Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Playa del Carmen and Kingston upon Thames

For one person, living is cheaper in Playa del Carmen: $1,204 a month against $3,212 in Kingston upon Thames, rent and utilities included – about $24,100 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
154

Cost of Living Index in Kingston upon Thames
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Kingston upon Thames Living Index

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Playa del Carmen

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,204

/mo nomad

Kingston upon Thames

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

$3,212

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Playa del Carmen and in Kingston upon Thames

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 Kingston upon Thames actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,204 in Playa del Carmen versus $3,212 in Kingston upon Thames.

Playa del Carmen $1,204
Kingston upon Thames $3,212

Estimated couple costs with rent: $2,082 in Playa del Carmen versus $4,557 in Kingston upon Thames.

Playa del Carmen $2,082
Kingston upon Thames $4,557

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $2,959 in Playa del Carmen versus $5,901 in Kingston upon Thames.

Playa del Carmen $2,959
Kingston upon Thames $5,901

Living in Playa del Carmen costs roughly 63% less than in Kingston upon Thames, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

The two cities straddle the global median: Playa del Carmen is 12% below, Kingston upon Thames is 136% above.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$10.92 MX$205

$21.66 £16.18

-49.58%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$43.37 MX$815

$78.7 £58.8

-44.86%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$11.78 MX$221

$9.85 £7.36

19.59%

Cappuccino

$3.81 MX$71.6

$5.33 £3.99

-28.52%

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

$1.28 MX$24.10

$3.33 £2.49

-61.56%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.78 MX$14.71

$1.78 £1.33

-56.18%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.17 MX$59.5

$9.05 £6.76

-64.97%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.93 MX$92.7

$9.29 £6.94

-46.93%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.41 MX$26.43

$1.59 £1.19

-11.32%

White Bread (500g)

$2.22 MX$41.66

$1.72 £1.28

29.07%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.42 MX$26.64

$2.36 £1.76

-39.83%

Eggs

$2.52 MX$47.41

$4.61 £3.45

-45.34%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$7.26 MX$137

$10.51 £7.85

-30.92%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$7.70 MX$145

$8.20 £6.13

-6.10%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$12.69 MX$239

$13.30 £9.93

-4.59%

Apples (1kg)

$2.78 MX$52.3

$3.00 £2.24

-7.33%

Banana (1kg)

$1.37 MX$25.71

$1.28 £0.95

7.03%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.55 MX$47.94

$2.89 £2.16

-11.76%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.12 MX$39.90

$2.11 £1.58

0.47%

Potato (1kg)

$1.94 MX$36.43

$2.16 £1.61

-10.19%

Onion (1kg)

$1.89 MX$35.44

$1.83 £1.37

3.28%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.15 MX$21.55

$1.15 £0.86

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.18 MX$22.16

$1.73 £1.29

-31.79%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$4.30 MX$80.7

$24.09 £18.00

-82.15%

Wine (Bottle)

