Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Playa del Carmen and Fort William

For one person, living is cheaper in Playa del Carmen: $1,204 a month against $2,455 in Fort William, rent and utilities included – about $15,000 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
119

Cost of Living Index in Fort William
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Fort William Living Index

Jump to prices

Playa del Carmen

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,204

/mo nomad

Fort William

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

$2,455

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Playa del Carmen and in Fort William

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,204 in Playa del Carmen versus $2,455 in Fort William.

Playa del Carmen $1,204
Fort William $2,455

Estimated couple costs with rent: $2,102 in Playa del Carmen versus $3,592 in Fort William.

Playa del Carmen $2,102
Fort William $3,592

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $3,000 in Playa del Carmen versus $4,730 in Fort William.

Playa del Carmen $3,000
Fort William $4,730

Living in Playa del Carmen costs roughly 51% less than in Fort William, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

The two cities straddle the global median: Playa del Carmen is 11% below, Fort William is 81% above.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$10.86 MX$201

$20.26 £15.20

-46.40%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$44.21 MX$817

$98.3 £73.8

-55.03%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$11.76 MX$217

$10.59 £7.95

11.05%

Cappuccino

$3.68 MX$68.0

$4.63 £3.47

-20.52%

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

$1.34 MX$24.79

$2.73 £2.05

-50.92%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.82 MX$15.24

$1.96 £1.47

-58.16%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.06 MX$56.6

$7.03 £5.28

-56.47%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.94 MX$91.2

$7.81 £5.86

-36.75%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.47 MX$27.17

$1.48 £1.11

-0.68%

White Bread (500g)

$2.22 MX$40.95

$1.73 £1.30

28.32%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.48 MX$27.32

$2.03 £1.52

-27.09%

Eggs

$2.49 MX$45.99

$3.49 £2.61

-28.65%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$7.52 MX$139

$9.00 £6.75

-16.44%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$7.96 MX$147

$10.71 £8.03

-25.68%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$12.57 MX$232

$15.56 £11.67

-19.22%

Apples (1kg)

$2.78 MX$51.3

$2.86 £2.15

-2.80%

Banana (1kg)

$1.43 MX$26.37

$1.30 £0.98

10.00%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.62 MX$48.37

$2.06 £1.54

27.18%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.14 MX$39.49

$3.80 £2.85

-43.68%

Potato (1kg)

$2.02 MX$37.38

$1.16 £0.87

74.14%

Onion (1kg)

$1.99 MX$36.74

$1.35 £1.01

47.41%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.14 MX$21.01

$1.20 £0.90

-5.00%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.20 MX$22.18

$1.60 £1.20

-25.00%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$4.26 MX$78.7

$21.80 £16.36

-80.46%

Wine (Bottle)

