Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Playa del Carmen and Kawagoe

For one person, living is cheaper in Kawagoe: $1,075 a month against $1,204 in Playa del Carmen, rent and utilities included – about $1,500 less a year. Rent and utilities account for about half of the difference.

58

Cost of Living Index in Playa del Carmen
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Playa del Carmen Living Index
52

Cost of Living Index in Kawagoe
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Kawagoe Living Index

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Playa del Carmen

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,204

/mo nomad

Kawagoe

🇯🇵 Japan

$1,075

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,204 in Playa del Carmen versus $1,075 in Kawagoe.

Playa del Carmen $1,204
Kawagoe $1,075

Estimated couple costs with rent: $2,082 in Playa del Carmen versus $1,744 in Kawagoe.

Playa del Carmen $2,082
Kawagoe $1,744

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $2,959 in Playa del Carmen versus $2,413 in Kawagoe.

Playa del Carmen $2,959
Kawagoe $2,413

Living in Playa del Carmen is roughly 12% more expensive than in Kawagoe, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

Both cities sit below the global median: Playa del Carmen 12% lower, Kawagoe 21% lower.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$10.92 MX$205

$6.33 ¥1,000

72.51%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$43.37 MX$813

$41.23 ¥6,511

5.19%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$11.78 MX$221

$4.95 ¥782

137.98%

Cappuccino

$3.81 MX$71.4

$3.50 ¥552

8.86%

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

$1.28 MX$24.03

$0.92 ¥145

39.13%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.78 MX$14.67

$0.52 ¥82.7

50.00%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.17 MX$59.3

$1.91 ¥301

65.97%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.93 MX$92.5

$2.74 ¥432

79.93%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.41 MX$26.35

$1.15 ¥182

22.61%

White Bread (500g)

$2.22 MX$41.54

$1.28 ¥203

73.44%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.42 MX$26.56

$3.67 ¥579

-61.31%

Eggs

$2.52 MX$47.27

$2.08 ¥328

21.15%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$7.26 MX$136

$6.34 ¥1,002

14.51%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$7.70 MX$144

$5.90 ¥932

30.51%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$12.69 MX$238

$14.16 ¥2,237

-10.38%

Apples (1kg)

$2.78 MX$52.2

$5.82 ¥919

-52.23%

Banana (1kg)

$1.37 MX$25.64

$2.34 ¥369

-41.45%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.55 MX$47.80

$2.88 ¥455

-11.46%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.12 MX$39.78

$3.12 ¥492

-32.05%

Potato (1kg)

$1.94 MX$36.32

$2.54 ¥401

-23.62%

Onion (1kg)

$1.89 MX$35.34

$1.85 ¥292

2.16%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.15 MX$21.49

$1.27 ¥201

-9.45%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.18 MX$22.09

$0.76 ¥120

55.26%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$4.30 MX$80.5

$3.83 ¥605

12.27%

Wine (Bottle)

