%

Castrocaro Terme

$512 31.3% 36.8% $138

Groceries & Markets

Playa del Carmen

$258 21.4%

Castrocaro Terme

$327 20% 26.4% $68

Eating Out

Playa del Carmen

$202 16.7%

Castrocaro Terme

$261 16% 29.3% $59

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Playa del Carmen

$137 11.3%

Castrocaro Terme

$238 14.5% 73.5% $101

Clothing & Footwear

Playa del Carmen

$113 9.3%

Castrocaro Terme

$162 9.9% 43.2% $49

Sport & Entertainment

Playa del Carmen

$73 6%

Castrocaro Terme

$75 4.6% 2.7% $2

Getting Around

Playa del Carmen

$53 4.3%

Castrocaro Terme

$63 3.9% 20.1% $11

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $1,008 in Playa del Carmen and $826 in Castrocaro Terme. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Dining out: $43.00 in Playa del Carmen vs $63.0 in Castrocaro Terme for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $258 vs $327 per month, with Playa del Carmen cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇲🇽 Playa del Carmen

🇮🇹 Castrocaro Terme

🕒 Local time

11:45 11:45 AM

18:45 6:45 PM

7 h ahead of Playa del Carmen

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

149,923

6,300

💱 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 Castrocaro Terme 9,110 km ≈ 12 h nonstop flight

From you

Playa del Carmen
Castrocaro Terme

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 Castrocaro Terme: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Playa del Carmen is cheaper overall, especially in groceries, eating out, and clothing. The 35% gap adds up to real monthly savings that compound significantly over time.

You'd need roughly $1,816 in Playa del Carmen and $2,456 in Castrocaro Terme to live well. The gap comes down to housing and overall price levels. Both cities are liveable on less, but these numbers represent actual comfort.

Rent for a central apartment: $1,008 in Playa del Carmen versus $826 in Castrocaro Terme. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Supermarket bills run roughly 26% higher in Castrocaro Terme. For households that cook at home regularly, that difference adds up over a month.

Dining out is cheaper in Playa del Carmen – a meal for two runs $43.00 versus $63.0 in Castrocaro Terme. If you eat out regularly, this makes a real dent in your monthly spending.

At $1,210 in Playa del Carmen versus $1,638 in Castrocaro Terme, a $1,500 budget is realistic in Playa del Carmen but tight or insufficient in Castrocaro Terme. The gap between the two cities makes Playa del Carmen the clear choice for anyone on this budget.

For families, Playa del Carmen is more practical. Housing and childcare are both notably cheaper than in Castrocaro Terme, and the savings on those two alone free up budget for education, activities, and family trips.

Safety-wise, Playa del Carmen and Castrocaro Terme 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 35% less than in Castrocaro Terme. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.