Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Playa del Carmen and Qalyub

For one person, living is cheaper in Qalyub: $451 a month against $1,204 in Playa del Carmen, rent and utilities included – about $9,000 less a year. Rent and utilities account for about half of the difference.

59

Cost of Living Index in Playa del Carmen
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Playa del Carmen Living Index
22

Cost of Living Index in Qalyub
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Qalyub Living Index

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Playa del Carmen

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,204

/mo nomad

Qalyub

🇪🇬 Egypt

$451

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

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

A single person spends $1,204 per month in Playa del Carmen vs $451 in Qalyub, rent included.

Playa del Carmen $1,204
Qalyub $451

A couple spends around $2,102 per month in Playa del Carmen vs $740 in Qalyub, rent included.

Playa del Carmen $2,102
Qalyub $740

A family of three spends $3,000 per month in Playa del Carmen vs $1,028 in Qalyub, rent included.

Playa del Carmen $3,000
Qalyub $1,028

Playa del Carmen costs about 167% more than Qalyub, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in groceries.

Both Playa del Carmen and Qalyub are more affordable than the global median – Playa del Carmen 11% lower, Qalyub 67% lower.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$10.86 MX$203

$4.33 E£241

150.81%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$44.21 MX$827

$19.25 E£1,073

129.66%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$11.76 MX$220

$4.73 E£264

148.63%

Cappuccino

$3.68 MX$68.9

$1.32 E£73.5

178.79%

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

$1.34 MX$25.11

$0.29 E£16.43

362.07%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.82 MX$15.44

$0.13 E£7.38

530.77%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.06 MX$57.3

$1.32 E£73.3

131.82%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.94 MX$92.4

$2.29 E£128

115.72%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.47 MX$27.52

$0.82 E£45.70

79.27%

White Bread (500g)

$2.22 MX$41.47

$0.70 E£39.29

217.14%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.48 MX$27.67

$0.59 E£32.92

150.85%

Eggs

$2.49 MX$46.59

$1.13 E£62.8

120.35%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$7.52 MX$141

$3.80 E£212

97.89%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$7.96 MX$149

$4.35 E£242

82.99%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$12.57 MX$235

$9.12 E£508

37.83%

Apples (1kg)

$2.78 MX$52.0

$1.54 E£86.0

80.52%

Banana (1kg)

$1.43 MX$26.71

$0.78 E£43.67

83.33%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.62 MX$48.99

$0.57 E£31.54

359.65%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.14 MX$39.99

$0.33 E£18.27

548.48%

Potato (1kg)

$2.02 MX$37.86

$0.24 E£13.37

741.67%

Onion (1kg)

$1.99 MX$37.21

$0.32 E£18.05

521.88%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.14 MX$21.28

$0.25 E£13.82

356.00%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.20 MX$22.46

$0.20 E£11.00

500.00%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$4.26 MX$79.7

$1.93 E£108

120.73%

Wine (Bottle)

