Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Playa del Carmen and Manouba

For one person, living is cheaper in Manouba: $654 a month against $1,204 in Playa del Carmen, rent and utilities included – about $6,600 less a year. Rent and utilities account for about half of the difference.

58

Cost of Living Index in Playa del Carmen
Learn more

Playa del Carmen Living Index
31

Cost of Living Index in Manouba
Learn more

Manouba Living Index

Jump to prices

Playa del Carmen

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,204

/mo nomad

Manouba

🇹🇳 Tunisia

$654

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,204 in Playa del Carmen versus $654 in Manouba.

Playa del Carmen $1,204
Manouba $654

Estimated couple costs with rent: $2,082 in Playa del Carmen versus $1,026 in Manouba.

Playa del Carmen $2,082
Manouba $1,026

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $2,959 in Playa del Carmen versus $1,398 in Manouba.

Playa del Carmen $2,959
Manouba $1,398

Living in Playa del Carmen is roughly 84% more expensive than in Manouba, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

Both cities sit below the global median: Playa del Carmen 12% lower, Manouba 52% lower.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$10.92 MX$205

$3.34 TND 10.03

226.95%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$43.37 MX$814

$20.45 TND 61.4

112.08%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$11.78 MX$221

$6.04 TND 18.16

95.03%

Cappuccino

$3.81 MX$71.5

$1.17 TND 3.52

225.64%

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

$1.28 MX$24.07

$0.60 TND 1.79

113.33%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.78 MX$14.70

$0.27 TND 0.81

188.89%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.17 MX$59.5

$1.56 TND 4.70

103.21%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.93 MX$92.7

$2.34 TND 7.02

110.68%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.41 MX$26.40

$0.46 TND 1.37

206.52%

White Bread (500g)

$2.22 MX$41.62

$0.22 TND 0.66

909.09%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.42 MX$26.61

$1.31 TND 3.95

8.40%

Eggs

$2.52 MX$47.36

$1.62 TND 4.87

55.56%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$7.26 MX$136

$9.89 TND 29.70

-26.59%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$7.70 MX$144

$5.52 TND 16.58

39.49%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$12.69 MX$238

$13.89 TND 41.74

-8.64%

Apples (1kg)

$2.78 MX$52.3

$1.80 TND 5.42

54.44%

Banana (1kg)

$1.37 MX$25.68

$3.06 TND 9.21

-55.23%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.55 MX$47.89

$1.07 TND 3.22

138.32%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.12 MX$39.86

$0.68 TND 2.04

211.76%

Potato (1kg)

$1.94 MX$36.39

$0.76 TND 2.28

155.26%

Onion (1kg)

$1.89 MX$35.41

$0.66 TND 1.97

186.36%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.15 MX$21.53

$0.50 TND 1.50

130.00%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.18 MX$22.13

$0.34 TND 1.01

247.06%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$4.30 MX$80.6

$3.62 TND 10.89

18.78%

Wine (Bottle)

