Last update: Nov 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Playa del Carmen and Madinat As Sultan Qaboos

For one person, living is cheaper in Madinat As Sultan Qaboos: $956 a month against $1,202 in Playa del Carmen, rent and utilities included – about $3,000 less a year. Higher rent and utilities in Playa del Carmen outweigh lower spending on other living expenses.

57

Cost of Living Index in Playa del Carmen
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Playa del Carmen Living Index
46

Cost of Living Index in Madinat As Sultan Qaboos
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Madinat As Sultan Qaboos Living Index

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Playa del Carmen

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,202

/mo nomad

Madinat As Sultan Qaboos

🇴🇲 Oman

$956

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Playa del Carmen and in Madinat As Sultan Qaboos

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 Madinat As Sultan Qaboos actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,202 in Playa del Carmen versus $956 in Madinat As Sultan Qaboos.

Playa del Carmen $1,202
Madinat As Sultan Qaboos $956

Estimated couple costs with rent: $2,082 in Playa del Carmen versus $1,434 in Madinat As Sultan Qaboos.

Playa del Carmen $2,082
Madinat As Sultan Qaboos $1,434

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $2,962 in Playa del Carmen versus $1,911 in Madinat As Sultan Qaboos.

Playa del Carmen $2,962
Madinat As Sultan Qaboos $1,911

Living in Playa del Carmen is roughly 26% more expensive than in Madinat As Sultan Qaboos, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in leisure.

Both cities sit below the global median: Playa del Carmen 11% lower, Madinat As Sultan Qaboos 29% lower.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$10.67 MX$199

$5.35 OMR 2.06

99.44%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$43.80 MX$815

$38.48 OMR 14.81

13.83%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$11.79 MX$219

$7.89 OMR 3.04

49.43%

Cappuccino

$3.79 MX$70.5

$5.01 OMR 1.93

-24.35%

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

$1.30 MX$24.14

$0.91 OMR 0.35

42.86%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.83 MX$15.51

$0.29 OMR 0.11

186.21%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.15 MX$58.6

$13.09 OMR 5.04

-75.94%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.93 MX$91.8

$13.26 OMR 5.10

-62.82%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.41 MX$26.22

$2.29 OMR 0.88

-38.43%

White Bread (500g)

$2.20 MX$40.86

$1.24 OMR 0.48

77.42%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.47 MX$27.40

$1.91 OMR 0.73

-23.04%

Eggs

$2.50 MX$46.47

$3.08 OMR 1.19

-18.83%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$7.29 MX$136

$7.12 OMR 2.74

2.39%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$7.95 MX$148

$7.14 OMR 2.75

11.34%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$12.86 MX$239

$10.13 OMR 3.90

26.95%

Apples (1kg)

$2.90 MX$53.9

$3.65 OMR 1.40

-20.55%

Banana (1kg)

$1.38 MX$25.74

$2.01 OMR 0.77

-31.34%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.49 MX$46.36

$2.39 OMR 0.92

4.18%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.03 MX$37.78

$1.30 OMR 0.50

56.15%

Potato (1kg)

$2.02 MX$37.69

$1.17 OMR 0.45

72.65%

Onion (1kg)

$1.90 MX$35.42

$1.28 OMR 0.49

48.44%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.14 MX$21.30

$1.82 OMR 0.70

-37.36%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.24 MX$23.06

$0.65 OMR 0.25

90.77%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$4.27 MX$79.5

$6.55 OMR 2.52

-34.81%

Wine (Bottle)

