Last update: Nov 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Playa del Carmen and Mbabane

For one person, living is cheaper in Mbabane: $756 a month against $1,202 in Playa del Carmen, rent and utilities included – about $5,400 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
36

Cost of Living Index in Mbabane
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Mbabane Living Index

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Playa del Carmen

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,202

/mo nomad

Mbabane

🇸🇿 Eswatini

$756

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

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

A single person spends $1,202 per month in Playa del Carmen vs $756 in Mbabane, rent included.

Playa del Carmen $1,202
Mbabane $756

A couple spends around $2,082 per month in Playa del Carmen vs $1,214 in Mbabane, rent included.

Playa del Carmen $2,082
Mbabane $1,214

A family of three spends $2,962 per month in Playa del Carmen vs $1,672 in Mbabane, rent included.

Playa del Carmen $2,962
Mbabane $1,672

Playa del Carmen costs about 59% more than Mbabane, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in groceries.

Both Playa del Carmen and Mbabane are more affordable than the global median – Playa del Carmen 11% lower, Mbabane 44% lower.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$10.67 MX$201

$10.17 SZL 169

4.92%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$43.80 MX$824

$33.37 SZL 553

31.26%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$11.79 MX$222

$6.02 SZL 99.8

95.85%

Cappuccino

$3.79 MX$71.2

$2.61 SZL 43.21

45.21%

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

$1.30 MX$24.41

$1.11 SZL 18.44

17.12%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.83 MX$15.69

$0.57 SZL 9.39

45.61%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.15 MX$59.2

$2.08 SZL 34.50

51.44%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.93 MX$92.9

$2.35 SZL 39.00

109.79%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.41 MX$26.51

$1.52 SZL 25.26

-7.24%

White Bread (500g)

$2.20 MX$41.32

$0.85 SZL 14.07

158.82%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.47 MX$27.71

$1.67 SZL 27.75

-11.98%

Eggs

$2.50 MX$46.99

$1.78 SZL 29.57

40.45%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$7.29 MX$137

$10.87 SZL 180

-32.93%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$7.95 MX$150

$5.61 SZL 92.9

41.71%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$12.86 MX$242

$5.22 SZL 86.6

146.36%

Apples (1kg)

$2.90 MX$54.5

$1.75 SZL 28.97

65.71%

Banana (1kg)

$1.38 MX$26.03

$0.66 SZL 10.94

109.09%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.49 MX$46.88

$1.21 SZL 20.01

105.79%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.03 MX$38.20

$1.41 SZL 23.33

43.97%

Potato (1kg)

$2.02 MX$38.11

$1.25 SZL 20.77

61.60%

Onion (1kg)

$1.90 MX$35.82

$1.48 SZL 24.61

28.38%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.14 MX$21.54

$0.67 SZL 11.08

70.15%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.24 MX$23.32

$0.77 SZL 12.73

61.04%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$4.27 MX$80.4

$2.77 SZL 45.98

54.15%

Wine (Bottle)

