Last update: Nov 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Playa del Carmen and Newtown

For one person, living is cheaper in Playa del Carmen: $1,202 a month against $2,196 in Newtown, rent and utilities included – about $11,900 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

57

Cost of Living Index in Playa del Carmen
Learn more

Playa del Carmen Living Index
107

Cost of Living Index in Newtown
Learn more

Newtown Living Index

Jump to prices

Playa del Carmen

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,202

/mo nomad

Newtown

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

$2,196

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

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

A single person spends $1,202 per month in Playa del Carmen vs $2,196 in Newtown, rent included.

Playa del Carmen $1,202
Newtown $2,196

A couple spends around $2,082 per month in Playa del Carmen vs $3,258 in Newtown, rent included.

Playa del Carmen $2,082
Newtown $3,258

A family of three spends $2,962 per month in Playa del Carmen vs $4,320 in Newtown, rent included.

Playa del Carmen $2,962
Newtown $4,320

Playa del Carmen is about 45% cheaper than Newtown, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

Playa del Carmen sits 11% below the global median, while Newtown is 62% above – they fall on opposite sides of the world average.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$10.67 MX$199

$19.72 £14.63

-45.89%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$43.80 MX$815

$80.0 £59.3

-45.22%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$11.79 MX$219

$10.85 £8.05

8.66%

Cappuccino

$3.79 MX$70.5

$4.89 £3.63

-22.49%

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

$1.30 MX$24.14

$2.60 £1.93

-50.00%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.83 MX$15.51

$1.76 £1.31

-52.84%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.15 MX$58.6

$6.87 £5.09

-54.15%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.93 MX$91.8

$6.80 £5.04

-27.50%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.41 MX$26.22

$1.70 £1.26

-17.06%

White Bread (500g)

$2.20 MX$40.86

$1.52 £1.13

44.74%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.47 MX$27.40

$2.00 £1.48

-26.50%

Eggs

$2.50 MX$46.47

$3.72 £2.76

-32.80%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$7.29 MX$136

$8.81 £6.53

-17.25%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$7.95 MX$148

$8.22 £6.10

-3.28%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$12.86 MX$239

$9.98 £7.40

28.86%

Apples (1kg)

$2.90 MX$53.9

$3.31 £2.45

-12.39%

Banana (1kg)

$1.38 MX$25.74

$1.90 £1.41

-27.37%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.49 MX$46.36

$2.48 £1.84

0.40%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.03 MX$37.78

$4.60 £3.41

-55.87%

Potato (1kg)

$2.02 MX$37.69

$3.02 £2.24

-33.11%

Onion (1kg)

$1.90 MX$35.42

$1.63 £1.21

16.56%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.14 MX$21.30

$1.49 £1.11

-23.49%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.24 MX$23.06

$1.48 £1.10

-16.22%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$4.27 MX$79.5

$23.91 £17.73

-82.14%

Wine (Bottle)

