Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Playa del Carmen and Kirkwall

For one person, living is cheaper in Playa del Carmen: $1,204 a month against $2,121 in Kirkwall, rent and utilities included – about $11,000 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
103

Cost of Living Index in Kirkwall
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Kirkwall Living Index

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Playa del Carmen

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,204

/mo nomad

Kirkwall

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

$2,121

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,204 in Playa del Carmen versus $2,121 in Kirkwall.

Playa del Carmen $1,204
Kirkwall $2,121

Estimated couple costs with rent: $2,102 in Playa del Carmen versus $3,026 in Kirkwall.

Playa del Carmen $2,102
Kirkwall $3,026

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $3,000 in Playa del Carmen versus $3,931 in Kirkwall.

Playa del Carmen $3,000
Kirkwall $3,931

Living in Playa del Carmen costs roughly 43% less than in Kirkwall, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

The two cities straddle the global median: Playa del Carmen is 11% below, Kirkwall is 57% above.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$10.86 MX$201

$23.63 £17.73

-54.04%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$44.21 MX$817

$94.8 £71.1

-53.35%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$11.76 MX$217

$10.57 £7.93

11.26%

Cappuccino

$3.68 MX$68.0

$3.92 £2.94

-6.12%

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

$1.34 MX$24.79

$3.26 £2.44

-58.90%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.82 MX$15.24

$1.31 £0.98

-37.40%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.06 MX$56.6

$6.20 £4.65

-50.65%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.94 MX$91.2

$8.47 £6.36

-41.68%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.47 MX$27.17

$0.79 £0.59

86.08%

White Bread (500g)

$2.22 MX$40.95

$1.58 £1.19

40.51%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.48 MX$27.32

$2.05 £1.54

-27.80%

Eggs

$2.49 MX$45.99

$3.22 £2.42

-22.67%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$7.52 MX$139

$6.59 £4.95

14.11%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$7.96 MX$147

$8.97 £6.73

-11.26%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$12.57 MX$232

$15.90 £11.92

-20.94%

Apples (1kg)

$2.78 MX$51.3

$2.20 £1.65

26.36%

Banana (1kg)

$1.43 MX$26.37

$1.97 £1.48

-27.41%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.62 MX$48.37

$1.57 £1.18

66.88%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.14 MX$39.49

$1.32 £0.99

62.12%

Potato (1kg)

$2.02 MX$37.38

$1.11 £0.83

81.98%

Onion (1kg)

$1.99 MX$36.74

$1.09 £0.82

82.57%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.14 MX$21.01

$0.77 £0.58

48.05%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.20 MX$22.18

$1.08 £0.81

11.11%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$4.26 MX$78.7

$20.10 £15.08

-78.81%

Wine (Bottle)

$10.02 MX$185

$9.18 £6.89

9.15%

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

$2.88 £2.16

-7.64%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.53 MX$9.73

$10.51 £7.89

-94.96%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$27.51 MX$508

$107 £80.4

-74.33%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$4.90 MX$90.6

$5.19 £3.90

-5.59%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$3.43 MX$63.5

$2.58 £1.93

32.95%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$5.38 MX$99.4

$27.06 £20.30

-80.12%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.45 MX$26.76

$2.05 £1.54

-29.27%

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

$21.2K MX$391.0K

$37.8K £28.4K

-44.10%

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

$23.0K MX$425.3K

$41.2K £30.9K

-44.07%

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

$85.4 MX$1,577

$282 £212

-69.78%

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

$23.46 MX$434

$30.12 £22.60

-22.11%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$28.43 MX$525

$33.04 £24.79

-13.95%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$62.2 MX$1,149

$41.73 £31.31

49.03%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$28.68 MX$530

Cinema Ticket

$5.10 MX$94.3

$11.46 £8.60

-55.50%

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

$201 MX$3,715

$1,237 £928

-83.75%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$3,947 MX$72.9K

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$44.39 MX$820

$91.5 £68.7

-51.49%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$41.35 MX$764

$43.72 £32.80

-5.42%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$72.7 MX$1,344

$95.0 £71.3

-23.44%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$89.6 MX$1,656

$138 £103

-34.84%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$979 MX$18.1K

$935 £701

4.74%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$373 MX$6,887

$792 £594

-52.93%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,681 MX$31.1K

$1,182 £887

42.15%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,095 MX$20.2K

$966 £725

13.40%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$3,949 MX$73.0K

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$6,137 MX$113.4K

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$738 MX$13.6K

$1,914 £1,436

-61.46%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

11.45

5.07

125.84%

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 Kirkwall: October 19, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Playa del Carmen

$373 31%

Kirkwall

$792 37.3% 112% $419

Groceries & Markets

Playa del Carmen

$258 21.5%

Kirkwall

$252 11.9% 2.4% $6.3

Eating Out

Playa del Carmen

$200 16.6%

Kirkwall

$334 15.8% 66.9% $134

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Playa del Carmen

$137 11.4%

Kirkwall

$346 16.3% 152% $208

Clothing & Footwear

Playa del Carmen

$112 9.3%

Kirkwall

$165 7.8% 48.2% $54

Sport & Entertainment

Playa del Carmen

$72 6%

Kirkwall

$65 3.1% 10.7% $7.8

Getting Around

Playa del Carmen

$52 4.3%

Kirkwall

$167 7.9% 224% $116

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $979 in Playa del Carmen and $935 in Kirkwall. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Kirkwall pays 159% 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 $95.0 in Kirkwall. Groceries flip the comparison at $258 vs $252, with Kirkwall cheaper for home cooking.

Good to know

🇲🇽 Playa del Carmen

🇬🇧 Kirkwall

🕒 Local time

13:36 1:36 PM

19:36 7:36 PM

6 h ahead of Playa del Carmen

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

149,923

7,500

💱 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 Kirkwall 7,720 km ≈ 10 h nonstop flight

From you

Playa del Carmen
Kirkwall

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 Kirkwall: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Playa del Carmen and Kirkwall differ by about 76% in total monthly costs ($1,204 vs $2,121 including rent). Playa del Carmen is meaningfully more affordable – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

On paper, salaries run 159% lower in Kirkwall. 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 $935 in Kirkwall. 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 $44.00 versus $95.0 in Kirkwall. 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 $2,121 in Kirkwall – a 76% gap that adds up to real savings over time for anyone picking the cheaper option.

At $1,204 in Playa del Carmen versus $2,121 in Kirkwall, a $1,500 budget is realistic in Playa del Carmen but tight or insufficient in Kirkwall. 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.

Safety-wise, Playa del Carmen and Kirkwall are on par. Petty crime is typical for cities this size, and most residents feel comfortable going about their daily routines in either place.

Expats usually find Playa del Carmen gentler on the wallet – expenses run 76% less than in Kirkwall. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.