Last update: Nov 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Playa del Carmen and Perth, United Kingdom

For one person, living is cheaper in Playa del Carmen: $1,202 a month against $2,223 in Perth, rent and utilities included – about $12,300 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

Playa del Carmen, Mexico
Perth, United Kingdom
Playa del Carmen
🇲🇽 Mexico
$1,202
/mo nomad
Perth
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
$2,223
/mo nomad
Monthly Cost of Living

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

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,202 in Playa del Carmen versus $2,223 in Perth.

  • Playa del Carmen $1,202
  • Perth $2,223

Estimated couple costs with rent: $2,082 in Playa del Carmen versus $3,244 in Perth.

  • Playa del Carmen $2,082
  • Perth $3,244

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $2,962 in Playa del Carmen versus $4,264 in Perth.

  • Playa del Carmen $2,962
  • Perth $4,264

Living in Playa del Carmen costs roughly 46% less than in Perth, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

The two cities straddle the global median: Playa del Carmen is 11% below, Perth is 64% above.

Currency
🍽 Eating Out
Playa del Carmen
Perth
Difference
Meal at Budget Restaurant
$10.67 MX$199
$24.32 £18.04
-56.13%
Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range
$43.80 MX$815
$86.0 £63.8
-49.08%
Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)
$11.79 MX$219
$11.71 £8.69
0.68%
Cappuccino
$3.79 MX$70.5
$4.13 £3.06
-8.23%
Coke/Pepsi/Fanta/Sprite (0.33 liter bottle)
$1.30 MX$24.14
$2.52 £1.87
-48.41%
Water (0.33 liter bottle)
$0.83 MX$15.51
$1.72 £1.27
-51.74%
Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)
$3.15 MX$58.6
$6.47 £4.80
-51.31%
Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)
$4.93 MX$91.8
$5.77 £4.28
-14.56%
🛒 Groceries & Markets
Playa del Carmen
Perth
Difference
Milk (1 liter)
$1.41 MX$26.22
$1.40 £1.04
0.71%
White Bread (500g)
$2.20 MX$40.86
$1.37 £1.02
60.58%
Rice (white) (1kg)
$1.47 MX$27.40
$1.83 £1.36
-19.67%
Eggs
$2.50 MX$46.47
$2.43 £1.80
2.88%
Local Cheese (1kg)
$7.29 MX$136
$8.21 £6.09
-11.21%
Chicken Fillets (1kg)
$7.95 MX$148
$8.50 £6.30
-6.47%
Beef Round Steak (1kg)
$12.86 MX$239
$13.68 £10.14
-5.99%
Apples (1kg)
$2.90 MX$53.9
$2.30 £1.70
26.09%
Banana (1kg)
$1.38 MX$25.74
$1.60 £1.19
-13.75%
Oranges (1kg)
$2.49 MX$46.36
$2.50 £1.85
-0.40%
Tomato (1kg)
$2.03 MX$37.78
$3.30 £2.45
-38.48%
Potato (1kg)
$2.02 MX$37.69
$1.50 £1.12
34.67%
Onion (1kg)
$1.90 MX$35.42
$1.72 £1.28
10.47%
Lettuce (1 head)
$1.14 MX$21.30
$1.02 £0.76
11.76%
Water (1.5 liter bottle)
$1.24 MX$23.06
$1.49 £1.11
-16.78%
Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)
$4.27 MX$79.5
$21.25 £15.76
-79.91%
Wine (Bottle)
$9.81 MX$183
$11.45 £8.49
-14.32%
Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)
$1.59 MX$29.51
$2.99 £2.22
-46.82%
Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)
$2.75 MX$51.1
$2.84 £2.11
-3.17%
🚌 Getting Around
Playa del Carmen
Perth
Difference
One-way Ticket (Public Transport)
$0.51 MX$9.58
$4.11 £3.05
-87.59%
Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)
$27.39 MX$510
$102 £75.7
-73.17%
Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)
$4.76 MX$88.6
$5.42 £4.02
-12.18%
Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)
$3.25 MX$60.5
$2.60 £1.93
25.00%
Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)
$5.39 MX$100
$23.90 £17.72
-77.45%
Gasoline (1 liter)
$1.53 MX$28.44
$1.87 £1.39
-18.18%
Midsize Hatchback 1.4l (Volkswagen Golf, Toyota Prius, Honda Civic, etc)
$21.2K MX$394.8K
$35.1K £26.0K
-39.60%
Compact Sedan 1.6l (Toyota Corolla, Mazda3, Kia K4, Hyundai Elantra, etc)
$23.3K MX$432.9K
$41.1K £30.5K
-43.35%
🧾 Monthly Utilities & Internet
Playa del Carmen
Perth
Difference
Utilities for 2 People in 2-bedroom Apartment (Heating, Electricity, Gas, Water, Garbage) (85m2)
$83.5 MX$1,554
$624 £463
-86.63%
SIM Card Monthly Plan (Calls and 10GB+ Data)
$23.19 MX$431
$13.52 £10.03
71.52%
Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)
$27.61 MX$514
$35.95 £26.66
-23.20%
🎉 Sport & Entertainment
Playa del Carmen
Perth
Difference
Gym Membership (Monthly)
$56.4 MX$1,050
$45.34 £33.62
24.46%
Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)
$28.19 MX$525
-
-
Cinema Ticket
$5.00 MX$93.1
$14.68 £10.89
-65.94%
🧸 Childcare & Education
Playa del Carmen
Perth
Difference
Preschool or Kindergarten, Full Day, Private, 1 Child (Monthly)
$207 MX$3,854
$1,207 £895
-82.84%
International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)
$5,231 MX$97.4K
$26.8K £19.9K
-80.46%
👕👟 Clothing & Footwear
Playa del Carmen
Perth
Difference
Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)
$43.45 MX$809
$91.6 £67.9
-52.56%
Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)
$42.54 MX$792
$44.80 £33.22
-5.04%
Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)
$72.8 MX$1,354
$67.0 £49.67
8.63%
Men's Leather Business Shoes
$88.4 MX$1,645
$140 £104
-37.09%
🏠 Accommodation & Living
Playa del Carmen
Perth
Difference
1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)
$995 MX$18.5K
$715 £530
39.13%
1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)
$382 MX$7,116
$569 £422
-32.76%
3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)
$1,674 MX$31.2K
$1,228 £911
36.32%
3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)
$1,081 MX$20.1K
$1,054 £781
2.57%
Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)
$3,909 MX$72.7K
$5,145 £3,815
-24.03%
Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)
$6,138 MX$114.2K
$3,954 £2,932
55.24%
💵 Salaries & Financials
Playa del Carmen
Perth
Difference
Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)
$832 MX$15.5K
$3,133 £2,324
-73.44%
20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)
11.45
5.07
125.84%