$10.02 MX$187

$5.77 E£322

73.66%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.54 MX$28.77

$1.19 E£66.6

29.41%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.66 MX$49.80

$2.21 E£123

20.36%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.53 MX$9.85

$0.20 E£11.12

165.00%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$27.51 MX$515

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$4.90 MX$91.8

$0.40 E£22.23

1125.00%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$3.43 MX$64.3

$0.20 E£11.21

1615.00%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$5.38 MX$101

$1.20 E£66.8

348.33%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.45 MX$27.10

$0.42 E£23.69

245.24%

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

$21.2K MX$396.0K

$32.3K E£1.8M

-34.54%

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

$23.0K MX$430.8K

$26.9K E£1.5M

-14.30%

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

$85.4 MX$1,598

$14.31 E£798

496.51%

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

$23.46 MX$439

$6.72 E£375

249.11%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$28.43 MX$532

$13.08 E£729

117.35%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$62.2 MX$1,164

$16.40 E£915

279.21%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$28.68 MX$537

$0.91 E£51.0

3051.65%

Cinema Ticket

$5.10 MX$95.5

$2.77 E£155

84.12%

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

$201 MX$3,763

$86.6 E£4,832

132.10%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$3,947 MX$73.9K

$2,104 E£117.3K

87.60%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$44.39 MX$831

$33.54 E£1,870

32.35%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$41.35 MX$774

$45.09 E£2,515

-8.29%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$72.7 MX$1,362

$117 E£6,499

-37.58%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$89.6 MX$1,677

$56.0 E£3,123

60.02%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$979 MX$18.3K

$132 E£7,358

642.25%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$373 MX$6,976

$76.8 E£4,281

385.55%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,681 MX$31.5K

$251 E£14.0K

568.55%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,095 MX$20.5K

$144 E£8,034

660.28%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$3,949 MX$73.9K

$752 E£41.9K

425.11%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$6,137 MX$114.9K

$357 E£19.9K

1620.65%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$738 MX$13.8K

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

11.45

16.21

-29.36%

CityCost data is based on AI and user input – minor inaccuracies may occur.

Last update for Playa del Carmen: October 17, 2026

Last update for Qalyub: October 18, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Playa del Carmen

$373 31%

Qalyub

$77 17% 79.4% $296

Groceries & Markets

Playa del Carmen

$258 21.5%

Qalyub

$126 27.8% 51.4% $133

Eating Out

Playa del Carmen

$200 16.6%

Qalyub

$78 17.2% 61.3% $123

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Playa del Carmen

$137 11.4%

Qalyub

$34 7.6% 75.2% $103

Clothing & Footwear

Playa del Carmen

$112 9.3%

Qalyub

$113 25.1% 1.2% $1.4

Sport & Entertainment

Playa del Carmen

$72 6%

Qalyub

$22 4.9% 69.7% $50

Getting Around

Playa del Carmen

$52 4.3%

Qalyub

$2.2 * 0.5% 95.7% $49

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

Cost Breakdown

A central one-bedroom costs $979 in Playa del Carmen versus $132 in Qalyub. 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 $19 in Qalyub. Monthly groceries follow the same trend: $258 vs $126 – making Qalyub the more affordable choice for daily food spending.

Good to know

🇲🇽 Playa del Carmen

🇪🇬 Qalyub

🕒 Local time

01:55 1:55 AM

09:55 9:55 AM

8 h ahead of Playa del Carmen

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

149,923

109,000

💱 Currency

Mexican Peso MXN $

Egyptian Pound EGP £

📈 Exchange rate

100 MXN = 5.34 USD

100 MXN = 4.76 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 October 26, 2026: 1 USD = 18.72 MXN (100 MXN = 5.34 USD). 1 EUR = 21 MXN (100 MXN = 4.76 EUR).

Egyptian Pound exchange rates as of October 26, 2026: 1 USD = 55.77 EGP (100 EGP = 1.79 USD). 1 EUR = 62.57 EGP (100 EGP = 1.6 EUR).

USD to MXN in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Playa del Carmen Qalyub 11,330 km ≈ 15 h nonstop flight

From you

Playa del Carmen
Qalyub

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 Qalyub: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Yes – Playa del Carmen is pricier by about 167%, and outside of rent the gap shows up most in groceries.

For a comfortable life, plan on about $1,806 per month in Playa del Carmen and $677 in Qalyub. That covers rent, food, utilities, transport, and enough left over to feel settled – not just surviving.

Rent is clearly cheaper in Qalyub, especially for central apartments: a one-bedroom in the center costs $132 there versus $979 in Playa del Carmen.

Monthly expenses with rent come to $1,204 in Playa del Carmen and $451 in Qalyub. That’s a gap of about 167%.

Kindergarten costs $201 per month in Playa del Carmen and $87 in Qalyub. For families with young kids, this one expense can tip the scales when choosing between the two cities.

A $1,000 monthly budget goes further in Qalyub, where all-in costs run around $451, than in Playa del Carmen at $1,204. In Qalyub it covers expenses comfortably, while in Playa del Carmen it requires careful planning or may not stretch far enough.

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