Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Playa del Carmen and Dongguan

For one person, living is cheaper in Dongguan: $815 a month against $1,204 in Playa del Carmen, rent and utilities included – about $4,700 less a year. Rent and utilities account for about half of the difference.

59

Cost of Living Index in Playa del Carmen
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Playa del Carmen Living Index
39

Cost of Living Index in Dongguan
Learn more

Dongguan Living Index

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Playa del Carmen

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,204

/mo nomad

Dongguan

🇨🇳 China

$815

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,204 in Playa del Carmen versus $815 in Dongguan.

Playa del Carmen $1,204
Dongguan $815

Estimated couple costs with rent: $2,102 in Playa del Carmen versus $1,295 in Dongguan.

Playa del Carmen $2,102
Dongguan $1,295

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $3,000 in Playa del Carmen versus $1,775 in Dongguan.

Playa del Carmen $3,000
Dongguan $1,775

Living in Playa del Carmen is roughly 48% more expensive than in Dongguan, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

Both cities sit below the global median: Playa del Carmen 11% lower, Dongguan 40% lower.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$10.86 MX$201

$2.64 ¥17.64

311.36%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$44.21 MX$817

$22.83 ¥153

93.65%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$11.76 MX$217

$5.20 ¥34.75

126.15%

Cappuccino

$3.68 MX$68.0

$2.61 ¥17.44

41.00%

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

$1.34 MX$24.79

$0.48 ¥3.18

179.17%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.82 MX$15.24

$0.31 ¥2.09

164.52%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.06 MX$56.6

$0.88 ¥5.90

247.73%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.94 MX$91.2

$2.23 ¥14.88

121.52%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.47 MX$27.17

$1.59 ¥10.61

-7.55%

White Bread (500g)

$2.22 MX$40.95

$1.63 ¥10.93

36.20%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.48 MX$27.32

$0.97 ¥6.50

52.58%

Eggs

$2.49 MX$45.99

$1.59 ¥10.66

56.60%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$7.52 MX$139

$21.14 ¥141

-64.43%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$7.96 MX$147

$3.28 ¥21.96

142.68%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$12.57 MX$232

$14.27 ¥95.4

-11.91%

Apples (1kg)

$2.78 MX$51.3

$2.25 ¥15.03

23.56%

Banana (1kg)

$1.43 MX$26.37

$1.56 ¥10.45

-8.33%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.62 MX$48.37

$1.85 ¥12.39

41.62%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.14 MX$39.49

$1.49 ¥9.98

43.62%

Potato (1kg)

$2.02 MX$37.38

$1.04 ¥6.95

94.23%

Onion (1kg)

$1.99 MX$36.74

$1.24 ¥8.30

60.48%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.14 MX$21.01

$0.56 ¥3.75

103.57%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.20 MX$22.18

$0.58 ¥3.90

106.90%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$4.26 MX$78.7

$4.45 ¥29.79

-4.27%

Wine (Bottle)