$9.95 MX$187

$6.77 TND 20.34

46.97%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.58 MX$29.73

$1.18 TND 3.54

33.90%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.67 MX$50.1

$1.08 TND 3.25

147.22%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.55 MX$10.39

$0.33 TND 0.99

66.67%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$26.62 MX$500

$10.03 TND 30.12

165.40%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$4.97 MX$93.3

$0.29 TND 0.87

1613.79%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$3.33 MX$62.5

$0.31 TND 0.93

974.19%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$5.36 MX$101

$1.79 TND 5.38

199.44%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.44 MX$27.11

$0.82 TND 2.46

75.61%

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

$20.7K MX$388.0K

$35.9K TND 107.9K

-42.47%

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

$23.5K MX$440.5K

$34.3K TND 103.1K

-31.65%

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

$84.8 MX$1,592

$45.98 TND 138

84.41%

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

$23.41 MX$439

$8.59 TND 25.80

172.53%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$28.66 MX$538

$21.14 TND 63.5

35.57%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$57.1 MX$1,071

$27.04 TND 81.2

110.98%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$28.91 MX$543

$12.70 TND 38.14

127.64%

Cinema Ticket

$5.14 MX$96.5

$5.23 TND 15.71

-1.72%

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

$207 MX$3,878

$96.2 TND 289

114.70%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$3,927 MX$73.7K

$2,484 TND 7,462

58.13%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$43.35 MX$814

$42.58 TND 128

1.81%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$41.44 MX$778

$35.69 TND 107

16.11%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$74.2 MX$1,393

$102 TND 305

-27.00%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$89.3 MX$1,676

$68.1 TND 205

31.12%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$980 MX$18.4K

$208 TND 624

371.94%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$381 MX$7,150

$158 TND 474

141.41%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,708 MX$32.1K

$373 TND 1,121

357.94%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,075 MX$20.2K

$269 TND 807

300.41%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$3,943 MX$74.0K

$965 TND 2,900

308.48%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$6,158 MX$115.6K

$605 TND 1,817

918.46%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$735 MX$13.8K

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

11.45

10.65

7.51%

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 Manouba: October 26, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Playa del Carmen

$381 31.6%

Manouba

$158 24.1% 58.6% $223

Groceries & Markets

Playa del Carmen

$255 21.2%

Manouba

$184 28.1% 27.9% $71

Eating Out

Playa del Carmen

$202 16.8%

Manouba

$75 11.4% 63% $128

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Playa del Carmen

$137 11.4%

Manouba

$76 11.6% 44.7% $61

Clothing & Footwear

Playa del Carmen

$112 9.3%

Manouba

$112 17.1% 0.1% $0.1

Sport & Entertainment

Playa del Carmen

$67 5.6%

Manouba

$37 5.7% 44.3% $30

Getting Around

Playa del Carmen

$50 4.2%

Manouba

$13 2% 73.9% $37

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $980 in Playa del Carmen and $208 in Manouba. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Dining out: $43 in Playa del Carmen vs $20 in Manouba for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $255 vs $184 per month, with Manouba cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇲🇽 Playa del Carmen

🇹🇳 Manouba

🕒 Local time

18:15 6:15 PM

00:15 12:15 AM

6 h ahead of Playa del Carmen

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

149,923

58,792

💱 Currency

Mexican Peso MXN $

Tunisian Dinar TND د.ت

📈 Exchange rate

100 MXN = 5.33 USD

100 MXN = 4.77 EUR

1 TND = 0.333 USD

1 TND = 0.298 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

TND, USD, EUR to MXN – Mexican Peso Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇲🇽 Mexican Peso ($)

Mexican Peso exchange rates as of November 1, 2026: 1 USD = 18.77 MXN (100 MXN = 5.33 USD). 1 EUR = 20.96 MXN (100 MXN = 4.77 EUR).

Tunisian Dinar exchange rates as of November 1, 2026: 1 USD = 3 TND (1 TND = 0.333 USD). 1 EUR = 3.35 TND (1 TND = 0.298 EUR).

USD to MXN in detail →

On the map

Lowest

Highest

Between locations

Playa del Carmen Manouba 9,260 km ≈ 12 h nonstop flight

From you

Playa del Carmen
Manouba

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 Manouba: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Total monthly costs including rent come to $1,204 in Playa del Carmen and $654 in Manouba, so Manouba is about 46% cheaper – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

You’d need roughly $1,806 in Playa del Carmen and $981 in Manouba 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.

Rent for a central apartment: $980 in Playa del Carmen versus $208 in Manouba. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Supermarket bills run roughly 39% higher in Playa del Carmen. For households that cook at home regularly, that difference adds up over a month.

Dining out is cheaper in Manouba – a meal for two runs $20 versus $43 in Playa del Carmen. If you eat out regularly, this makes a real dent in your monthly spending.

At $654 in Manouba versus $1,204 in Playa del Carmen, a $1,200 budget is realistic in Manouba but tight or insufficient in Playa del Carmen. The gap between the two cities makes Manouba 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 Manouba gentler on the wallet – expenses run 46% less than in Playa del Carmen. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.