Last update: Nov 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Playa del Carmen and El Gouna

For one person, living is cheaper in El Gouna: $462 a month against $1,202 in Playa del Carmen, rent and utilities included – about $8,900 less a year. Rent and utilities account for about half of the difference.

57

Cost of Living Index in Playa del Carmen
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Playa del Carmen Living Index
22

Cost of Living Index in El Gouna
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El Gouna Living Index

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Playa del Carmen

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,202

/mo nomad

El Gouna

🇪🇬 Egypt

$462

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

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

A single person spends $1,202 per month in Playa del Carmen vs $462 in El Gouna, rent included.

Playa del Carmen $1,202
El Gouna $462

A couple spends around $2,082 per month in Playa del Carmen vs $727 in El Gouna, rent included.

Playa del Carmen $2,082
El Gouna $727

A family of three spends $2,962 per month in Playa del Carmen vs $991 in El Gouna, rent included.

Playa del Carmen $2,962
El Gouna $991

Playa del Carmen costs about 160% more than El Gouna, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in groceries.

Both Playa del Carmen and El Gouna are more affordable than the global median – Playa del Carmen 11% lower, El Gouna 66% lower.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$10.67 MX$199

$3.63 E£198

193.94%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$43.80 MX$815

$15.64 E£855

180.05%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$11.79 MX$219

$4.48 E£245

163.17%

Cappuccino

$3.79 MX$70.5

$1.48 E£81.0

156.08%

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

$1.30 MX$24.14

$0.31 E£17.17

319.35%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.83 MX$15.51

$0.12 E£6.42

591.67%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.15 MX$58.6

$1.25 E£68.5

152.00%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.93 MX$91.8

$3.04 E£166

62.17%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.41 MX$26.22

$0.87 E£47.50

62.07%

White Bread (500g)

$2.20 MX$40.86

$0.57 E£31.17

285.96%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.47 MX$27.40

$0.69 E£37.81

113.04%

Eggs

$2.50 MX$46.46

$1.45 E£79.1

72.41%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$7.29 MX$136

$3.32 E£182

119.58%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$7.95 MX$148

$4.29 E£234

85.31%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$12.86 MX$239

$8.71 E£476

47.65%

Apples (1kg)

$2.90 MX$53.9

$1.48 E£80.6

95.95%

Banana (1kg)

$1.38 MX$25.74

$0.59 E£32.06

133.90%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.49 MX$46.35

$0.43 E£23.41

479.07%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.03 MX$37.77

$0.36 E£19.75

463.89%

Potato (1kg)

$2.02 MX$37.68

$0.37 E£20.41

445.95%

Onion (1kg)

$1.90 MX$35.42

$0.40 E£21.83

375.00%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.14 MX$21.30

$0.24 E£13.15

375.00%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.24 MX$23.05

$0.20 E£11.02

520.00%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$4.27 MX$79.5

$1.95 E£107

118.97%

Wine (Bottle)

