Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Playa del Carmen and New Plymouth

For one person, living is cheaper in Playa del Carmen: $1,204 a month against $1,820 in New Plymouth, rent and utilities included – about $7,400 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

58

Cost of Living Index in Playa del Carmen
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Playa del Carmen Living Index
88

Cost of Living Index in New Plymouth
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New Plymouth Living Index

Jump to prices

Playa del Carmen

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,204

/mo nomad

New Plymouth

🇳🇿 New Zealand

$1,820

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,204 in Playa del Carmen versus $1,820 in New Plymouth.

Playa del Carmen $1,204
New Plymouth $1,820

Estimated couple costs with rent: $2,082 in Playa del Carmen versus $2,828 in New Plymouth.

Playa del Carmen $2,082
New Plymouth $2,828

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $2,959 in Playa del Carmen versus $3,836 in New Plymouth.

Playa del Carmen $2,959
New Plymouth $3,836

Living in Playa del Carmen costs roughly 34% less than in New Plymouth, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in transport.

The two cities straddle the global median: Playa del Carmen is 12% below, New Plymouth is 34% above.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$10.92 MX$205

$12.43 NZ$22.09

-12.15%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$43.37 MX$815

$67.9 NZ$121

-36.13%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$11.78 MX$221

$8.44 NZ$14.99

39.57%

Cappuccino

$3.81 MX$71.6

$3.34 NZ$5.94

14.07%

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

$1.28 MX$24.10

$2.12 NZ$3.77

-39.62%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.78 MX$14.71

$1.85 NZ$3.28

-57.84%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.17 MX$59.5

$5.32 NZ$9.46

-40.41%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.93 MX$92.7

$5.65 NZ$10.04

-12.74%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.41 MX$26.43

$1.44 NZ$2.56

-2.08%

White Bread (500g)

$2.22 MX$41.66

$1.25 NZ$2.22

77.60%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.42 MX$26.64

$1.65 NZ$2.92

-13.94%

Eggs

$2.52 MX$47.41

$5.53 NZ$9.83

-54.43%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$7.26 MX$137

$5.52 NZ$9.80

31.52%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$7.70 MX$145

$7.19 NZ$12.78

7.09%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$12.69 MX$239

$11.42 NZ$20.31

11.12%

Apples (1kg)

$2.78 MX$52.3

$2.63 NZ$4.67

5.70%

Banana (1kg)

$1.37 MX$25.71

$1.86 NZ$3.30

-26.34%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.55 MX$47.94

$2.93 NZ$5.21

-12.97%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.12 MX$39.90

$6.12 NZ$10.87

-65.36%

Potato (1kg)

$1.94 MX$36.43

$1.99 NZ$3.53

-2.51%

Onion (1kg)

$1.89 MX$35.44

$1.41 NZ$2.51

34.04%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.15 MX$21.55

$1.88 NZ$3.34

-38.83%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.18 MX$22.16

$1.32 NZ$2.35

-10.61%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$4.30 MX$80.7

$23.12 NZ$41.09

-81.40%

Wine (Bottle)

