Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Playa del Carmen and Cortona

For one person, living is cheaper in Playa del Carmen: $1,204 a month against $1,433 in Cortona, rent and utilities included – about $2,700 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
69

Cost of Living Index in Cortona
Learn more

Cortona Living Index

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Playa del Carmen

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,204

/mo nomad

Cortona

🇮🇹 Italy

$1,433

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

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

A single person spends $1,204 per month in Playa del Carmen vs $1,433 in Cortona, rent included.

Playa del Carmen $1,204
Cortona $1,433

A couple spends around $2,082 per month in Playa del Carmen vs $2,197 in Cortona, rent included.

Playa del Carmen $2,082
Cortona $2,197

A family of three spends $2,959 per month in Playa del Carmen vs $2,961 in Cortona, rent included.

Playa del Carmen $2,959
Cortona $2,961

Playa del Carmen is about 16% cheaper than Cortona, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in groceries.

Playa del Carmen sits 12% below the global median, while Cortona is 5% above – they fall on opposite sides of the world average.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$10.92 MX$205

$16.79 €14.98

-34.96%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$43.37 MX$813

$67.6 €60.3

-35.82%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$11.78 MX$221

$11.36 €10.14

3.70%

Cappuccino

$3.81 MX$71.4

$2.12 €1.89

79.72%

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

$1.28 MX$24.03

$2.84 €2.54

-54.93%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.78 MX$14.67

$1.48 €1.32

-47.30%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.17 MX$59.3

$5.47 €4.88

-42.05%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.93 MX$92.5

$6.78 €6.05

-27.29%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.41 MX$26.35

$1.73 €1.54

-18.50%

White Bread (500g)

$2.22 MX$41.54

$2.20 €1.96

0.91%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.42 MX$26.56

$2.97 €2.65

-52.19%

Eggs

$2.52 MX$47.27

$4.74 €4.23

-46.84%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$7.26 MX$136

$14.81 €13.21

-50.98%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$7.70 MX$144

$12.15 €10.84

-36.63%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$12.69 MX$238

$19.44 €17.34

-34.72%

Apples (1kg)

$2.78 MX$52.2

$2.55 €2.27

9.02%

Banana (1kg)

$1.37 MX$25.64

$2.29 €2.05

-40.17%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.55 MX$47.80

$2.36 €2.11

8.05%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.12 MX$39.78

$2.39 €2.14

-11.30%

Potato (1kg)

$1.94 MX$36.32

$1.41 €1.26

37.59%

Onion (1kg)

$1.89 MX$35.34

$1.61 €1.43

17.39%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.15 MX$21.49

$1.38 €1.23

-16.67%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.18 MX$22.09

$0.55 €0.50

114.55%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$4.30 MX$80.5

$6.94 €6.19

-38.04%

Wine (Bottle)

