Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Playa del Carmen and Hamilton, New Zealand

For one person, living is cheaper in Playa del Carmen: $1,204 a month against $1,917 in Hamilton, rent and utilities included – about $8,600 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

58

Cost of Living Index in Playa del Carmen
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Playa del Carmen Living Index
93

Cost of Living Index in Hamilton
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Hamilton Living Index

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Playa del Carmen

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,204

/mo nomad

Hamilton

🇳🇿 New Zealand

$1,917

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,204 in Playa del Carmen versus $1,917 in Hamilton.

Playa del Carmen $1,204
Hamilton $1,917

Estimated couple costs with rent: $2,082 in Playa del Carmen versus $2,828 in Hamilton.

Playa del Carmen $2,082
Hamilton $2,828

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $2,959 in Playa del Carmen versus $3,739 in Hamilton.

Playa del Carmen $2,959
Hamilton $3,739

Living in Playa del Carmen costs roughly 37% less than in Hamilton, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in groceries.

The two cities straddle the global median: Playa del Carmen is 12% below, Hamilton is 41% above.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$10.92 MX$204

$12.20 NZ$21.74

-10.49%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$43.37 MX$808

$74.6 NZ$133

-41.84%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$11.78 MX$220

$8.34 NZ$14.86

41.25%

Cappuccino

$3.81 MX$71.0

$3.49 NZ$6.22

9.17%

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

$1.28 MX$23.90

$2.31 NZ$4.12

-44.59%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.78 MX$14.59

$2.50 NZ$4.46

-68.80%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.17 MX$59.0

$6.08 NZ$10.83

-47.86%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.93 MX$92.0

$5.61 NZ$10.00

-12.12%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.41 MX$26.22

$1.46 NZ$2.60

-3.42%

White Bread (500g)

$2.22 MX$41.33

$1.25 NZ$2.23

77.60%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.42 MX$26.42

$1.94 NZ$3.45

-26.80%

Eggs

$2.52 MX$47.03

$5.52 NZ$9.83

-54.35%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$7.26 MX$135

$5.78 NZ$10.30

25.61%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$7.70 MX$143

$7.18 NZ$12.80

7.24%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$12.69 MX$237

$11.70 NZ$20.85

8.46%

Apples (1kg)

$2.78 MX$51.9

$2.71 NZ$4.82

2.58%

Banana (1kg)

$1.37 MX$25.50

$2.31 NZ$4.12

-40.69%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.55 MX$47.55

$3.24 NZ$5.78

-21.30%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.12 MX$39.58

$6.21 NZ$11.06

-65.86%

Potato (1kg)

$1.94 MX$36.13

$2.05 NZ$3.65

-5.37%

Onion (1kg)

$1.89 MX$35.16

$1.41 NZ$2.52

34.04%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.15 MX$21.37

$2.49 NZ$4.43

-53.82%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.18 MX$21.98

$0.98 NZ$1.75

20.41%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$4.30 MX$80.1

$26.19 NZ$46.68

-83.58%

Wine (Bottle)