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 Perth: November 2, 2026

Monthly budget structure
Share of the monthly basket for one person, rent included.
Accommodation & Living
Playa del Carmen
$382
Perth
$569 48.7% $186
Groceries & Markets
Playa del Carmen
$257
Perth
$274 6.5% $17
Eating Out
Playa del Carmen
$200
Perth
$340 69.8% $140
Monthly Utilities & Internet
Playa del Carmen
$134
Perth
$674 402% $539
Clothing & Footwear
Playa del Carmen
$111
Perth
$155 39.1% $44
Sport & Entertainment
Playa del Carmen
$66
Perth
$75 12.4% $8.3
Getting Around
Playa del Carmen
$50
Perth
$137 171% $86

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $995 in Playa del Carmen and $715 in Perth. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

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

Dining out: $44 in Playa del Carmen vs $86 in Perth for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $257 vs $274 per month, with Playa del Carmen cheaper across the board.

Good to know
🇲🇽 Playa del Carmen
🇬🇧 Perth
🕒 Local time
13:03 1:03 PM
18:03 6:03 PM
5 h ahead of Playa del Carmen
🌤 Weather
👥 Population
149,923
46,660
💱 Currency
Exchange rates and currency converter

GBP, USD, EUR to MXN – Mexican Peso Converter

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).

On the map
Between locations
  • Playa del Carmen Perth 7,720 km ≈ 10 h nonstop flight
From you
  • Playa del Carmen
  • Perth

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 Perth: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions
Which city is more expensive, Playa del Carmen or Perth?
Playa del Carmen wins on cost – living expenses run 46% lower than in Perth. Housing and daily spending are where you’ll feel the difference most, making Playa del Carmen the obvious pick if budget is a priority.
Are salaries higher in Playa del Carmen or in Perth?
On paper, salaries run 73% 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.
How much does a 1-bedroom apartment cost in Playa del Carmen compared to Perth?
Rent for a central apartment: $995 in Playa del Carmen versus $715 in Perth. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.
How do childcare costs compare in Playa del Carmen and in Perth?
Childcare runs $207 in Playa del Carmen versus $1,207 in Perth. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.
Are groceries more expensive in Playa del Carmen or in Perth?
Supermarket bills run roughly 6% higher in Perth. For households that cook at home regularly, that difference adds up over a month.
Can you live on $1,500/month in Playa del Carmen or in Perth?
At $1,202 in Playa del Carmen versus $2,223 in Perth, a $1,500 budget is realistic in Playa del Carmen but tight or insufficient in Perth. The gap between the two cities makes Playa del Carmen the clear choice for anyone on this budget.
Which city offers a better quality of life: Playa del Carmen or Perth?
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.
Should I move to Playa del Carmen or to Perth?
It comes down to priorities – Playa del Carmen wins on affordability, Perth on earning potential. Factor in climate, language, visa rules, and proximity to places that matter to you before deciding.

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