$9.81 MX$185

$6.13 SZL 102

60.03%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.59 MX$29.85

$1.60 SZL 26.45

-0.63%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.75 MX$51.7

$1.64 SZL 27.14

67.68%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.51 MX$9.69

$0.74 SZL 12.25

-31.08%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$27.39 MX$515

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$4.76 MX$89.6

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$3.25 MX$61.1

$1.43 SZL 23.68

127.27%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$5.39 MX$101

$3.09 SZL 51.3

74.43%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.53 MX$28.76

$1.33 SZL 22.02

15.04%

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

$21.2K MX$399.2K

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

$23.3K MX$437.8K

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

$83.5 MX$1,571

$65.2 SZL 1,081

28.03%

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

$23.19 MX$436

$37.37 SZL 620

-37.94%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$27.61 MX$520

$26.65 SZL 442

3.60%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$56.4 MX$1,062

$22.34 SZL 370

152.60%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$28.19 MX$531

$3.08 SZL 51.0

815.26%

Cinema Ticket

$5.00 MX$94.1

$3.52 SZL 58.4

42.05%

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

$207 MX$3,897

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$5,231 MX$98.4K

$6,211 SZL 103.0K

-15.78%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$43.45 MX$818

$34.83 SZL 577

24.75%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$42.54 MX$801

$15.14 SZL 251

180.98%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$72.8 MX$1,369

$69.4 SZL 1,151

4.83%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$88.4 MX$1,663

$54.4 SZL 901

62.61%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$995 MX$18.7K

$267 SZL 4,428

272.50%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$382 MX$7,197

$176 SZL 2,925

116.76%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,674 MX$31.5K

$451 SZL 7,477

271.23%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,081 MX$20.3K

$357 SZL 5,920

202.64%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$3,909 MX$73.6K

$488 SZL 8,094

700.58%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$6,138 MX$115.5K

$363 SZL 6,014

1591.98%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$832 MX$15.7K

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

11.45

7.25

57.93%

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 Mbabane: November 1, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Playa del Carmen

$382 31.8%

Mbabane

$176 23.3% 53.9% $206

Groceries & Markets

Playa del Carmen

$257 21.4%

Mbabane

$181 23.9% 29.9% $77

Eating Out

Playa del Carmen

$200 16.7%

Mbabane

$153 20.2% 23.8% $48

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Playa del Carmen

$134 11.2%

Mbabane

$129 17.1% 3.8% $5.1

Clothing & Footwear

Playa del Carmen

$111 9.3%

Mbabane

$78 10.3% 29.7% $33

Sport & Entertainment

Playa del Carmen

$66 5.5%

Mbabane

$29 3.9% 55.8% $37

Getting Around

Playa del Carmen

$50 4.2%

Mbabane

$10 * 1.3% 80% $40

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

Cost Breakdown

A central one-bedroom costs $995 in Playa del Carmen versus $267 in Mbabane. Rent is usually the largest line item in a monthly budget, so the gap here sets the tone for the overall comparison.

A mid-range dinner for two costs $44 in Playa del Carmen versus $33 in Mbabane. Monthly groceries follow the same trend: $257 vs $181 – making Mbabane the more affordable choice for daily food spending.

Good to know

🇲🇽 Playa del Carmen

🇸🇿 Mbabane

🕒 Local time

19:29 7:29 PM

02:29 2:29 AM

7 h ahead of Playa del Carmen

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

149,923

94,874 Capital

💱 Currency

Mexican Peso MXN $

Eswatini Lilangeni SZL L

📈 Exchange rate

100 MXN = 5.31 USD

100 MXN = 4.75 EUR

100 SZL = 6.03 USD

100 SZL = 5.39 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

SZL, USD, EUR to MXN – Mexican Peso Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇲🇽 Mexican Peso ($)

Mexican Peso exchange rates as of November 4, 2026: 1 USD = 18.82 MXN (100 MXN = 5.31 USD). 1 EUR = 21.05 MXN (100 MXN = 4.75 EUR).

Eswatini Lilangeni exchange rates as of November 4, 2026: 1 USD = 16.58 SZL (100 SZL = 6.03 USD). 1 EUR = 18.54 SZL (100 SZL = 5.39 EUR).

USD to MXN in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Playa del Carmen Mbabane 13,740 km ≈ 18 h nonstop flight

From you

Playa del Carmen
Mbabane

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 Mbabane: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Playa del Carmen costs about 59% more than Mbabane, and outside of rent the gap comes mainly from groceries. That’s enough to noticeably affect everyday spending and lifestyle for anyone choosing between the two.

For a comfortable life, plan on about $1,804 per month in Playa del Carmen and $1,135 in Mbabane. That covers rent, food, utilities, transport, and enough left over to feel settled – not just surviving.

Rent is clearly cheaper in Mbabane, especially for central apartments: a one-bedroom in the center costs $267 there versus $995 in Playa del Carmen.

Monthly expenses with rent come to $1,202 in Playa del Carmen and $756 in Mbabane. That makes Mbabane about 37% cheaper.

Groceries cost about 43% more in Playa del Carmen, though the gap depends on what you buy.

It depends on your priorities. Playa del Carmen has an edge in some lifestyle areas, with costs from $756 in Mbabane to $1,202 in Playa del Carmen. Climate, culture, job market, and personal taste all factor in.