$9.81 MX$183

$6.28 E£343

56.21%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.59 MX$29.51

$1.25 E£68.3

27.20%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.75 MX$51.1

$1.82 E£99.5

51.10%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.51 MX$9.58

$0.19 E£10.53

168.42%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$27.39 MX$510

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$4.76 MX$88.6

$0.38 E£20.86

1152.63%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$3.25 MX$60.5

$0.31 E£17.05

948.39%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$5.39 MX$100

$1.94 E£106

177.84%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.53 MX$28.44

$0.31 E£16.82

393.55%

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

$21.2K MX$394.8K

$35.7K E£2.0M

-40.55%

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

$23.3K MX$432.9K

$33.4K E£1.8M

-30.45%

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

$83.5 MX$1,554

$11.91 E£651

601.01%

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

$23.19 MX$431

$6.85 E£374

238.54%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$27.61 MX$514

$11.17 E£611

147.18%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$56.4 MX$1,050

$21.06 E£1,151

167.95%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$28.19 MX$525

Cinema Ticket

$5.00 MX$93.1

$2.99 E£164

67.22%

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

$207 MX$3,854

$89.0 E£4,866

132.57%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$5,231 MX$97.3K

$1,856 E£101.5K

181.80%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$43.45 MX$809

$27.96 E£1,528

55.40%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$42.54 MX$792

$44.86 E£2,451

-5.17%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$72.8 MX$1,354

$107 E£5,823

-31.71%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$88.4 MX$1,645

$50.9 E£2,783

73.57%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$995 MX$18.5K

$191 E£10.4K

420.82%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$382 MX$7,116

$102 E£5,549

276.60%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,674 MX$31.2K

$278 E£15.2K

501.55%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,081 MX$20.1K

$155 E£8,456

598.37%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$3,909 MX$72.7K

$796 E£43.5K

391.29%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$6,138 MX$114.2K

$332 E£18.2K

1747.30%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$832 MX$15.5K

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

11.45

16.67

-31.31%

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 El Gouna: November 1, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Playa del Carmen

$382 31.8%

El Gouna

$102 22% 73.4% $281

Groceries & Markets

Playa del Carmen

$257 21.4%

El Gouna

$123 26.6% 52.3% $135

Eating Out

Playa del Carmen

$200 16.7%

El Gouna

$74 16.1% 62.9% $126

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Playa del Carmen

$134 11.2%

El Gouna

$30 6.5% 77.7% $104

Clothing & Footwear

Playa del Carmen

$111 9.3%

El Gouna

$104 22.4% 6.8% $7.6

Sport & Entertainment

Playa del Carmen

$66 5.5%

El Gouna

$27 5.9% 59.3% $39

Getting Around

Playa del Carmen

$50 4.2%

El Gouna

$2.7 * 0.6% 94.6% $48

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

Cost Breakdown

A central one-bedroom costs $995 in Playa del Carmen versus $191 in El Gouna. Rent is usually the largest line item in a monthly budget, so the gap here sets the tone for the overall comparison.

A mid-range dinner for two costs $44 in Playa del Carmen versus $16 in El Gouna. Monthly groceries follow the same trend: $257 vs $123 – making El Gouna the more affordable choice for daily food spending.

Good to know

🇲🇽 Playa del Carmen

🇪🇬 El Gouna

🕒 Local time

08:10 8:10 AM

15:10 3:10 PM

7 h ahead of Playa del Carmen

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

149,923

15,000

💱 Currency

Mexican Peso MXN $

Egyptian Pound EGP £

📈 Exchange rate

100 MXN = 5.37 USD

100 MXN = 4.78 EUR

100 EGP = 1.83 USD

100 EGP = 1.63 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

EGP, USD, EUR to MXN – Mexican Peso Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇲🇽 Mexican Peso ($)

Mexican Peso exchange rates as of November 5, 2026: 1 USD = 18.61 MXN (100 MXN = 5.37 USD). 1 EUR = 20.91 MXN (100 MXN = 4.78 EUR).

Egyptian Pound exchange rates as of November 5, 2026: 1 USD = 54.65 EGP (100 EGP = 1.83 USD). 1 EUR = 61.41 EGP (100 EGP = 1.63 EUR).

USD to MXN in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Playa del Carmen El Gouna 11,700 km ≈ 15 h nonstop flight

From you

Playa del Carmen
El Gouna

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 Gouna: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Yes – Playa del Carmen is pricier by about 160%, and outside of rent the gap shows up most in groceries.

For a comfortable life, plan on about $1,804 per month in Playa del Carmen and $693 in El Gouna. That covers rent, food, utilities, transport, and enough left over to feel settled – not just surviving.

Rent is clearly cheaper in El Gouna, especially for central apartments: a one-bedroom in the center costs $191 there versus $995 in Playa del Carmen.

A mid-range dinner for two costs $44 in Playa del Carmen and $16 in El Gouna. That’s a good indicator of the overall restaurant and café pricing gap between the two cities.

Groceries cost about 110% more in Playa del Carmen, though the gap depends on what you buy.

A $1,000 monthly budget goes further in El Gouna, where all-in costs run around $462, than in Playa del Carmen at $1,202. In El Gouna it covers expenses comfortably, while in Playa del Carmen it requires careful planning or may not stretch far enough.

For digital nomads, it depends on budget. El Gouna costs $462 versus $1,202 in Playa del Carmen. Both appeal to remote workers, and the cost gap matters when income varies month to month.