Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Playa del Carmen and Kafr El Sheikh

For one person, living is cheaper in Kafr El Sheikh: $398 a month against $1,204 in Playa del Carmen, rent and utilities included – about $9,700 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
19

Cost of Living Index in Kafr El Sheikh
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Kafr El Sheikh Living Index

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Playa del Carmen

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,204

/mo nomad

Kafr El Sheikh

🇪🇬 Egypt

$398

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,204 in Playa del Carmen versus $398 in Kafr El Sheikh.

Playa del Carmen $1,204
Kafr El Sheikh $398

Estimated couple costs with rent: $2,102 in Playa del Carmen versus $652 in Kafr El Sheikh.

Playa del Carmen $2,102
Kafr El Sheikh $652

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $3,000 in Playa del Carmen versus $906 in Kafr El Sheikh.

Playa del Carmen $3,000
Kafr El Sheikh $906

Living in Playa del Carmen is roughly 203% more expensive than in Kafr El Sheikh, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in groceries.

Both cities sit below the global median: Playa del Carmen 11% lower, Kafr El Sheikh 71% lower.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$10.86 MX$203

$3.87 E£216

180.62%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$44.21 MX$827

$14.78 E£824

199.12%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$11.76 MX$220

$4.29 E£239

174.13%

Cappuccino

$3.68 MX$68.9

$1.13 E£63.1

225.66%

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

$1.34 MX$25.11

$0.33 E£18.68

306.06%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.82 MX$15.44

$0.12 E£6.66

583.33%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.06 MX$57.3

$1.41 E£78.6

117.02%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.94 MX$92.4

$1.23 E£68.5

301.63%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.47 MX$27.52

$0.82 E£45.65

79.27%

White Bread (500g)

$2.22 MX$41.47

$0.33 E£18.57

572.73%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.48 MX$27.67

$0.59 E£33.01

150.85%

Eggs

$2.49 MX$46.59

$1.20 E£67.1

107.50%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$7.52 MX$141

$2.37 E£132

217.30%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$7.96 MX$149

$3.66 E£204

117.49%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$12.57 MX$235

$7.57 E£422

66.05%

Apples (1kg)

$2.78 MX$52.0

$1.48 E£82.8

87.84%

Banana (1kg)

$1.43 MX$26.71

$0.55 E£30.51

160.00%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.62 MX$48.99

$0.41 E£23.04

539.02%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.14 MX$39.99

$0.33 E£18.48

548.48%

Potato (1kg)

$2.02 MX$37.86

$0.42 E£23.51

380.95%

Onion (1kg)

$1.99 MX$37.21

$0.35 E£19.71

468.57%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.14 MX$21.28

$0.26 E£14.32

338.46%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.20 MX$22.46

$0.18 E£10.04

566.67%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$4.26 MX$79.7

$1.80 E£100

136.67%

Wine (Bottle)

