Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Playa del Carmen and New Cairo

For one person, living is cheaper in New Cairo: $677 a month against $1,204 in Playa del Carmen, rent and utilities included – about $6,300 less a year. Other living expenses account for most of the difference.

58

Cost of Living Index in Playa del Carmen
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Playa del Carmen Living Index
33

Cost of Living Index in New Cairo
Learn more

New Cairo Living Index

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Playa del Carmen

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,204

/mo nomad

New Cairo

🇪🇬 Egypt

$677

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Playa del Carmen and in New Cairo

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,204 in Playa del Carmen versus $677 in New Cairo.

Playa del Carmen $1,204
New Cairo $677

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

Playa del Carmen $2,082
New Cairo $1,026

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $2,959 in Playa del Carmen versus $1,375 in New Cairo.

Playa del Carmen $2,959
New Cairo $1,375

Living in Playa del Carmen is roughly 78% more expensive than in New Cairo, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in groceries.

Both cities sit below the global median: Playa del Carmen 12% lower, New Cairo 50% lower.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$10.92 MX$205

$5.44 E£304

100.74%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$43.37 MX$814

$23.75 E£1,329

82.61%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$11.78 MX$221

$5.48 E£307

114.96%

Cappuccino

$3.81 MX$71.5

$1.94 E£108

96.39%

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

$1.28 MX$24.07

$0.36 E£20.21

255.56%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.78 MX$14.70

$0.13 E£7.39

500.00%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.17 MX$59.5

$2.72 E£152

16.54%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.93 MX$92.7

$3.10 E£173

59.03%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.41 MX$26.40

$0.91 E£50.7

54.95%

White Bread (500g)

$2.22 MX$41.62

$0.98 E£55.0

126.53%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.42 MX$26.61

$0.74 E£41.34

91.89%

Eggs

$2.52 MX$47.36

$1.34 E£75.1

88.06%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$7.26 MX$136

$4.04 E£226

79.70%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$7.70 MX$144

$4.90 E£274

57.14%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$12.69 MX$238

$8.05 E£450

57.64%

Apples (1kg)

$2.78 MX$52.3

$1.61 E£90.4

72.67%

Banana (1kg)

$1.37 MX$25.68

$0.69 E£38.73

98.55%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.55 MX$47.89

$0.50 E£27.95

410.00%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.12 MX$39.86

$0.35 E£19.53

505.71%

Potato (1kg)

$1.94 MX$36.39

$0.33 E£18.48

487.88%

Onion (1kg)

$1.89 MX$35.41

$0.48 E£26.80

293.75%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.15 MX$21.53

$0.19 E£10.71

505.26%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.18 MX$22.13

$0.20 E£11.18

490.00%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$4.30 MX$80.6

$1.85 E£103

132.43%

Wine (Bottle)