$9.81 MX$183

$12.06 £8.95

-18.66%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.59 MX$29.51

$4.04 £3.00

-60.64%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.75 MX$51.1

$4.85 £3.59

-43.30%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.51 MX$9.58

$4.00 £2.96

-87.25%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$27.39 MX$510

$90.5 £67.1

-69.72%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$4.76 MX$88.6

$4.61 £3.42

3.25%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$3.25 MX$60.5

$2.32 £1.72

40.09%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$5.39 MX$100

$24.98 £18.53

-78.42%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.53 MX$28.44

$2.01 £1.49

-23.88%

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

$21.2K MX$394.8K

$24.1K £17.9K

-12.06%

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

$23.3K MX$432.9K

$40.3K £29.9K

-42.33%

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

$83.5 MX$1,554

$202 £150

-58.71%

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

$23.19 MX$431

$17.11 £12.69

35.53%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$27.61 MX$514

$47.47 £35.20

-41.84%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$56.4 MX$1,050

$46.59 £34.55

21.12%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$28.19 MX$525

Cinema Ticket

$5.00 MX$93.1

$13.55 £10.05

-63.10%

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

$207 MX$3,854

$1,932 £1,433

-89.28%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$5,231 MX$97.4K

$28.9K £21.5K

-81.92%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$43.45 MX$809

$60.9 £45.14

-28.61%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$42.54 MX$792

$36.50 £27.07

16.55%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$72.8 MX$1,354

$79.1 £58.6

-7.97%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$88.4 MX$1,645

$79.7 £59.1

10.95%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$995 MX$18.5K

$1,264 £938

-21.32%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$382 MX$7,116

$1,000 £742

-61.76%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,674 MX$31.2K

$2,058 £1,527

-18.66%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,081 MX$20.1K

$1,661 £1,232

-34.95%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$3,909 MX$72.7K

$4,557 £3,380

-14.23%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$6,138 MX$114.2K

$4,005 £2,970

53.24%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$832 MX$15.5K

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

11.45

5.61

104.10%

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 Newtown: October 31, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Playa del Carmen

$382 31.8%

Newtown

$1,000 45.5% 162% $618

Groceries & Markets

Playa del Carmen

$257 21.4%

Newtown

$304 13.8% 17.9% $46

Eating Out

Playa del Carmen

$200 16.7%

Newtown

$314 14.3% 57% $114

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Playa del Carmen

$134 11.2%

Newtown

$267 12.2% 98.7% $132

Clothing & Footwear

Playa del Carmen

$111 9.3%

Newtown

$115 5.3% 3.6% $4

Sport & Entertainment

Playa del Carmen

$66 5.5%

Newtown

$74 3.4% 10.9% $7.3

Getting Around

Playa del Carmen

$50 4.2%

Newtown

$123 5.6% 143% $72

Cost Breakdown

A central one-bedroom costs $995 in Playa del Carmen versus $1,264 in Newtown. 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 $80 in Newtown. Monthly groceries follow the same trend: $257 vs $304 – making Playa del Carmen the more affordable choice for daily food spending.

Good to know

🇲🇽 Playa del Carmen

🇬🇧 Newtown

🕒 Local time

13:16 1:16 PM

18:16 6:16 PM

5 h ahead of Playa del Carmen

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

149,923

11,357

💱 Currency

Mexican Peso MXN $

British Pound GBP £

📈 Exchange rate

100 MXN = 5.37 USD

100 MXN = 4.79 EUR

1 GBP = 1.35 USD

1 GBP = 1.2 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

GBP, USD, EUR to MXN – Mexican Peso Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇲🇽 Mexican Peso ($)

Mexican Peso exchange rates as of November 4, 2026: 1 USD = 18.61 MXN (100 MXN = 5.37 USD). 1 EUR = 20.86 MXN (100 MXN = 4.79 EUR).

British Pound exchange rates as of November 4, 2026: 1 USD = 0.742 GBP (1 GBP = 1.35 USD). 1 EUR = 0.831 GBP (1 GBP = 1.2 EUR).

USD to MXN in detail →

On the map

Lowest

Highest

Between locations

Playa del Carmen Newtown 7,790 km ≈ 10 h nonstop flight

From you

Playa del Carmen
Newtown

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 Newtown: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Yes – Newtown is pricier by about 83%, and outside of rent the gap shows up most in eating out.

For a comfortable life, plan on about $1,804 per month in Playa del Carmen and $3,294 in Newtown. That covers rent, food, utilities, transport, and enough left over to feel settled – not just surviving.

Rent is clearly cheaper in Playa del Carmen, especially for central apartments: a one-bedroom in the center costs $995 there versus $1,264 in Newtown.

A mid-range dinner for two costs $44 in Playa del Carmen and $80 in Newtown. That’s a good indicator of the overall restaurant and café pricing gap between the two cities.

Monthly expenses with rent come to $1,202 in Playa del Carmen and $2,196 in Newtown. That makes Playa del Carmen about 45% cheaper.

A $1,500 monthly budget goes further in Playa del Carmen, where all-in costs run around $1,202, than in Newtown at $2,196. In Playa del Carmen it covers expenses comfortably, while in Newtown it requires careful planning or may not stretch far enough.

Families tend to lean toward Playa del Carmen – lower housing and cheaper childcare make a real difference, especially on a single income or when paying for private education.

For expats, Playa del Carmen is the easier option financially – housing and daily costs are lower, and overall it costs about 45% less, which matters a lot on a fixed budget or early-career salary.