$9.95 MX$187

$8.73 NZ$15.53

13.97%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.58 MX$29.76

$3.03 NZ$5.38

-47.85%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.67 MX$50.2

$3.78 NZ$6.73

-29.37%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.55 MX$10.40

$1.68 NZ$2.99

-67.26%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$26.62 MX$500

$74.6 NZ$133

-64.34%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$4.97 MX$93.4

$3.68 NZ$6.54

35.05%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$3.33 MX$62.6

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$5.36 MX$101

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.44 MX$27.14

$1.67 NZ$2.97

-13.77%

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

$20.7K MX$388.4K

$28.7K NZ$51.0K

-27.93%

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

$23.5K MX$441.0K

$22.8K NZ$40.5K

2.96%

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

$84.8 MX$1,594

$130 NZ$231

-34.70%

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

$23.41 MX$440

$27.85 NZ$49.50

-15.94%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$28.66 MX$539

$48.35 NZ$86.0

-40.72%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$57.1 MX$1,072

$43.29 NZ$77.0

31.79%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$28.91 MX$543

Cinema Ticket

$5.14 MX$96.6

$8.20 NZ$14.57

-37.32%

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

$207 MX$3,882

$680 NZ$1,208

-69.60%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$3,927 MX$73.8K

$23.1K NZ$41.0K

-82.99%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$43.35 MX$815

$61.3 NZ$109

-29.25%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$41.44 MX$779

$38.74 NZ$68.9

6.97%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$74.2 MX$1,394

$90.6 NZ$161

-18.09%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$89.3 MX$1,677

$106 NZ$188

-15.70%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$980 MX$18.4K

$907 NZ$1,613

7.97%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$381 MX$7,157

$836 NZ$1,487

-54.47%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,708 MX$32.1K

$1,740 NZ$3,093

-1.84%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,075 MX$20.2K

$1,589 NZ$2,824

-32.33%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$3,943 MX$74.1K

$3,209 NZ$5,704

22.88%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$6,158 MX$115.7K

$2,622 NZ$4,661

134.84%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$735 MX$13.8K

$2,787 NZ$4,954

-73.65%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

11.45

5.93

93.09%

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 Plymouth: 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 Plymouth

$836 45.9% 120% $456

Groceries & Markets

Playa del Carmen

$255 21.2%

New Plymouth

$281 15.5% 10.4% $26

Eating Out

Playa del Carmen

$202 16.8%

New Plymouth

$219 12% 8% $16

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Playa del Carmen

$137 11.4%

New Plymouth

$206 11.3% 50.6% $69

Clothing & Footwear

Playa del Carmen

$112 9.3%

New Plymouth

$133 7.3% 19.4% $22

Sport & Entertainment

Playa del Carmen

$67 5.6%

New Plymouth

$60 3.3% 11.3% $7.6

Getting Around

Playa del Carmen

$50 4.2%

New Plymouth

$85 * 4.7% 68.6% $35

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 $907 in New Plymouth. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

New Plymouth pays about 3.8 times more on average. How far that income stretches comes down to housing choices and lifestyle.

Dining out: $43 in Playa del Carmen vs $68 in New Plymouth for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $255 vs $281 per month, with Playa del Carmen cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇲🇽 Playa del Carmen

🇳🇿 New Plymouth

🕒 Local time

22:55 10:55 PM

16:55 4:55 PM

18 h ahead of Playa del Carmen

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

149,923

58,400

💱 Currency

Mexican Peso MXN $

New Zealand Dollar NZD $

📈 Exchange rate

100 MXN = 5.32 USD

100 MXN = 4.77 EUR

1 NZD = 0.563 USD

1 NZD = 0.504 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

NZD, USD, EUR to MXN – Mexican Peso Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇲🇽 Mexican Peso ($)

Mexican Peso exchange rates as of November 2, 2026: 1 USD = 18.79 MXN (100 MXN = 5.32 USD). 1 EUR = 20.98 MXN (100 MXN = 4.77 EUR).

New Zealand Dollar exchange rates as of November 2, 2026: 1 USD = 1.78 NZD (1 NZD = 0.563 USD). 1 EUR = 1.98 NZD (1 NZD = 0.504 EUR).

USD to MXN in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Playa del Carmen New Plymouth 12,180 km ≈ 16 h nonstop flight

From you

Playa del Carmen
New Plymouth

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 Plymouth: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Total monthly costs including rent come to $1,204 in Playa del Carmen and $1,820 in New Plymouth, so Playa del Carmen is about 34% cheaper – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

On paper, salaries run 74% lower in Playa del Carmen. That’s worth factoring in alongside costs, though remote workers earning in a stronger currency may not notice the difference at all.

Rent for a central apartment: $980 in Playa del Carmen versus $907 in New Plymouth. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

A monthly transit pass in Playa del Carmen runs roughly 64% less than in New Plymouth. The price difference matters if you commute daily and watch your budget.

Childcare runs $207 in Playa del Carmen versus $680 in New Plymouth. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

At $1,204 in Playa del Carmen versus $1,820 in New Plymouth, a $1,500 budget is realistic in Playa del Carmen but tight or insufficient in New Plymouth. The gap between the two cities makes Playa del Carmen 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 – Playa del Carmen wins on affordability, New Plymouth on earning potential. Factor in climate, language, visa rules, and proximity to places that matter to you before deciding.