$9.95 MX$185

$10.72 NZ$19.11

-7.18%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.58 MX$29.52

$4.02 NZ$7.17

-60.70%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.67 MX$49.79

$4.14 NZ$7.38

-35.51%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.55 MX$10.31

$2.66 NZ$4.74

-79.32%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$26.62 MX$496

$52.7 NZ$93.8

-49.44%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$4.97 MX$92.6

$3.70 NZ$6.59

34.32%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$3.33 MX$62.1

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$5.36 MX$99.8

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.44 MX$26.92

$1.67 NZ$2.97

-13.77%

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

$20.7K MX$385.2K

$28.2K NZ$50.3K

-26.76%

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

$23.5K MX$437.4K

$22.4K NZ$39.8K

4.98%

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

$84.8 MX$1,581

$58.3 NZ$104

45.54%

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

$23.41 MX$436

$36.48 NZ$65.0

-35.83%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$28.66 MX$534

$55.5 NZ$98.9

-48.34%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$57.1 MX$1,063

$25.73 NZ$45.86

121.73%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$28.91 MX$539

$28.98 NZ$51.6

-0.24%

Cinema Ticket

$5.14 MX$95.8

$13.93 NZ$24.83

-63.10%

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

$207 MX$3,851

$670 NZ$1,195

-69.18%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$3,927 MX$73.2K

$22.5K NZ$40.0K

-82.51%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$43.35 MX$808

$63.7 NZ$113

-31.89%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$41.44 MX$772

$38.93 NZ$69.4

6.45%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$74.2 MX$1,383

$94.7 NZ$169

-21.67%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$89.3 MX$1,664

$107 NZ$190

-16.24%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$980 MX$18.3K

$1,090 NZ$1,942

-10.09%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$381 MX$7,099

$987 NZ$1,759

-61.42%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,708 MX$31.8K

$1,636 NZ$2,915

4.41%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,075 MX$20.0K

$1,476 NZ$2,631

-27.16%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$3,943 MX$73.5K

$4,019 NZ$7,163

-1.90%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$6,158 MX$114.8K

$4,525 NZ$8,064

36.08%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$735 MX$13.7K

$2,678 NZ$4,773

-72.57%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

11.45

6.83

67.64%

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

Last update for Playa del Carmen: October 25, 2026

Last update for Hamilton: October 26, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Playa del Carmen

$381 31.6%

Hamilton

$987 51.5% 159% $606

Groceries & Markets

Playa del Carmen

$255 21.2%

Hamilton

$297 15.5% 16.7% $42

Eating Out

Playa del Carmen

$202 16.8%

Hamilton

$225 11.8% 11.4% $23

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Playa del Carmen

$137 11.4%

Hamilton

$150 7.8% 9.8% $13

Clothing & Footwear

Playa del Carmen

$112 9.3%

Hamilton

$137 7.1% 22.4% $25

Sport & Entertainment

Playa del Carmen

$67 5.6%

Hamilton

$54 2.8% 20.4% $14

Getting Around

Playa del Carmen

$50 4.2%

Hamilton

$67 * 3.5% 32.8% $17

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

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $980 in Playa del Carmen and $1,090 in Hamilton. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Hamilton pays about 3.6 times more on average. How far that income stretches comes down to housing choices and lifestyle.

Dining out: $43 in Playa del Carmen vs $75 in Hamilton for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $255 vs $297 per month, with Playa del Carmen cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇲🇽 Playa del Carmen

🇳🇿 Hamilton

🕒 Local time

11:07 11:07 AM

05:07 5:07 AM

18 h ahead of Playa del Carmen

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

149,923

169,500

💱 Currency

Mexican Peso MXN $

New Zealand Dollar NZD $

📈 Exchange rate

100 MXN = 5.36 USD

100 MXN = 4.82 EUR

1 NZD = 0.561 USD

1 NZD = 0.504 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

NZD, USD, EUR to MXN – Mexican Peso Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇲🇽 Mexican Peso ($)

Mexican Peso exchange rates as of October 28, 2026: 1 USD = 18.64 MXN (100 MXN = 5.36 USD). 1 EUR = 20.75 MXN (100 MXN = 4.82 EUR).

New Zealand Dollar exchange rates as of October 28, 2026: 1 USD = 1.78 NZD (1 NZD = 0.561 USD). 1 EUR = 1.98 NZD (1 NZD = 0.504 EUR).

USD to MXN in detail →

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Playa del Carmen Hamilton 12,040 km ≈ 16 h nonstop flight

From you

Playa del Carmen
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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 Hamilton: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Playa del Carmen is cheaper overall, especially in groceries, utilities, and clothing. The 59% gap adds up to real monthly savings that compound significantly over time.

On paper, salaries run 73% 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: $980 in Playa del Carmen versus $1,090 in Hamilton. 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 $43 versus $75 in Hamilton. 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 $1,917 in Hamilton – a 59% gap that adds up to real savings over time for anyone picking the cheaper option.

At $1,204 in Playa del Carmen versus $1,917 in Hamilton, a $1,500 budget is realistic in Playa del Carmen but tight or insufficient in Hamilton. 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.

Expats usually find Playa del Carmen gentler on the wallet – expenses run 37% less than in Hamilton. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.