Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Playa del Carmen and Leon

For one person, living is cheaper in Playa del Carmen: $1,210 a month against $1,489 in Leon, rent and utilities included – about $3,300 less a year. Higher rent and utilities in Leon outweigh lower spending on other living expenses.

59

Cost of Living Index in Playa del Carmen
Learn more

Playa del Carmen Living Index
73

Cost of Living Index in Leon
Learn more

Leon Living Index

Jump to prices

Playa del Carmen

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,210

/mo nomad

Leon

🇪🇸 Spain

$1,489

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,210 in Playa del Carmen versus $1,489 in Leon.

Playa del Carmen $1,210
Leon $1,489

Estimated couple costs with rent: $2,113 in Playa del Carmen versus $2,086 in Leon.

Playa del Carmen $2,113
Leon $2,086

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $3,016 in Playa del Carmen versus $2,683 in Leon.

Playa del Carmen $3,016
Leon $2,683

Living in Playa del Carmen costs roughly 19% less than in Leon, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

The two cities straddle the global median: Playa del Carmen is 10% below, Leon is 10% above.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$10.76 MX$199

$16.50 €14.68

-34.79%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$43.03 MX$795

$42.47 €37.77

1.32%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$11.79 MX$218

$9.12 €8.11

29.28%

Cappuccino

$3.87 MX$71.4

$2.96 €2.63

30.74%

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

$1.37 MX$25.29

$2.49 €2.22

-44.98%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.84 MX$15.44

$1.38 €1.23

-39.13%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.10 MX$57.3

$2.71 €2.41

14.39%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$5.07 MX$93.6

$3.33 €2.96

52.25%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.44 MX$26.55

$1.07 €0.95

34.58%

White Bread (500g)

$2.23 MX$41.23

$1.34 €1.19

66.42%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.47 MX$27.17

$1.30 €1.15

13.08%

Eggs

$2.53 MX$46.71

$3.39 €3.02

-25.37%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$7.30 MX$135

$9.96 €8.86

-26.71%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$7.86 MX$145

$6.19 €5.50

26.98%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$12.79 MX$236

$15.42 €13.72

-17.06%

Apples (1kg)

$2.90 MX$53.6

$2.40 €2.14

20.83%

Banana (1kg)

$1.44 MX$26.53

$2.25 €2.00

-36.00%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.55 MX$47.07

$2.34 €2.08

8.97%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.06 MX$38.03

$2.37 €2.10

-13.08%

Potato (1kg)

$2.00 MX$36.97

$1.75 €1.56

14.29%

Onion (1kg)

$2.01 MX$37.07

$1.94 €1.72

3.61%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.19 MX$22.02

$1.07 €0.95

11.21%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.26 MX$23.23

$0.81 €0.72

55.56%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$4.40 MX$81.4

$5.58 €4.97

-21.15%

Wine (Bottle)

$9.59 MX$177

$4.92 €4.38

94.92%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.59 MX$29.41

$1.56 €1.39

1.92%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.81 MX$51.9

$1.89 €1.68

48.68%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.57 MX$10.47

$1.33 €1.18

-57.14%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$27.82 MX$514

$33.44 €29.74

-16.81%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$4.98 MX$92.1

$2.25 €2.00

121.33%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$3.50 MX$64.6

$1.26 €1.12

177.78%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$5.40 MX$99.8

$35.54 €31.61

-84.81%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.47 MX$27.08

$1.69 €1.50

-13.02%

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

$21.0K MX$387.8K

$37.3K €33.2K

-43.78%

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

$23.9K MX$441.8K

$31.2K €27.7K

-23.31%

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

$84.2 MX$1,556

$173 €154

-51.30%

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

$23.99 MX$443

$16.70 €14.86

43.65%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$29.02 MX$536

$30.05 €26.73

-3.43%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$63.0 MX$1,164

$33.80 €30.06

86.33%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$29.14 MX$539

$6.28 €5.59

364.01%

Cinema Ticket

$4.94 MX$91.3

$8.73 €7.77

-43.41%

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

$204 MX$3,763

$206 €183

-1.04%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$3,941 MX$72.8K

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$43.60 MX$806

$96.1 €85.5

-54.62%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$43.12 MX$797

$15.88 €14.13

171.54%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$75.8 MX$1,400

$82.5 €73.4

-8.16%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$88.6 MX$1,637

$56.3 €50.1

57.41%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,008 MX$18.6K

$858 €763

17.52%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$374 MX$6,911

$587 €522

-36.26%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,708 MX$31.6K

$938 €835

82.06%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,106 MX$20.4K

$730 €650

51.45%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$3,944 MX$72.9K

$1,982 €1,763

98.97%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$6,169 MX$114.0K

$1,550 €1,379

297.99%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$754 MX$13.9K

$1,708 €1,519

-55.84%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

11.45

3.6

218.06%

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

Last update for Playa del Carmen: October 10, 2026

Last update for Leon: October 10, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Playa del Carmen

$374 30.9%

Leon

$587 39.4% 56.9% $213

Groceries & Markets

Playa del Carmen

$258 21.4%

Leon

$241 16.2% 6.7% $17

Eating Out

Playa del Carmen

$202 16.7%

Leon

$231 15.5% 14% $28

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Playa del Carmen

$137 11.3%

Leon

$220 14.8% 60.1% $82

Clothing & Footwear

Playa del Carmen

$113 9.3%

Leon

$113 7.6% 0.1% $0.1

Sport & Entertainment

Playa del Carmen

$73 6%

Leon

$51 3.4% 29.7% $22

Getting Around

Playa del Carmen

$53 4.3%

Leon

$47 3.2% 10% $5.3

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $1,008 in Playa del Carmen and $858 in Leon. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Leon pays 126% 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: $43.00 in Playa del Carmen vs $42.00 in Leon for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $258 vs $241 per month, with Leon cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇲🇽 Playa del Carmen

🇪🇸 Leon

🕒 Local time

14:37 2:37 PM

21:37 9:37 PM

7 h ahead of Playa del Carmen

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

149,923

121,281

💱 Currency

Mexican Peso MXN $

Euro EUR €

📈 Exchange rate

100 MXN = 5.41 USD

100 MXN = 4.81 EUR

1 EUR = 1.12 USD

Exchange rates and currency converter

EUR, USD to MXN – Mexican Peso Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇲🇽 Mexican Peso ($)

Mexican Peso exchange rates as of October 18, 2026: 1 USD = 18.48 MXN (100 MXN = 5.41 USD). 1 EUR = 20.77 MXN (100 MXN = 4.81 EUR).

Euro exchange rates as of October 18, 2026: 1 USD = 0.889 EUR (1 EUR = 1.12 USD).

USD to MXN in detail →

On the map

Lowest

Highest

Between locations

Playa del Carmen Leon 7,800 km ≈ 10 h nonstop flight

From you

Playa del Carmen
Leon

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 Leon: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Playa del Carmen and Leon differ by about 23% in total monthly costs ($1,210 vs $1,489 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 126% lower in Leon. 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: $1,008 in Playa del Carmen versus $858 in Leon. 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 $43.00 versus $42.00 in Leon. If you eat out regularly, this makes a real dent in your monthly spending.

All in, you'll spend $1,210 per month in Playa del Carmen versus $1,489 in Leon – a 23% gap that adds up to real savings over time for anyone picking the cheaper option.

At $1,210 in Playa del Carmen versus $1,489 in Leon, a $1,500 budget is realistic in Playa del Carmen but tight or insufficient in Leon. 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 Leon 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 23% less than in Leon. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.