$9.81 MX$183

$15.39 OMR 5.92

-36.26%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.59 MX$29.51

$5.94 OMR 2.29

-73.23%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.75 MX$51.1

$10.26 OMR 3.95

-73.20%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.51 MX$9.58

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$27.39 MX$510

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$4.76 MX$88.6

$3.23 OMR 1.24

47.37%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$3.25 MX$60.5

$2.53 OMR 0.97

28.46%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$5.39 MX$100

$7.92 OMR 3.05

-31.94%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.53 MX$28.44

$0.61 OMR 0.23

150.82%

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

$21.2K MX$394.8K

$25.2K OMR 9,705

-15.87%

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

$23.3K MX$432.9K

$20.7K OMR 7,960

12.49%

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

$83.5 MX$1,554

$180 OMR 69.2

-53.52%

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

$23.19 MX$431

$30.21 OMR 11.63

-23.24%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$27.61 MX$514

$70.4 OMR 27.10

-60.79%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$56.4 MX$1,050

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$28.19 MX$525

Cinema Ticket

$5.00 MX$93.1

$10.58 OMR 4.07

-52.74%

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

$207 MX$3,854

$492 OMR 189

-57.93%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$5,231 MX$97.4K

$10.4K OMR 4,001

-49.68%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$43.45 MX$809

$56.7 OMR 21.81

-23.30%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$42.54 MX$792

$43.66 OMR 16.80

-2.57%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$72.8 MX$1,354

$88.6 OMR 34.10

-17.87%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$88.4 MX$1,645

$87.0 OMR 33.50

1.55%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$995 MX$18.5K

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$382 MX$7,116

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,674 MX$31.2K

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,081 MX$20.1K

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$3,909 MX$72.7K

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$6,138 MX$114.2K

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$832 MX$15.5K

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

11.45

5.25

118.10%

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 Madinat As Sultan Qaboos: November 2, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Playa del Carmen

$382 31.8%

Madinat As Sultan Qaboos

- * 0% 100%

Groceries & Markets

Playa del Carmen

$257 21.4%

Madinat As Sultan Qaboos

$291 30.5% 13.1% $34

Eating Out

Playa del Carmen

$200 16.7%

Madinat As Sultan Qaboos

$223 23.4% 11.5% $23

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Playa del Carmen

$134 11.2%

Madinat As Sultan Qaboos

$280 29.3% 109% $146

Clothing & Footwear

Playa del Carmen

$111 9.3%

Madinat As Sultan Qaboos

$124 13% 11.7% $13

Sport & Entertainment

Playa del Carmen

$66 5.5%

Madinat As Sultan Qaboos

$21 * 2.2% 68.2% $45

Getting Around

Playa del Carmen

$50 4.2%

Madinat As Sultan Qaboos

$16 * 1.7% 68.5% $35

Categories marked with * are only partly priced – their share counts the items that do have prices.

Cost Breakdown

Dining out: $44 in Playa del Carmen vs $38 in Madinat As Sultan Qaboos. Groceries flip the comparison at $257 vs $291, with Playa del Carmen cheaper for home cooking.

Good to know

🇲🇽 Playa del Carmen

🇴🇲 Madinat As Sultan Qaboos

🕒 Local time

18:09 6:09 PM

03:09 3:09 AM

9 h ahead of Playa del Carmen

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

149,923

💱 Currency

Mexican Peso MXN $

Omani Rial OMR ر.ع.

📈 Exchange rate

100 MXN = 5.37 USD

100 MXN = 4.77 EUR

1 OMR = 2.6 USD

1 OMR = 2.31 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

OMR, USD, EUR to MXN – Mexican Peso Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇲🇽 Mexican Peso ($)

Mexican Peso exchange rates as of November 4, 2026: 1 USD = 18.61 MXN (100 MXN = 5.37 USD). 1 EUR = 20.95 MXN (100 MXN = 4.77 EUR).

Omani Rial exchange rates as of November 4, 2026: 1 USD = 0.385 OMR (1 OMR = 2.6 USD). 1 EUR = 0.433 OMR (1 OMR = 2.31 EUR).

USD to MXN in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Playa del Carmen Madinat As Sultan Qaboos 13,840 km ≈ 18 h nonstop flight

From you

Playa del Carmen
Madinat As Sultan Qaboos

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 Madinat As Sultan Qaboos: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Madinat As Sultan Qaboos wins on cost – living expenses run 20% lower than in Playa del Carmen. Housing and daily spending are where you’ll feel the difference most, making Madinat As Sultan Qaboos the obvious pick if budget is a priority.

You’d need roughly $1,804 in Playa del Carmen and $1,434 in Madinat As Sultan Qaboos to live well. The gap comes down to housing and overall price levels. Both cities are liveable on less, but these numbers represent actual comfort.

Shoppers in Playa del Carmen pay roughly 12% less for everyday groceries. It’s an unusual reversal that partly offsets higher costs elsewhere.

All in, you’ll spend $1,202 per month in Playa del Carmen versus $956 in Madinat As Sultan Qaboos – Madinat As Sultan Qaboos is about 20% cheaper, which adds up to real savings over time.

Both cities are expensive relative to $800. Madinat As Sultan Qaboos is the more realistic option, but even there you’ll need to be disciplined with housing, food, and fun money.

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.