$10.02 MX$185

$10.96 £8.23

-8.58%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.54 MX$28.41

$2.71 £2.03

-43.17%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.66 MX$49.17

$3.10 £2.32

-14.19%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.53 MX$9.73

$3.66 £2.75

-85.52%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$27.51 MX$508

$108 £80.9

-74.50%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$4.90 MX$90.6

$4.04 £3.03

21.29%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$3.43 MX$63.5

$2.44 £1.83

40.57%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$5.38 MX$99.4

$23.80 £17.86

-77.39%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.45 MX$26.76

$2.15 £1.62

-32.56%

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

$21.2K MX$391.0K

$38.6K £28.9K

-45.16%

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

$23.0K MX$425.3K

$39.8K £29.9K

-42.19%

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

$85.4 MX$1,577

$378 £284

-77.44%

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

$23.46 MX$434

$27.94 £20.96

-16.03%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$28.43 MX$525

$43.04 £32.29

-33.95%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$62.2 MX$1,149

$46.86 £35.16

32.71%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$28.68 MX$530

$6.75 £5.06

324.89%

Cinema Ticket

$5.10 MX$94.3

$11.56 £8.67

-55.88%

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

$201 MX$3,715

$1,792 £1,345

-88.78%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$3,947 MX$72.9K

$23.5K £17.6K

-83.17%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$44.39 MX$820

$96.2 £72.2

-53.85%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$41.35 MX$764

$48.12 £36.10

-14.07%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$72.7 MX$1,344

$104 £77.8

-29.88%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$89.6 MX$1,656

$115 £86.4

-22.21%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$979 MX$18.1K

$1,213 £910

-19.27%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$373 MX$6,887

$1,012 £759

-63.16%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,681 MX$31.1K

$2,161 £1,621

-22.22%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,095 MX$20.2K

$1,628 £1,221

-32.71%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$3,949 MX$73.0K

$5,096 £3,823

-22.50%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$6,137 MX$113.4K

$3,553 £2,666

72.69%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$738 MX$13.6K

$1,973 £1,480

-62.62%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

11.45

5.11

124.07%

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 Fort William: October 19, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Playa del Carmen

$373 31%

Fort William

$1K 41.2% 171% $639

Groceries & Markets

Playa del Carmen

$258 21.5%

Fort William

$303 12.3% 17.1% $44

Eating Out

Playa del Carmen

$200 16.6%

Fort William

$319 13% 59.3% $119

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Playa del Carmen

$137 11.4%

Fort William

$449 18.3% 228% $312

Clothing & Footwear

Playa del Carmen

$112 9.3%

Fort William

$163 6.7% 46.4% $52

Sport & Entertainment

Playa del Carmen

$72 6%

Fort William

$70 2.9% 3.3% $2.4

Getting Around

Playa del Carmen

$52 4.3%

Fort William

$139 5.7% 168% $87

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $979 in Playa del Carmen and $1,213 in Fort William. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Fort William pays 168% more on average. The extra income cushions the higher costs, though housing choices and lifestyle decide how much of the gap is truly closed.

Dining out: $44.00 in Playa del Carmen vs $98.0 in Fort William for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $258 vs $303 per month, with Playa del Carmen cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇲🇽 Playa del Carmen

🇬🇧 Fort William

🕒 Local time

12:49 12:49 PM

18:49 6:49 PM

6 h ahead of Playa del Carmen

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

149,923

10,000

💱 Currency

Mexican Peso MXN $

British Pound GBP £

📈 Exchange rate

100 MXN = 5.41 USD

100 MXN = 4.81 EUR

1 GBP = 1.33 USD

1 GBP = 1.19 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

GBP, USD, EUR to MXN – Mexican Peso Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇲🇽 Mexican Peso ($)

Mexican Peso exchange rates as of October 22, 2026: 1 USD = 18.48 MXN (100 MXN = 5.41 USD). 1 EUR = 20.77 MXN (100 MXN = 4.81 EUR).

British Pound exchange rates as of October 22, 2026: 1 USD = 0.75 GBP (1 GBP = 1.33 USD). 1 EUR = 0.843 GBP (1 GBP = 1.19 EUR).

USD to MXN in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Playa del Carmen Fort William 7,620 km ≈ 10 h nonstop flight

From you

Playa del Carmen
Fort William

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 Fort William: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Playa del Carmen is cheaper overall, especially in groceries, eating out, and clothing. The 104% gap adds up to real monthly savings that compound significantly over time.

On paper, salaries run 168% lower in Fort William. 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 $1,213 in Fort William. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Supermarket bills run roughly 17% higher in Fort William. For households that cook at home regularly, that difference adds up over a month.

Dining out is cheaper in Playa del Carmen – a meal for two runs $44.00 versus $98.0 in Fort William. If you eat out regularly, this makes a real dent in your monthly spending.

At $1,204 in Playa del Carmen versus $2,455 in Fort William, a $1,500 budget is realistic in Playa del Carmen but tight or insufficient in Fort William. 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 Fort William, and the savings on those two alone free up budget for education, activities, and family trips.

Expats usually find Playa del Carmen gentler on the wallet – expenses run 104% less than in Fort William. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.