Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Playa del Carmen and Mariano Roque Alonso

For one person, living is cheaper in Mariano Roque Alonso: $578 a month against $1,204 in Playa del Carmen, rent and utilities included – about $7,500 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
28

Cost of Living Index in Mariano Roque Alonso
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Mariano Roque Alonso Living Index

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Playa del Carmen

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,204

/mo nomad

Mariano Roque Alonso

🇵🇾 Paraguay

$578

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Playa del Carmen and in Mariano Roque Alonso

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 Mariano Roque Alonso actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,204 in Playa del Carmen versus $578 in Mariano Roque Alonso.

Playa del Carmen $1,204
Mariano Roque Alonso $578

Estimated couple costs with rent: $2,102 in Playa del Carmen versus $965 in Mariano Roque Alonso.

Playa del Carmen $2,102
Mariano Roque Alonso $965

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $3,000 in Playa del Carmen versus $1,352 in Mariano Roque Alonso.

Playa del Carmen $3,000
Mariano Roque Alonso $1,352

Living in Playa del Carmen is roughly 108% more expensive than in Mariano Roque Alonso, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in groceries.

Both cities sit below the global median: Playa del Carmen 11% lower, Mariano Roque Alonso 57% lower.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$10.86 MX$201

$7.00 ₲39.8K

55.14%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$44.21 MX$817

$35.27 ₲200.6K

25.35%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$11.76 MX$217

$7.11 ₲40.4K

65.40%

Cappuccino

$3.68 MX$68.0

$3.34 ₲19.0K

10.18%

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

$1.34 MX$24.79

$1.10 ₲6,243

21.82%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.82 MX$15.24

$0.61 ₲3,455

34.43%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.06 MX$56.6

$1.94 ₲11.0K

57.73%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.94 MX$91.2

$1.74 ₲9,892

183.91%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.47 MX$27.17

$1.20 ₲6,813

22.50%

White Bread (500g)

$2.22 MX$40.95

$0.91 ₲5,168

143.96%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.48 MX$27.32

$1.35 ₲7,670

9.63%

Eggs

$2.49 MX$45.99

$2.48 ₲14.1K

0.40%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$7.52 MX$139

$8.87 ₲50.4K

-15.22%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$7.96 MX$147

$5.22 ₲29.7K

52.49%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$12.57 MX$232

$8.46 ₲48.1K

48.58%

Apples (1kg)

$2.78 MX$51.3

$2.07 ₲11.8K

34.30%

Banana (1kg)

$1.43 MX$26.37

$0.71 ₲4,017

101.41%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.62 MX$48.37

$0.84 ₲4,756

211.90%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.14 MX$39.49

$2.13 ₲12.1K

0.47%

Potato (1kg)

$2.02 MX$37.38

$1.40 ₲7,952

44.29%

Onion (1kg)

$1.99 MX$36.74

$1.31 ₲7,461

51.91%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.14 MX$21.01

$0.72 ₲4,076

58.33%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.20 MX$22.18

$0.77 ₲4,386

55.84%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$4.26 MX$78.7

$2.39 ₲13.6K

78.24%

Wine (Bottle)

$10.02 MX$185

$4.28 ₲24.4K

134.11%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.54 MX$28.41

$0.90 ₲5,107

71.11%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.66 MX$49.17

$1.70 ₲9,695

56.47%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.53 MX$9.73

$0.64 ₲3,624

-17.19%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$27.51 MX$508

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$4.90 MX$90.6

$1.52 ₲8,620

222.37%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$3.43 MX$63.5

$1.60 ₲9,116

114.38%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$5.38 MX$99.4

$10.27 ₲58.4K

-47.61%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.45 MX$26.76

$1.22 ₲6,932

18.85%

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

$21.2K MX$391.0K

$17.6K ₲100.0M

20.34%

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

$23.0K MX$425.3K

$30.1K ₲171.3M

-23.61%

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

$85.4 MX$1,577

$50.3 ₲285.8K

69.84%

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

$23.46 MX$434

$17.47 ₲99.3K

34.29%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$28.43 MX$525

$20.43 ₲116.2K

39.16%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$62.2 MX$1,149

$31.30 ₲178.0K

98.69%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$28.68 MX$530

Cinema Ticket

$5.10 MX$94.3

$6.84 ₲38.9K

-25.44%

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

$201 MX$3,715

$185 ₲1.1M

8.86%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$3,947 MX$72.9K

$1,269 ₲7.2M

211.08%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$44.39 MX$820

$43.34 ₲246.4K

2.42%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$41.35 MX$764

$56.6 ₲321.8K

-26.92%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$72.7 MX$1,344

$87.8 ₲499.0K

-17.11%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$89.6 MX$1,656

$72.6 ₲412.5K

23.51%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$979 MX$18.1K

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$373 MX$6,887

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,681 MX$31.1K

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,095 MX$20.2K

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

$875 ₲5.0M

-15.70%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

11.45

27.22%

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 Mariano Roque Alonso: October 17, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Playa del Carmen