$10.02 MX$187

$5.13 E£286

95.32%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.54 MX$28.77

$1.04 E£58.3

48.08%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.66 MX$49.80

$1.62 E£90.2

64.20%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.53 MX$9.85

$0.20 E£10.89

165.00%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$27.51 MX$515

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$4.90 MX$91.8

$0.29 E£16.20

1589.66%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$3.43 MX$64.3

$0.29 E£16.24

1082.76%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$5.38 MX$101

$1.19 E£66.4

352.10%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.45 MX$27.10

$0.44 E£24.57

229.55%

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

$21.2K MX$396.0K

$30.9K E£1.7M

-31.46%

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

$23.0K MX$430.8K

$24.5K E£1.4M

-6.24%

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

$85.4 MX$1,598

$13.15 E£733

549.13%

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

$23.46 MX$439

$6.68 E£372

251.20%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$28.43 MX$532

$9.62 E£536

195.53%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$62.2 MX$1,164

$8.82 E£492

605.10%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$28.68 MX$537

$3.81 E£213

652.76%

Cinema Ticket

$5.10 MX$95.5

$3.80 E£212

34.21%

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

$201 MX$3,763

$84.5 E£4,712

137.98%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$3,947 MX$73.9K

$2,279 E£127.1K

73.17%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$44.39 MX$831

$9.49 E£529

367.76%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$41.35 MX$774

$46.90 E£2,616

-11.83%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$72.7 MX$1,362

$156 E£8,693

-53.33%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$89.6 MX$1,677

$18.79 E£1,048

376.90%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$979 MX$18.3K

$130 E£7,224

656.00%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$373 MX$6,976

$72.2 E£4,025

416.43%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,681 MX$31.5K

$248 E£13.8K

576.89%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,095 MX$20.5K

$142 E£7,941

669.20%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$3,949 MX$73.9K

$738 E£41.2K

434.82%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$6,137 MX$114.9K

$387 E£21.6K

1485.05%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$738 MX$13.8K

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

11.45

22.5

-49.11%

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 Kafr El Sheikh: October 17, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Playa del Carmen

$373 31%

Kafr El Sheikh

$72 18.1% 80.6% $301

Groceries & Markets

Playa del Carmen

$258 21.5%

Kafr El Sheikh

$105 26.3% 59.5% $154

Eating Out

Playa del Carmen

$200 16.6%

Kafr El Sheikh

$69 17.3% 65.7% $132

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Playa del Carmen

$137 11.4%

Kafr El Sheikh

$29 7.4% 78.5% $108

Clothing & Footwear

Playa del Carmen

$112 9.3%

Kafr El Sheikh

$104 26.1% 6.9% $7.7

Sport & Entertainment

Playa del Carmen

$72 6%

Kafr El Sheikh

$16 4.1% 77.3% $56

Getting Around

Playa del Carmen

$52 4.3%

Kafr El Sheikh

$2.5 * 0.6% 95.1% $49

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 $979 in Playa del Carmen and $130 in Kafr El Sheikh. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Dining out: $44 in Playa del Carmen vs $15 in Kafr El Sheikh for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $258 vs $105 per month, with Kafr El Sheikh cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇲🇽 Playa del Carmen

🇪🇬 Kafr El Sheikh

🕒 Local time

01:17 1:17 AM

09:17 9:17 AM

8 h ahead of Playa del Carmen

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

149,923

194,569

💱 Currency

Mexican Peso MXN $

Egyptian Pound EGP £

📈 Exchange rate

100 MXN = 5.34 USD

100 MXN = 4.76 EUR

100 EGP = 1.79 USD

100 EGP = 1.6 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 October 26, 2026: 1 USD = 18.72 MXN (100 MXN = 5.34 USD). 1 EUR = 21 MXN (100 MXN = 4.76 EUR).

Egyptian Pound exchange rates as of October 26, 2026: 1 USD = 55.77 EGP (100 EGP = 1.79 USD). 1 EUR = 62.57 EGP (100 EGP = 1.6 EUR).

USD to MXN in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Playa del Carmen Kafr El Sheikh 11,230 km ≈ 15 h nonstop flight

From you

Playa del Carmen
Kafr El Sheikh

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 Kafr El Sheikh: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Playa del Carmen and Kafr El Sheikh differ by about 203% in total monthly costs ($1,204 vs $398 including rent). Kafr El Sheikh is meaningfully more affordable – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

You’d need roughly $1,806 in Playa del Carmen and $597 in Kafr El Sheikh 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 $130 in Kafr El Sheikh. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Supermarket bills run roughly 147% higher in Playa del Carmen. For households that cook at home regularly, that difference adds up over a month.

All in, you’ll spend $1,204 per month in Playa del Carmen versus $398 in Kafr El Sheikh – a 203% gap that adds up to real savings over time for anyone picking the cheaper option.

At $398 in Kafr El Sheikh versus $1,204 in Playa del Carmen, a $1,200 budget is realistic in Kafr El Sheikh but tight or insufficient in Playa del Carmen. The gap between the two cities makes Kafr El Sheikh 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.