$10.02 MX$185

$12.18 ¥81.5

-17.73%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.54 MX$28.41

$0.92 ¥6.17

67.39%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.66 MX$49.17

$1.76 ¥11.74

51.14%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.53 MX$9.73

$0.35 ¥2.37

51.43%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$27.51 MX$508

$22.38 ¥150

22.92%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$4.90 MX$90.6

$1.18 ¥7.86

315.25%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$3.43 MX$63.5

$0.41 ¥2.75

736.59%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$5.38 MX$99.4

$4.44 ¥29.68

21.17%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.45 MX$26.76

$1.31 ¥8.77

10.69%

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

$21.2K MX$391.0K

$19.3K ¥129.0K

9.63%

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

$23.0K MX$425.3K

$17.6K ¥117.9K

30.49%

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

$85.4 MX$1,577

$63.1 ¥422

35.38%

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

$23.46 MX$434

$9.11 ¥60.9

157.52%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$28.43 MX$525

$12.96 ¥86.7

119.37%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$62.2 MX$1,149

$51.6 ¥345

20.45%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$28.68 MX$530

$16.09 ¥108

78.25%

Cinema Ticket

$5.10 MX$94.3

$7.53 ¥50.3

-32.27%

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

$201 MX$3,715

$531 ¥3,550

-62.13%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$3,947 MX$72.9K

$24.3K ¥162.8K

-83.79%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$44.39 MX$820

$46.78 ¥313

-5.11%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$41.35 MX$764

$40.30 ¥269

2.61%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$72.7 MX$1,344

$72.5 ¥485

0.29%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$89.6 MX$1,656

$39.04 ¥261

129.53%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$979 MX$18.1K

$380 ¥2,538

157.99%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$373 MX$6,887

$219 ¥1,461

70.55%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,681 MX$31.1K

$662 ¥4,423

154.09%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,095 MX$20.2K

$431 ¥2,884

153.86%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$3,949 MX$73.0K

$5,650 ¥37.8K

-30.10%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$6,137 MX$113.4K

$3,075 ¥20.6K

99.54%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$738 MX$13.6K

$856 ¥5,725

-13.87%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

11.45

3.35

241.79%

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

Last update for Playa del Carmen: October 17, 2026

Last update for Dongguan: October 19, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Playa del Carmen

$373 31%

Dongguan

$219 26.8% 41.4% $154

Groceries & Markets

Playa del Carmen

$258 21.5%

Dongguan

$248 30.4% 4% $10

Eating Out

Playa del Carmen

$200 16.6%

Dongguan

$80 9.8% 60% $120

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Playa del Carmen

$137 11.4%

Dongguan

$85 10.5% 38% $52

Clothing & Footwear

Playa del Carmen

$112 9.3%

Dongguan

$89 11% 19.9% $22

Sport & Entertainment

Playa del Carmen

$72 6%

Dongguan

$67 8.2% 7.9% $5.7

Getting Around

Playa del Carmen

$52 4.3%

Dongguan

$27 3.3% 47.7% $25

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $979 in Playa del Carmen and $380 in Dongguan. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Dongguan pays 16% more on average while also being the cheaper of the two. The combined effect is a noticeably stronger local purchasing power.

Dining out: $44.00 in Playa del Carmen vs $23.00 in Dongguan for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $258 vs $248 per month, with Dongguan cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇲🇽 Playa del Carmen

🇨🇳 Dongguan

🕒 Local time

08:23 8:23 AM

21:23 9:23 PM

13 h ahead of Playa del Carmen

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

149,923

8,254,100

💱 Currency

Mexican Peso MXN $

Chinese Yuan CNY ¥

📈 Exchange rate

100 MXN = 5.41 USD

100 MXN = 4.81 EUR

1 CNY = 0.15 USD

1 CNY = 0.133 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

CNY, USD, EUR to MXN – Mexican Peso Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇲🇽 Mexican Peso ($)

Mexican Peso exchange rates as of October 20, 2026: 1 USD = 18.48 MXN (100 MXN = 5.41 USD). 1 EUR = 20.77 MXN (100 MXN = 4.81 EUR).

Chinese Yuan exchange rates as of October 20, 2026: 1 USD = 6.69 CNY (1 CNY = 0.15 USD). 1 EUR = 7.52 CNY (1 CNY = 0.133 EUR).

USD to MXN in detail →

On the map

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Playa del Carmen Dongguan 14,660 km ≈ 19 h nonstop flight

From you

Playa del Carmen
Dongguan

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 Dongguan: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Dongguan is cheaper overall, especially in groceries, eating out, and clothing. The 48% gap adds up to real monthly savings that compound significantly over time.

On paper, salaries run 16% lower in Dongguan. 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: $979 in Playa del Carmen versus $380 in Dongguan. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

A monthly transit pass in Dongguan runs roughly 23% less than in Playa del Carmen. Both cities have functional networks, but the price difference matters if you're watching your budget.

Childcare runs $201 in Playa del Carmen versus $531 in Dongguan. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

At $815 in Dongguan versus $1,204 in Playa del Carmen, a $1,500 budget is realistic in Dongguan but tight or insufficient in Playa del Carmen. The gap between the two cities makes Dongguan the clear choice for anyone on this budget.

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

Expats usually find Dongguan gentler on the wallet – expenses run 48% less than in Playa del Carmen. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.