$9.95 MX$186

$5.69 €5.08

74.87%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.58 MX$29.67

$1.59 €1.42

-0.63%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.67 MX$50.1

$2.53 €2.26

5.53%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.55 MX$10.37

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$26.62 MX$499

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$4.97 MX$93.1

$6.61 €5.90

-24.81%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$3.33 MX$62.4

$1.63 €1.45

104.29%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$5.36 MX$100

$33.47 €29.86

-83.99%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.44 MX$27.06

$2.16 €1.93

-33.33%

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

$20.7K MX$387.3K

$35.4K €31.6K

-41.63%

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

$23.5K MX$439.7K

$36.3K €32.3K

-35.28%

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

$84.8 MX$1,589

$202 €181

-58.12%

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

$23.41 MX$439

$11.25 €10.03

108.09%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$28.66 MX$537

$32.35 €28.86

-11.41%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$57.1 MX$1,069

$28.04 €25.02

103.46%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$28.91 MX$542

$11.04 €9.85

161.87%

Cinema Ticket

$5.14 MX$96.3

$11.25 €10.04

-54.31%

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

$207 MX$3,871

$478 €426

-56.78%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$3,927 MX$73.6K

$16.7K €14.9K

-76.49%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$43.35 MX$812

$72.0 €64.2

-39.77%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$41.44 MX$777

$36.82 €32.85

12.55%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$74.2 MX$1,390

$85.7 €76.5

-13.41%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$89.3 MX$1,672

$126 €113

-29.31%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$980 MX$18.4K

$864 €771

13.38%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$381 MX$7,136

$400 €357

-4.76%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,708 MX$32.0K

$1,493 €1,332

14.38%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,075 MX$20.1K

$621 €554

73.23%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$3,943 MX$73.9K

$2,315 €2,065

70.35%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$6,158 MX$115.4K

$2,804 €2,502

119.58%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$735 MX$13.8K

$3,067 €2,737

-76.05%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

11.45

3.52

225.28%

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 Cortona: October 26, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Playa del Carmen

$381 31.6%

Cortona

$400 27.9% 5% $19

Groceries & Markets

Playa del Carmen

$255 21.2%

Cortona

$326 22.7% 27.8% $71

Eating Out

Playa del Carmen

$202 16.8%

Cortona

$252 17.6% 24.5% $50

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Playa del Carmen

$137 11.4%

Cortona

$246 17.2% 79.8% $109

Clothing & Footwear

Playa del Carmen

$112 9.3%

Cortona

$144 10.1% 29.2% $33

Sport & Entertainment

Playa del Carmen

$67 5.6%

Cortona

$51 3.5% 24.9% $17

Getting Around

Playa del Carmen

$50 4.2%

Cortona

$15 * 1% 70.7% $36

Categories marked with * are only partly priced – their share counts the items that do have prices.

Cost Breakdown

A central one-bedroom costs $980 in Playa del Carmen versus $864 in Cortona. Rent is usually the largest line item in a monthly budget, so the gap here sets the tone for the overall comparison.

Salaries in Cortona are about 4.2 times higher. Purchasing power depends on which expenses matter most to you.

A mid-range dinner for two costs $43 in Playa del Carmen versus $68 in Cortona. Monthly groceries follow the same trend: $255 vs $326 – making Playa del Carmen the more affordable choice for daily food spending.

Good to know

🇲🇽 Playa del Carmen

🇮🇹 Cortona

🕒 Local time

18:31 6:31 PM

00:31 12:31 AM

6 h ahead of Playa del Carmen

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

149,923

22,450

💱 Currency

Mexican Peso MXN $

Euro EUR €

📈 Exchange rate

100 MXN = 5.34 USD

100 MXN = 4.76 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 November 2, 2026: 1 USD = 18.74 MXN (100 MXN = 5.34 USD). 1 EUR = 21 MXN (100 MXN = 4.76 EUR).

Euro exchange rates as of November 2, 2026: 1 USD = 0.892 EUR (1 EUR = 1.12 USD).

USD to MXN in detail →

On the map

Lowest

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Between locations

Playa del Carmen Cortona 9,150 km ≈ 12 h nonstop flight

From you

Playa del Carmen
Cortona

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 Cortona: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Monthly costs with rent: $1,204 in Playa del Carmen, $1,433 in Cortona – Playa del Carmen comes out roughly 16% cheaper. Outside of rent, the biggest gap is in groceries.

For a comfortable life, plan on about $1,806 per month in Playa del Carmen and $2,150 in Cortona. That covers rent, food, utilities, transport, and enough left over to feel settled – not just surviving.

Rent is clearly cheaper in Cortona, especially for central apartments: a one-bedroom in the center costs $864 there versus $980 in Playa del Carmen.

Monthly expenses with rent come to $1,204 in Playa del Carmen and $1,433 in Cortona. That makes Playa del Carmen about 16% cheaper.

Kindergarten costs $207 per month in Playa del Carmen and $478 in Cortona. For families with young kids, this one expense can tip the scales when choosing between the two cities.

It depends on your priorities. Playa del Carmen has an edge in some lifestyle areas, with costs from $1,204 in Playa del Carmen to $1,433 in Cortona. Climate, culture, job market, and personal taste all factor in.

If budget matters most, go with Playa del Carmen. If higher salaries or specific career opportunities are the priority, Cortona makes more sense. Both are solid long-term options with distinct trade-offs.