Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Playa del Carmen and Chaguanas

For one person, living is cheaper in Playa del Carmen: $1,210 a month against $1,287 in Chaguanas, rent and utilities included – about $920 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
62

Cost of Living Index in Chaguanas
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Chaguanas Living Index

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Playa del Carmen

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,210

/mo nomad

Chaguanas

🇹🇹 Trinidad And Tobago

$1,287

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,210 in Playa del Carmen versus $1,287 in Chaguanas.

Playa del Carmen $1,210
Chaguanas $1,287

Estimated couple costs with rent: $2,113 in Playa del Carmen versus $2,082 in Chaguanas.

Playa del Carmen $2,113
Chaguanas $2,082

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $3,016 in Playa del Carmen versus $2,876 in Chaguanas.

Playa del Carmen $3,016
Chaguanas $2,876

Living in Playa del Carmen costs roughly 6% less than in Chaguanas, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in groceries.

Both cities sit below the global median: Playa del Carmen 10% lower, Chaguanas 5% lower.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$10.76 MX$199

$10.39 TTD 69.9

3.56%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$43.03 MX$795

$59.9 TTD 403

-28.14%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$11.79 MX$218

$8.18 TTD 55.0

44.13%

Cappuccino

$3.87 MX$71.4

$3.32 TTD 22.32

16.57%

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

$1.37 MX$25.29

$1.26 TTD 8.44

8.73%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.84 MX$15.44

$1.00 TTD 6.71

-16.00%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.10 MX$57.3

$1.73 TTD 11.64

79.19%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$5.07 MX$93.6

$2.63 TTD 17.69

92.78%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.44 MX$26.55

$2.39 TTD 16.07

-39.75%

White Bread (500g)

$2.23 MX$41.23

$2.14 TTD 14.36

4.21%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.47 MX$27.17

$2.17 TTD 14.61

-32.26%

Eggs

$2.53 MX$46.71

$3.87 TTD 26.01

-34.63%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$7.30 MX$135

$7.33 TTD 49.31

-0.41%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$7.86 MX$145

$8.03 TTD 54.0

-2.12%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$12.79 MX$236

$11.80 TTD 79.4

8.39%

Apples (1kg)

$2.90 MX$53.6

$2.97 TTD 19.98

-2.36%

Banana (1kg)

$1.44 MX$26.53

$3.01 TTD 20.23

-52.16%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.55 MX$47.07

$2.86 TTD 19.22

-10.84%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.06 MX$38.03

$5.01 TTD 33.68

-58.88%

Potato (1kg)

$2.00 MX$36.97

$2.47 TTD 16.59

-19.03%

Onion (1kg)

$2.01 MX$37.07

$2.16 TTD 14.55

-6.94%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.19 MX$22.02

$1.99 TTD 13.37

-40.20%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.26 MX$23.23

$1.29 TTD 8.68

-2.33%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$4.40 MX$81.4

$2.89 TTD 19.41

52.25%

Wine (Bottle)

$9.59 MX$177

$19.92 TTD 134

-51.86%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.59 MX$29.41

$1.91 TTD 12.87

-16.75%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.81 MX$51.9

$2.56 TTD 17.19

9.77%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.57 MX$10.47

$0.76 TTD 5.10

-25.00%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$27.82 MX$514

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$4.98 MX$92.1

$2.21 TTD 14.87

125.34%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$3.50 MX$64.6

$1.33 TTD 8.95

163.16%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$5.40 MX$99.8

$14.46 TTD 97.3

-62.66%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.47 MX$27.08

$1.12 TTD 7.52

31.25%

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

$21.0K MX$387.8K

$33.1K TTD 223.0K

-36.68%

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

$23.9K MX$441.8K

$33.6K TTD 226.2K

-28.91%

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

$84.2 MX$1,556

$103 TTD 691

-18.03%

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

$23.99 MX$443

$38.71 TTD 260

-38.03%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$29.02 MX$536

$51.3 TTD 345

-43.44%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$63.0 MX$1,164

$51.3 TTD 345

22.82%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$29.14 MX$539

$44.48 TTD 299

-34.49%

Cinema Ticket

$4.94 MX$91.3

$8.58 TTD 57.7

-42.42%

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

$204 MX$3,763

$304 TTD 2,042

-32.93%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$3,941 MX$72.8K

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$43.60 MX$806

$45.03 TTD 303

-3.18%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$43.12 MX$797

$42.30 TTD 285

1.94%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$75.8 MX$1,400

$98.7 TTD 664

-23.26%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$88.6 MX$1,637

$106 TTD 716

-16.76%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,008 MX$18.6K

$463 TTD 3,112

117.95%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$374 MX$6,911

$386 TTD 2,597

-3.12%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,708 MX$31.6K

$948 TTD 6,376

80.25%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,106 MX$20.4K

$759 TTD 5,106

45.70%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$3,944 MX$72.9K

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$6,169 MX$114.0K

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$754 MX$13.9K

$773 TTD 5,203

-2.48%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

11.45

129.00%

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 Chaguanas: October 10, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Playa del Carmen

$374 30.9%

Chaguanas

$386 30% 3.2% $12

Groceries & Markets

Playa del Carmen

$258 21.4%

Chaguanas

$326 25.3% 26.1% $68

Eating Out

Playa del Carmen

$202 16.7%

Chaguanas

$170 13.2% 15.8% $32

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Playa del Carmen

$137 11.3%

Chaguanas

$193 15% 40.5% $56

Clothing & Footwear

Playa del Carmen

$113 9.3%

Chaguanas

$132 10.2% 16.5% $19

Sport & Entertainment

Playa del Carmen

$73 6%

Chaguanas

$68 5.3% 6.1% $4.4

Getting Around

Playa del Carmen

$53 4.3%

Chaguanas

$12 * 0.9% 77.4% $41

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 $463 in Chaguanas. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Chaguanas pays 3% 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 $60.0 in Chaguanas for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $258 vs $326 per month, with Playa del Carmen cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇲🇽 Playa del Carmen

🇹🇹 Chaguanas

🕒 Local time

08:31 8:31 AM

09:31 9:31 AM

1 h ahead of Playa del Carmen

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

149,923

83,489

💱 Currency

Mexican Peso MXN $

Trinidad and Tobago Dollar TTD $

📈 Exchange rate

100 MXN = 5.41 USD

100 MXN = 4.81 EUR

1 TTD = 0.149 USD

1 TTD = 0.132 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

TTD, 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).

Trinidad and Tobago Dollar exchange rates as of October 18, 2026: 1 USD = 6.73 TTD (1 TTD = 0.149 USD). 1 EUR = 7.56 TTD (1 TTD = 0.132 EUR).

USD to MXN in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Playa del Carmen Chaguanas 2,970 km ≈ 4 h 15 min nonstop flight

From you

Playa del Carmen
Chaguanas

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 Chaguanas: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Playa del Carmen wins on cost – living expenses run 6% lower than in Chaguanas. 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 3% lower in Chaguanas. 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 $463 in Chaguanas. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

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

All in, you'll spend $1,210 per month in Playa del Carmen versus $1,287 in Chaguanas – a 6% gap that adds up to real savings over time for anyone picking the cheaper option.

At $1,210 in Playa del Carmen versus $1,287 in Chaguanas, a $1,500 budget is realistic in Playa del Carmen but tight or insufficient in Chaguanas. 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 Chaguanas 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 6% less than in Chaguanas. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.