Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Playa del Carmen and El Ejido

For one person, living is cheaper in Playa del Carmen: $1,204 a month against $1,634 in El Ejido, rent and utilities included – about $5,200 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
80

Cost of Living Index in El Ejido
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El Ejido Living Index

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Playa del Carmen

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,204

/mo nomad

El Ejido

🇪🇸 Spain

$1,634

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Playa del Carmen and in El Ejido

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,204 in Playa del Carmen versus $1,634 in El Ejido.

Playa del Carmen $1,204
El Ejido $1,634

Estimated couple costs with rent: $2,102 in Playa del Carmen versus $2,449 in El Ejido.

Playa del Carmen $2,102
El Ejido $2,449

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $3,000 in Playa del Carmen versus $3,264 in El Ejido.

Playa del Carmen $3,000
El Ejido $3,264

Living in Playa del Carmen costs roughly 26% less than in El Ejido, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in clothing.

The two cities straddle the global median: Playa del Carmen is 11% below, El Ejido is 21% above.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$10.86 MX$201

$16.73 €14.88

-35.09%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$44.21 MX$817

$67.6 €60.2

-34.64%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$11.76 MX$217

$11.10 €9.87

5.95%

Cappuccino

$3.68 MX$68.0

$2.17 €1.93

69.59%

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

$1.34 MX$24.79

$2.31 €2.06

-41.99%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.82 MX$15.24

$1.34 €1.19

-38.81%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.06 MX$56.6

$3.29 €2.92

-6.99%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.94 MX$91.2

$3.27 €2.91

51.07%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.47 MX$27.17

$1.13 €1.01

30.09%

White Bread (500g)

$2.22 MX$40.95

$1.57 €1.39

41.40%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.48 MX$27.32

$1.63 €1.45

-9.20%

Eggs

$2.49 MX$45.99

$3.40 €3.02

-26.76%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$7.52 MX$139

$16.79 €14.93

-55.21%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$7.96 MX$147

$9.56 €8.51

-16.74%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$12.57 MX$232

$17.46 €15.53

-28.01%

Apples (1kg)

$2.78 MX$51.3

$2.58 €2.30

7.75%

Banana (1kg)

$1.43 MX$26.37

$1.95 €1.73

-26.67%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.62 MX$48.37

$1.95 €1.74

34.36%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.14 MX$39.49

$2.69 €2.39

-20.45%

Potato (1kg)

$2.02 MX$37.38

$1.93 €1.71

4.66%

Onion (1kg)

$1.99 MX$36.74

$1.92 €1.71

3.65%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.14 MX$21.01

$1.24 €1.11

-8.06%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.20 MX$22.18

$0.71 €0.63

69.01%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$4.26 MX$78.7

$6.66 €5.92

-36.04%

Wine (Bottle)

$10.02 MX$185

$5.77 €5.13

73.66%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.54 MX$28.41

$1.21 €1.08

27.27%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.66 MX$49.17

$2.12 €1.88

25.47%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.53 MX$9.73

$1.71 €1.52

-69.01%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$27.51 MX$508

$36.17 €32.17

-23.94%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$4.90 MX$90.6

$3.06 €2.73

60.13%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$3.43 MX$63.5

$1.31 €1.17

161.83%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$5.38 MX$99.4

$16.86 €15.00

-68.09%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.45 MX$26.76

$1.86 €1.65

-22.04%

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

$21.2K MX$391.0K

$31.3K €27.9K

-32.44%

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

$23.0K MX$425.3K

$31.3K €27.8K

-26.48%

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

$85.4 MX$1,577

$142 €126

-39.90%

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

$23.46 MX$434

$18.78 €16.71

24.92%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$28.43 MX$525

$29.88 €26.58

-4.85%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$62.2 MX$1,149

$41.99 €37.35

48.11%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$28.68 MX$530

$16.57 €14.74

73.08%

Cinema Ticket

$5.10 MX$94.3

$9.00 €8.01

-43.33%

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

$201 MX$3,715

$689 €613

-70.81%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$3,947 MX$72.9K

$9,454 €8,410

-58.25%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$44.39 MX$820

$85.4 €76.0

-48.01%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$41.35 MX$764

$35.45 €31.53

16.64%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$72.7 MX$1,344

$93.2 €82.9

-21.98%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$89.6 MX$1,656

$106 €94.0

-15.22%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$979 MX$18.1K

$902 €802

8.60%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$373 MX$6,887

$668 €594

-44.20%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,681 MX$31.1K

$1,326 €1,179

26.78%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,095 MX$20.2K

$994 €884

10.17%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$3,949 MX$73.0K

$3,015 €2,682

30.96%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$6,137 MX$113.4K

$2,239 €1,992

174.02%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$738 MX$13.6K

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

11.45

2.99

282.94%

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 El Ejido: October 18, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Playa del Carmen

$373 31%

El Ejido

$668 40.9% 79.2% $295

Groceries & Markets

Playa del Carmen

$258 21.5%

El Ejido

$288 17.7% 11.6% $30

Eating Out

Playa del Carmen

$200 16.6%

El Ejido

$231 14.1% 15.2% $30

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Playa del Carmen

$137 11.4%

El Ejido

$191 11.7% 39% $53

Clothing & Footwear

Playa del Carmen

$112 9.3%

El Ejido

$144 8.8% 28.9% $32

Sport & Entertainment

Playa del Carmen

$72 6%

El Ejido

$60 3.7% 17.1% $12

Getting Around

Playa del Carmen

$52 4.3%

El Ejido

$53 3.2% 1.8% $1

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $979 in Playa del Carmen and $902 in El Ejido. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Dining out: $44.00 in Playa del Carmen vs $68.0 in El Ejido for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $258 vs $288 per month, with Playa del Carmen cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇲🇽 Playa del Carmen

🇪🇸 El Ejido

🕒 Local time

07:54 7:54 AM

14:54 2:54 PM

7 h ahead of Playa del Carmen

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

149,923

89,975

💱 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 24, 2026: 1 USD = 18.48 MXN (100 MXN = 5.41 USD). 1 EUR = 20.77 MXN (100 MXN = 4.81 EUR).

Euro exchange rates as of October 24, 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 El Ejido 8,160 km ≈ 11 h nonstop flight

From you

Playa del Carmen
El Ejido

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 El Ejido: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Playa del Carmen is cheaper overall, especially in groceries, eating out, and clothing. The 36% gap adds up to real monthly savings that compound significantly over time.

You'd need roughly $1,806 in Playa del Carmen and $2,451 in El Ejido 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: $979 in Playa del Carmen versus $902 in El Ejido. 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 $44.00 versus $68.0 in El Ejido. If you eat out regularly, this makes a real dent in your monthly spending.

All in, you'll spend $1,204 per month in Playa del Carmen versus $1,634 in El Ejido – a 36% gap that adds up to real savings over time for anyone picking the cheaper option.

At $1,204 in Playa del Carmen versus $1,634 in El Ejido, a $1,500 budget is realistic in Playa del Carmen but tight or insufficient in El Ejido. 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 El Ejido, and the savings on those two alone free up budget for education, activities, and family trips.

Safety-wise, Playa del Carmen and El Ejido 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 36% less than in El Ejido. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.