$9.95 MX$187

$11.14 £8.32

-10.68%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.58 MX$29.76

$3.03 £2.27

-47.85%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.67 MX$50.2

$3.18 £2.37

-16.04%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.55 MX$10.40

$2.39 £1.79

-76.99%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$26.62 MX$500

$85.9 £64.2

-69.00%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$4.97 MX$93.4

$4.96 £3.71

0.20%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$3.33 MX$62.6

$2.61 £1.95

27.59%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$5.36 MX$101

$39.79 £29.73

-86.53%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.44 MX$27.14

$1.95 £1.46

-26.15%

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

$20.7K MX$388.4K

$38.4K £28.7K

-46.25%

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

$23.5K MX$441.0K

$39.9K £29.8K

-41.17%

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

$84.8 MX$1,594

$313 £234

-72.90%

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

$23.41 MX$440

$15.88 £11.86

47.42%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$28.66 MX$539

$40.18 £30.02

-28.67%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$57.1 MX$1,072

$103 £77.2

-44.82%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$28.91 MX$543

$10.84 £8.10

166.70%

Cinema Ticket

$5.14 MX$96.6

$17.85 £13.34

-71.20%

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

$207 MX$3,882

$2,089 £1,561

-90.11%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$3,927 MX$73.8K

$23.7K £17.7K

-83.41%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$43.35 MX$815

$93.2 £69.6

-53.50%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$41.44 MX$779

$49.64 £37.08

-16.52%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$74.2 MX$1,394

$94.3 £70.5

-21.31%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$89.3 MX$1,677

$108 £80.4

-17.03%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$980 MX$18.4K

$2,201 £1,645

-55.50%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$381 MX$7,157

$1,787 £1,335

-78.68%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,708 MX$32.1K

$3,699 £2,764

-53.83%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,075 MX$20.2K

$2,870 £2,144

-62.54%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$3,943 MX$74.1K

$10.3K £7,662

-61.56%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$6,158 MX$115.7K

$7,139 £5,333

-13.75%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$735 MX$13.8K

$5,239 £3,914

-85.98%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

11.45

5.12

123.63%

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 Kingston upon Thames: October 26, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Playa del Carmen

$381 31.6%

Kingston upon Thames

$1.8K 55.6% 369% $1.4K

Groceries & Markets

Playa del Carmen

$255 21.2%

Kingston upon Thames

$298 9.3% 16.8% $43

Eating Out

Playa del Carmen

$202 16.8%

Kingston upon Thames

$351 10.9% 73.5% $149

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Playa del Carmen

$137 11.4%

Kingston upon Thames

$369 11.5% 170% $232

Clothing & Footwear

Playa del Carmen

$112 9.3%

Kingston upon Thames

$155 4.8% 38.9% $43

Sport & Entertainment

Playa del Carmen

$67 5.6%

Kingston upon Thames

$139 4.3% 107% $72

Getting Around

Playa del Carmen

$50 4.2%

Kingston upon Thames

$113 3.5% 125% $63

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $980 in Playa del Carmen and $2,201 in Kingston upon Thames. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Kingston upon Thames pays about 7.1 times more on average. How far that income stretches comes down to housing choices and lifestyle.

Dining out: $43 in Playa del Carmen vs $79 in Kingston upon Thames for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $255 vs $298 per month, with Playa del Carmen cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇲🇽 Playa del Carmen

🇬🇧 Kingston upon Thames

🕒 Local time

21:07 9:07 PM

02:07 2:07 AM

5 h ahead of Playa del Carmen

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

149,923

43,013

💱 Currency

Mexican Peso MXN $

British Pound GBP £

📈 Exchange rate

100 MXN = 5.32 USD

100 MXN = 4.77 EUR

1 GBP = 1.34 USD

1 GBP = 1.2 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 November 2, 2026: 1 USD = 18.79 MXN (100 MXN = 5.32 USD). 1 EUR = 20.98 MXN (100 MXN = 4.77 EUR).

British Pound exchange rates as of November 2, 2026: 1 USD = 0.747 GBP (1 GBP = 1.34 USD). 1 EUR = 0.834 GBP (1 GBP = 1.2 EUR).

USD to MXN in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Playa del Carmen Kingston upon Thames 8,010 km ≈ 11 h nonstop flight

From you

Playa del Carmen
Kingston upon Thames

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 Kingston upon Thames: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Total monthly costs including rent come to $1,204 in Playa del Carmen and $3,212 in Kingston upon Thames, so Playa del Carmen is about 63% cheaper – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

On paper, salaries run 86% 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 $2,201 in Kingston upon Thames. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

A monthly transit pass in Playa del Carmen runs roughly 69% less than in Kingston upon Thames. The price difference matters if you commute daily and watch your budget.

Childcare runs $207 in Playa del Carmen versus $2,089 in Kingston upon Thames. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

At $1,204 in Playa del Carmen versus $3,212 in Kingston upon Thames, a $1,500 budget is realistic in Playa del Carmen but tight or insufficient in Kingston upon Thames. 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 63% less than in Kingston upon Thames. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.