Last update: Nov 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Playa del Carmen and Denia

For one person, living is cheaper in Playa del Carmen: $1,202 a month against $1,882 in Denia, rent and utilities included – about $8,200 less a year. Higher rent and utilities in Denia outweigh lower spending on other living expenses.

57

Cost of Living Index in Playa del Carmen
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Playa del Carmen Living Index
90

Cost of Living Index in Denia
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Denia Living Index

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Playa del Carmen

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,202

/mo nomad

Denia

🇪🇸 Spain

$1,882

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,202 in Playa del Carmen versus $1,882 in Denia.

Playa del Carmen $1,202
Denia $1,882

Estimated couple costs with rent: $2,082 in Playa del Carmen versus $2,667 in Denia.

Playa del Carmen $2,082
Denia $2,667

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $2,962 in Playa del Carmen versus $3,453 in Denia.

Playa del Carmen $2,962
Denia $3,453

Living in Playa del Carmen costs roughly 36% less than in Denia, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

The two cities straddle the global median: Playa del Carmen is 11% below, Denia is 39% above.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$10.67 MX$198

$13.93 €12.41

-23.40%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$43.80 MX$813

$47.40 €42.23

-7.59%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$11.79 MX$219

$9.90 €8.82

19.09%

Cappuccino

$3.79 MX$70.3

$2.48 €2.21

52.82%

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

$1.30 MX$24.07

$2.40 €2.14

-45.83%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.83 MX$15.47

$1.86 €1.66

-55.38%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.15 MX$58.4

$3.34 €2.98

-5.69%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.93 MX$91.6

$3.30 €2.94

49.39%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.41 MX$26.14

$1.06 €0.94

33.02%

White Bread (500g)

$2.20 MX$40.75

$1.23 €1.09

78.86%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.47 MX$27.33

$1.55 €1.38

-5.16%

Eggs

$2.50 MX$46.34

$3.07 €2.74

-18.57%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$7.29 MX$135

$11.80 €10.51

-38.22%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$7.95 MX$148

$7.59 €6.76

4.74%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$12.86 MX$239

$14.94 €13.31

-13.92%

Apples (1kg)

$2.90 MX$53.8

$2.58 €2.30

12.40%

Banana (1kg)

$1.38 MX$25.67

$2.01 €1.79

-31.34%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.49 MX$46.23

$1.69 €1.50

47.34%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.03 MX$37.67

$2.05 €1.83

-0.98%

Potato (1kg)

$2.02 MX$37.58

$1.37 €1.22

47.45%

Onion (1kg)

$1.90 MX$35.32

$2.12 €1.89

-10.38%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.14 MX$21.24

$1.14 €1.02

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.24 MX$22.99

$0.58 €0.52

113.79%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$4.27 MX$79.3

$6.87 €6.12

-37.85%

Wine (Bottle)

$9.81 MX$182

$3.85 €3.43

154.81%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.59 MX$29.43

$1.03 €0.91

54.37%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.75 MX$51.0

$2.72 €2.43

1.10%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.51 MX$9.56

$1.80 €1.61

-71.67%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$27.39 MX$508

$28.10 €25.03

-2.53%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$4.76 MX$88.4

$5.49 €4.89

-13.30%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$3.25 MX$60.3

$2.27 €2.02

43.17%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$5.39 MX$100

$33.81 €30.11

-84.06%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.53 MX$28.36

$1.81 €1.62

-15.47%

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

$21.2K MX$393.7K

$35.2K €31.4K

-39.73%

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

$23.3K MX$431.7K

$29.3K €26.1K

-20.48%

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

$83.5 MX$1,549

$114 €101

-26.67%

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

$23.19 MX$430

$13.19 €11.75

75.82%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$27.61 MX$512

$25.08 €22.34

10.09%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$56.4 MX$1,047

$46.25 €41.20

22.01%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$28.19 MX$523

$22.48 €20.03

25.40%

Cinema Ticket

$5.00 MX$92.8

$8.43 €7.51

-40.69%

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

$207 MX$3,843

$593 €528

-65.08%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$5,231 MX$97.1K

$10.0K €8,934

-47.84%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$43.45 MX$806

$53.1 €47.31

-18.19%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$42.54 MX$789

$24.89 €22.17

70.91%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$72.8 MX$1,350

$68.1 €60.7

6.83%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$88.4 MX$1,640

$87.8 €78.2

0.63%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$995 MX$18.5K

$1,159 €1,033

-14.18%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$382 MX$7,097

$1,058 €943

-63.86%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,674 MX$31.1K

$1,638 €1,459

2.19%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,081 MX$20.1K

$1,559 €1,389

-30.70%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$3,909 MX$72.5K

$2,954 €2,632

32.30%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$6,138 MX$113.9K

$2,765 €2,463

121.97%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$832 MX$15.4K

$2,030 €1,808

-59.00%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

11.45

3.3

246.97%

CityCost data is based on AI and user input – minor inaccuracies may occur.

Last update for Playa del Carmen: November 2, 2026

Last update for Denia: November 1, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Playa del Carmen

$382 31.8%

Denia

$1.1K 56.3% 177% $676

Groceries & Markets

Playa del Carmen

$257 21.4%

Denia

$240 12.7% 6.9% $18

Eating Out

Playa del Carmen

$200 16.7%

Denia

$211 11.2% 5.5% $11

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Playa del Carmen

$134 11.2%

Denia

$152 8.1% 13.3% $18

Clothing & Footwear

Playa del Carmen

$111 9.3%

Denia

$105 5.6% 5.3% $5.9

Sport & Entertainment

Playa del Carmen

$66 5.5%

Denia

$63 3.4% 5% $3.3

Getting Around

Playa del Carmen

$50 4.2%

Denia

$52 2.8% 3.3% $1.7

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $995 in Playa del Carmen and $1,159 in Denia. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Denia pays about 2.4 times more on average. How far that income stretches comes down to housing choices and lifestyle.

Dining out: $44 in Playa del Carmen vs $47 in Denia. Groceries flip the comparison at $257 vs $240, with Denia cheaper for home cooking.

Good to know

🇲🇽 Playa del Carmen

🇪🇸 Denia

🕒 Local time

16:47 4:47 PM

22:47 10:47 PM

6 h ahead of Playa del Carmen

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

149,923

45,622

💱 Currency

Mexican Peso MXN $

Euro EUR €

📈 Exchange rate

100 MXN = 5.39 USD

100 MXN = 4.8 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 5, 2026: 1 USD = 18.56 MXN (100 MXN = 5.39 USD). 1 EUR = 20.83 MXN (100 MXN = 4.8 EUR).

Euro exchange rates as of November 5, 2026: 1 USD = 0.891 EUR (1 EUR = 1.12 USD).

USD to MXN in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Playa del Carmen Denia 8,350 km ≈ 11 h nonstop flight

From you

Playa del Carmen
Denia

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 Denia: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Playa del Carmen wins on cost – living expenses run 36% lower than in Denia. 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 59% 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: $995 in Playa del Carmen versus $1,159 in Denia. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Dining out is cheaper in Playa del Carmen – a meal for two runs $44 versus $47 in Denia. If you eat out regularly, this makes a real dent in your monthly spending.

All in, you’ll spend $1,202 per month in Playa del Carmen versus $1,882 in Denia – Playa del Carmen is about 36% cheaper, which adds up to real savings over time.

At $1,202 in Playa del Carmen versus $1,882 in Denia, a $1,500 budget is realistic in Playa del Carmen but tight or insufficient in Denia. 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, Denia on earning potential. Factor in climate, language, visa rules, and proximity to places that matter to you before deciding.