Last update: Nov 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Playa del Carmen and Longyearbyen

For one person, living is cheaper in Playa del Carmen: $1,202 a month against $2,850 in Longyearbyen, rent and utilities included – about $19,800 less a year. Rent and utilities account for about half of the difference.

57

Cost of Living Index in Playa del Carmen
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Playa del Carmen Living Index
136

Cost of Living Index in Longyearbyen
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Longyearbyen Living Index

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Playa del Carmen

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,202

/mo nomad

Longyearbyen

🇳🇴 Norway

$2,850

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,202 in Playa del Carmen versus $2,850 in Longyearbyen.

Playa del Carmen $1,202
Longyearbyen $2,850

Estimated couple costs with rent: $2,082 in Playa del Carmen versus $4,306 in Longyearbyen.

Playa del Carmen $2,082
Longyearbyen $4,306

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $2,962 in Playa del Carmen versus $5,761 in Longyearbyen.

Playa del Carmen $2,962
Longyearbyen $5,761

Living in Playa del Carmen costs roughly 58% less than in Longyearbyen, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in groceries.

The two cities straddle the global median: Playa del Carmen is 11% below, Longyearbyen is 111% above.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$10.67 MX$200

$20.56 NOK 191

-48.10%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$43.80 MX$823

$107 NOK 996

-59.08%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$11.79 MX$221

$18.57 NOK 173

-36.51%

Cappuccino

$3.79 MX$71.1

$7.17 NOK 66.7

-47.14%

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

$1.30 MX$24.36

$6.30 NOK 58.6

-79.37%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.83 MX$15.65

$5.80 NOK 54.0

-85.69%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.15 MX$59.1

$7.56 NOK 70.4

-58.33%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.93 MX$92.7

$9.24 NOK 86.0

-46.65%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.41 MX$26.46

$2.53 NOK 23.54

-44.27%

White Bread (500g)

$2.20 MX$41.23

$3.83 NOK 35.65

-42.56%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.47 MX$27.66

$4.48 NOK 41.70

-67.19%

Eggs

$2.50 MX$46.89

$5.02 NOK 46.71

-50.20%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$7.29 MX$137

$14.71 NOK 137

-50.44%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$7.95 MX$149

$20.74 NOK 193

-61.67%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$12.86 MX$242

$32.68 NOK 304

-60.65%

Apples (1kg)

$2.90 MX$54.4

$6.79 NOK 63.2

-57.29%

Banana (1kg)

$1.38 MX$25.98

$2.73 NOK 25.43

-49.45%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.49 MX$46.78

$7.03 NOK 65.4

-64.58%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.03 MX$38.12

$6.87 NOK 63.9

-70.45%

Potato (1kg)

$2.02 MX$38.03

$5.60 NOK 52.1

-63.93%

Onion (1kg)

$1.90 MX$35.74

$4.76 NOK 44.27

-60.08%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.14 MX$21.49

$4.57 NOK 42.50

-75.05%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.24 MX$23.27

$3.68 NOK 34.23

-66.30%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$4.27 MX$80.2

$18.05 NOK 168

-76.34%

Wine (Bottle)