$373 31%

Mariano Roque Alonso

- * 0% 100%

Groceries & Markets

Playa del Carmen

$258 21.5%

Mariano Roque Alonso

$178 30.9% 31% $80

Eating Out

Playa del Carmen

$200 16.6%

Mariano Roque Alonso

$137 23.8% 31.3% $63

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Playa del Carmen

$137 11.4%

Mariano Roque Alonso

$88 15.3% 35.8% $49

Clothing & Footwear

Playa del Carmen

$112 9.3%

Mariano Roque Alonso

$117 20.3% 4.9% $5.5

Sport & Entertainment

Playa del Carmen

$72 6%

Mariano Roque Alonso

$45 7.8% 37.9% $27

Getting Around

Playa del Carmen

$52 4.3%

Mariano Roque Alonso

$12 * 2.1% 76.6% $40

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

Cost Breakdown

Mariano Roque Alonso pays 19% more on average while also being the cheaper of the two. The combined effect is a noticeably stronger local purchasing power.

Dining out: $44.00 in Playa del Carmen vs $35.00 in Mariano Roque Alonso for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $258 vs $178 per month, with Mariano Roque Alonso cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇲🇽 Playa del Carmen

🇵🇾 Mariano Roque Alonso

🕒 Local time

06:42 6:42 AM

08:42 8:42 AM

2 h ahead of Playa del Carmen

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

149,923

72,008

💱 Currency

Mexican Peso MXN $

Paraguayan Guarani PYG ₲

📈 Exchange rate

100 MXN = 5.41 USD

100 MXN = 4.81 EUR

10,000 PYG = 1.76 USD

10,000 PYG = 1.56 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

PYG, USD, EUR to MXN – Mexican Peso Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇲🇽 Mexican Peso ($)

Mexican Peso exchange rates as of October 20, 2026: 1 USD = 18.48 MXN (100 MXN = 5.41 USD). 1 EUR = 20.77 MXN (100 MXN = 4.81 EUR).

Paraguayan Guarani exchange rates as of October 20, 2026: 1 USD = 5,686 PYG (10,000 PYG = 1.76 USD). 1 EUR = 6,393 PYG (10,000 PYG = 1.56 EUR).

USD to MXN in detail →

On the map

Lowest

Highest

Between locations

Playa del Carmen Mariano Roque Alonso 6,010 km ≈ 8 h nonstop flight

From you

Playa del Carmen
Mariano Roque Alonso

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 Mariano Roque Alonso: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Mariano Roque Alonso wins on cost – living expenses run 108% lower than in Playa del Carmen. Housing and daily spending are where you'll feel the difference most, making Mariano Roque Alonso the obvious pick if budget is a priority.

On paper, salaries run 19% lower in Mariano Roque Alonso. That's worth factoring in alongside costs, though remote workers earning in a stronger currency may not notice the difference at all.

Childcare runs $201 in Playa del Carmen versus $185 in Mariano Roque Alonso. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Dining out is cheaper in Mariano Roque Alonso – a meal for two runs $35.00 versus $44.00 in Playa del Carmen. If you eat out regularly, this makes a real dent in your monthly spending.

At $578 in Mariano Roque Alonso versus $1,204 in Playa del Carmen, a $1,000 budget is realistic in Mariano Roque Alonso but tight or insufficient in Playa del Carmen. The gap between the two cities makes Mariano Roque Alonso the clear choice for anyone on this budget.

Both work as nomad bases, but Mariano Roque Alonso delivers better value – similar infrastructure at $578 monthly. If stretching your runway or maximizing savings is the goal, the price difference makes Mariano Roque Alonso hard to pass up.

Expats usually find Mariano Roque Alonso gentler on the wallet – expenses run 108% less than in Playa del Carmen. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.