$9.95 MX$186

$4.65 ¥734

113.98%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.58 MX$29.67

$1.81 ¥286

-12.71%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.67 MX$50.1

$2.03 ¥321

31.53%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.55 MX$10.37

$2.97 ¥469

-81.48%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$26.62 MX$499

$52.8 ¥8,343

-49.61%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$4.97 MX$93.1

$3.11 ¥491

59.81%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$3.33 MX$62.4

$2.63 ¥415

26.62%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$5.36 MX$100

$20.31 ¥3,207

-73.61%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.44 MX$27.06

$1.06 ¥168

35.85%

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

$20.7K MX$387.3K

$15.6K ¥2.5M

32.32%

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

$23.5K MX$439.7K

$12.8K ¥2.0M

82.77%

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

$84.8 MX$1,589

$133 ¥21.0K

-36.22%

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

$23.41 MX$439

$22.18 ¥3,502

5.55%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$28.66 MX$537

$31.10 ¥4,912

-7.85%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$57.1 MX$1,069

$43.19 ¥6,821

32.09%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$28.91 MX$542

$30.97 ¥4,891

-6.65%

Cinema Ticket

$5.14 MX$96.3

$10.95 ¥1,730

-53.06%

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

$207 MX$3,871

$320 ¥50.6K

-35.54%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$3,927 MX$73.6K

$6,292 ¥993.6K

-37.58%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$43.35 MX$812

$31.66 ¥5,000

36.92%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$41.44 MX$777

$33.72 ¥5,326

22.89%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$74.2 MX$1,390

$43.55 ¥6,879

70.38%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$89.3 MX$1,672

$93.2 ¥14.7K

-4.26%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$980 MX$18.4K

$407 ¥64.3K

140.65%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$381 MX$7,136

$267 ¥42.1K

42.78%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,708 MX$32.0K

$862 ¥136.2K

98.10%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,075 MX$20.1K

$605 ¥95.5K

77.76%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$3,943 MX$73.9K

$2,474 ¥390.7K

59.37%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$6,158 MX$115.4K

$1,772 ¥279.8K

247.58%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$735 MX$13.8K

$1,597 ¥252.2K

-54.00%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

11.45

1.6

615.62%

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 Kawagoe: October 26, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Playa del Carmen

$381 31.6%

Kawagoe

$267 24.8% 30% $114

Groceries & Markets

Playa del Carmen

$255 21.2%

Kawagoe

$257 23.9% 0.7% $1.7

Eating Out

Playa del Carmen

$202 16.8%

Kawagoe

$128 11.9% 36.6% $74

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Playa del Carmen

$137 11.4%

Kawagoe

$186 17.3% 36.1% $49

Clothing & Footwear

Playa del Carmen

$112 9.3%

Kawagoe

$91 8.5% 18.6% $21

Sport & Entertainment

Playa del Carmen

$67 5.6%

Kawagoe

$65 6.1% 3.3% $2.2

Getting Around

Playa del Carmen

$50 4.2%

Kawagoe

$81 7.5% 60.5% $31

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $980 in Playa del Carmen and $407 in Kawagoe. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Kawagoe pays about 2.2 times more on average while also being the cheaper of the two. The combined effect is a noticeably stronger local purchasing power.

Dining out: $43 in Playa del Carmen vs $41 in Kawagoe. Groceries flip the comparison at $255 vs $257, with Playa del Carmen cheaper for home cooking.

Good to know

🇲🇽 Playa del Carmen

🇯🇵 Kawagoe

🕒 Local time

13:23 1:23 PM

03:23 3:23 AM

14 h ahead of Playa del Carmen

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

149,923

350,745

💱 Currency

Mexican Peso MXN $

Japanese Yen JPY ¥

📈 Exchange rate

100 MXN = 5.34 USD

100 MXN = 4.78 EUR

1,000 JPY = 6.33 USD

1,000 JPY = 5.67 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

JPY, USD, EUR to MXN – Mexican Peso Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇲🇽 Mexican Peso ($)

Mexican Peso exchange rates as of November 2, 2026: 1 USD = 18.74 MXN (100 MXN = 5.34 USD). 1 EUR = 20.91 MXN (100 MXN = 4.78 EUR).

Japanese Yen exchange rates as of November 2, 2026: 1 USD = 158 JPY (1,000 JPY = 6.33 USD). 1 EUR = 176 JPY (1,000 JPY = 5.67 EUR).

USD to MXN in detail →

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

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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 Kawagoe: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Total monthly costs including rent come to $1,204 in Playa del Carmen and $1,075 in Kawagoe, so Kawagoe is about 11% cheaper – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

On paper, salaries run 54% 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 $407 in Kawagoe. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $207 in Playa del Carmen versus $320 in Kawagoe. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Dining out is cheaper in Kawagoe – a meal for two runs $41 versus $43 in Playa del Carmen. If you eat out regularly, this makes a real dent in your monthly spending.

Either city works on $2,000 a month, though Kawagoe gives you more room to save. At this income level, the choice is more about lifestyle than financial pressure.

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.