$9.95 MX$187

$9.11 E£510

9.22%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.58 MX$29.73

$1.26 E£70.6

25.40%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.67 MX$50.1

$1.94 E£109

37.63%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.55 MX$10.39

$0.16 E£8.95

243.75%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$26.62 MX$500

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$4.97 MX$93.3

$0.51 E£28.34

874.51%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$3.33 MX$62.5

$0.18 E£10.09

1750.00%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$5.36 MX$101

$3.62 E£203

48.07%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.44 MX$27.11

$0.43 E£24.07

234.88%

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

$20.7K MX$388.0K

$29.9K E£1.7M

-30.89%

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

$23.5K MX$440.5K

$24.8K E£1.4M

-5.24%

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

$84.8 MX$1,592

$38.48 E£2,153

120.35%

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

$23.41 MX$439

$9.12 E£510

156.69%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$28.66 MX$538

$13.53 E£757

111.83%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$57.1 MX$1,071

$27.42 E£1,534

108.06%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$28.91 MX$543

$5.80 E£324

398.45%

Cinema Ticket

$5.14 MX$96.5

$3.11 E£174

65.27%

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

$207 MX$3,878

$168 E£9,424

22.63%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$3,927 MX$73.7K

$4,338 E£242.7K

-9.47%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$43.35 MX$814

$42.59 E£2,383

1.78%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$41.44 MX$778

$50.8 E£2,840

-18.36%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$74.2 MX$1,393

$107 E£5,971

-30.47%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$89.3 MX$1,676

$52.8 E£2,954

69.03%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$980 MX$18.4K

$289 E£16.2K

238.63%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$381 MX$7,150

$224 E£12.5K

70.14%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,708 MX$32.1K

$504 E£28.2K

238.93%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,075 MX$20.2K

$335 E£18.7K

221.37%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$3,943 MX$74.0K

$1,115 E£62.4K

253.76%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$6,158 MX$115.6K

$629 E£35.2K

878.56%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$735 MX$13.8K

$177 E£9,900

315.09%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

11.45

11.4

0.44%

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 New Cairo: October 26, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Playa del Carmen

$381 31.6%

New Cairo

$224 33.1% 41.2% $157

Groceries & Markets

Playa del Carmen

$255 21.2%

New Cairo

$138 20.3% 46% $117

Eating Out

Playa del Carmen

$202 16.8%

New Cairo

$105 15.5% 48.1% $97

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Playa del Carmen

$137 11.4%

New Cairo

$61 9% 55.3% $76

Clothing & Footwear

Playa del Carmen

$112 9.3%

New Cairo

$114 16.8% 1.9% $2.1

Sport & Entertainment

Playa del Carmen

$67 5.6%

New Cairo

$34 5% 50% $34

Getting Around

Playa del Carmen

$50 4.2%

New Cairo

$2.1 * 0.3% 95.9% $48

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

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $980 in Playa del Carmen and $289 in New Cairo. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Playa del Carmen pays about 4.2 times more on average. How far that income stretches comes down to housing choices and lifestyle.

Dining out: $43 in Playa del Carmen vs $24 in New Cairo for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $255 vs $138 per month, with New Cairo cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇲🇽 Playa del Carmen

🇪🇬 New Cairo

🕒 Local time

03:45 3:45 AM

10:45 10:45 AM

7 h ahead of Playa del Carmen

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

149,923

298,343

💱 Currency

Mexican Peso MXN $

Egyptian Pound EGP £

📈 Exchange rate

100 MXN = 5.33 USD

100 MXN = 4.77 EUR

100 EGP = 1.79 USD

100 EGP = 1.6 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

EGP, 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).

Egyptian Pound exchange rates as of November 1, 2026: 1 USD = 55.95 EGP (100 EGP = 1.79 USD). 1 EUR = 62.47 EGP (100 EGP = 1.6 EUR).

USD to MXN in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Playa del Carmen New Cairo 11,360 km ≈ 15 h nonstop flight

From you

Playa del Carmen
New Cairo

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 New Cairo: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

New Cairo wins on cost – living expenses run 44% lower than in Playa del Carmen. Housing and daily spending are where you’ll feel the difference most, making New Cairo the obvious pick if budget is a priority.

Average pay in Playa del Carmen is about 4.2 times higher, which matters when comparing affordability. Whether that higher income actually nets you more depends on your spending habits and housing choices.

Rent for a central apartment: $980 in Playa del Carmen versus $289 in New Cairo. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Supermarket bills run roughly 85% higher in Playa del Carmen. For households that cook at home regularly, that difference adds up over a month.

All in, you’ll spend $1,204 per month in Playa del Carmen versus $677 in New Cairo – New Cairo is about 44% cheaper, which adds up to real savings over time.

At $677 in New Cairo versus $1,204 in Playa del Carmen, a $800 budget is realistic in New Cairo but tight or insufficient in Playa del Carmen. The gap between the two cities makes New Cairo 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.

It comes down to priorities – New Cairo wins on affordability, Playa del Carmen on earning potential. Factor in climate, language, visa rules, and proximity to places that matter to you before deciding.