$9.81 MX$184

$14.96 NOK 139

-34.43%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.59 MX$29.78

$3.56 NOK 33.10

-55.34%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.75 MX$51.6

$4.43 NOK 41.19

-37.92%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.51 MX$9.67

$4.76 NOK 44.26

-89.29%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$27.39 MX$514

$86.2 NOK 802

-68.22%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$4.76 MX$89.4

$9.58 NOK 89.1

-50.31%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$3.25 MX$61.0

$1.83 NOK 16.98

77.60%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$5.39 MX$101

$70.4 NOK 655

-92.34%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.53 MX$28.70

$2.22 NOK 20.63

-31.08%

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

$21.2K MX$398.4K

$49.8K NOK 463.2K

-57.41%

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

$23.3K MX$436.9K

$45.2K NOK 420.5K

-48.54%

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

$83.5 MX$1,568

$275 NOK 2,559

-69.66%

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

$23.19 MX$435

$33.68 NOK 313

-31.15%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$27.61 MX$519

$55.5 NOK 516

-50.24%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$56.4 MX$1,060

$49.11 NOK 457

14.91%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$28.19 MX$529

$38.07 NOK 354

-25.95%

Cinema Ticket

$5.00 MX$93.9

$17.68 NOK 164

-71.72%

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

$207 MX$3,889

$244 NOK 2,266

-15.00%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$5,231 MX$98.2K

$13.6K NOK 126.1K

-61.41%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$43.45 MX$816

$104 NOK 967

-58.19%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$42.54 MX$799

$57.7 NOK 537

-26.32%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$72.8 MX$1,367

$130 NOK 1,206

-43.88%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$88.4 MX$1,660

$158 NOK 1,467

-43.97%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$995 MX$18.7K

$1,159 NOK 10.8K

-14.14%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$382 MX$7,181

$1,059 NOK 9,848

-63.88%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,674 MX$31.4K

$2,092 NOK 19.5K

-19.97%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,081 MX$20.3K

$1,703 NOK 15.8K

-36.54%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$3,909 MX$73.4K

$6,445 NOK 59.9K

-39.35%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$6,138 MX$115.3K

$4,297 NOK 40.0K

42.82%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$832 MX$15.6K

$2,894 NOK 26.9K

-71.24%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

11.45

4.94

131.78%

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

Last update for Playa del Carmen: November 2, 2026

Last update for Longyearbyen: November 1, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Playa del Carmen

$382 31.8%

Longyearbyen

$1.1K 37.2% 177% $676

Groceries & Markets

Playa del Carmen

$257 21.4%

Longyearbyen

$606 21.3% 135% $348

Eating Out

Playa del Carmen

$200 16.7%

Longyearbyen

$411 14.4% 105% $211

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Playa del Carmen

$134 11.2%

Longyearbyen

$364 12.8% 171% $230

Clothing & Footwear

Playa del Carmen

$111 9.3%

Longyearbyen

$202 7.1% 81.7% $91

Sport & Entertainment

Playa del Carmen

$66 5.5%

Longyearbyen

$84 3% 27.2% $18

Getting Around

Playa del Carmen

$50 4.2%

Longyearbyen

$124 4.4% 146% $73

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $995 in Playa del Carmen and $1,159 in Longyearbyen. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Longyearbyen pays about 3.5 times more on average. How far that income stretches comes down to housing choices and lifestyle.

Dining out: $44 in Playa del Carmen vs $107 in Longyearbyen for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $257 vs $606 per month, with Playa del Carmen cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇲🇽 Playa del Carmen

🇳🇴 Longyearbyen

🕒 Local time

07:32 7:32 AM

13:32 1:32 PM

6 h ahead of Playa del Carmen

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

149,923

2,400

💱 Currency

Mexican Peso MXN $

Norwegian Krone NOK kr

📈 Exchange rate

100 MXN = 5.32 USD

100 MXN = 4.74 EUR

100 NOK = 10.75 USD

100 NOK = 9.57 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

NOK, USD, EUR to MXN – Mexican Peso Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇲🇽 Mexican Peso ($)

Mexican Peso exchange rates as of November 6, 2026: 1 USD = 18.78 MXN (100 MXN = 5.32 USD). 1 EUR = 21.09 MXN (100 MXN = 4.74 EUR).

Norwegian Krone exchange rates as of November 6, 2026: 1 USD = 9.3 NOK (1 NOK = 0.108 USD). 1 EUR = 10.45 NOK (100 NOK = 9.57 EUR).

USD to MXN in detail →

On the map

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Highest

Between locations

Playa del Carmen Longyearbyen 8,050 km ≈ 11 h nonstop flight

From you

Playa del Carmen
Longyearbyen

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 Longyearbyen: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Playa del Carmen is about 58% cheaper overall, especially in groceries, eating out, and clothing. That difference adds up to real monthly savings that compound significantly over time.

On paper, salaries run 71% 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: $995 in Playa del Carmen versus $1,159 in Longyearbyen. 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 68% less than in Longyearbyen. The price difference matters if you commute daily and watch your budget.

Childcare runs $207 in Playa del Carmen versus $244 in Longyearbyen. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

At $1,202 in Playa del Carmen versus $2,850 in Longyearbyen, a $1,500 budget is realistic in Playa del Carmen but tight or insufficient in Longyearbyen. 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 58% less than in Longyearbyen. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.