Last update: Nov 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Playa del Carmen and Samut Sakhon

For one person, living is cheaper in Samut Sakhon: $935 a month against $1,202 in Playa del Carmen, rent and utilities included – about $3,200 less a year. Other living expenses account for most of the difference.

57

Cost of Living Index in Playa del Carmen
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Playa del Carmen Living Index
44

Cost of Living Index in Samut Sakhon
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Samut Sakhon Living Index

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Playa del Carmen

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,202

/mo nomad

Samut Sakhon

🇹🇭 Thailand

$935

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Playa del Carmen and in Samut Sakhon

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

A single person spends $1,202 per month in Playa del Carmen vs $935 in Samut Sakhon, rent included.

Playa del Carmen $1,202
Samut Sakhon $935

A couple spends around $2,082 per month in Playa del Carmen vs $1,504 in Samut Sakhon, rent included.

Playa del Carmen $2,082
Samut Sakhon $1,504

A family of three spends $2,962 per month in Playa del Carmen vs $2,074 in Samut Sakhon, rent included.

Playa del Carmen $2,962
Samut Sakhon $2,074

Playa del Carmen costs about 29% more than Samut Sakhon, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

Both Playa del Carmen and Samut Sakhon are more affordable than the global median – Playa del Carmen 11% lower, Samut Sakhon 31% lower.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$10.67 MX$201

$1.74 ฿58.7

513.22%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$43.80 MX$824

$17.65 ฿595

148.16%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$11.79 MX$222

$5.84 ฿197

101.88%

Cappuccino

$3.79 MX$71.2

$1.18 ฿39.72

221.19%

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

$1.30 MX$24.41

$0.37 ฿12.62

251.35%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.83 MX$15.69

$0.27 ฿9.15

207.41%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.15 MX$59.2

$1.90 ฿64.0

65.79%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.93 MX$92.9

$2.70 ฿90.9

82.59%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.41 MX$26.51

$1.57 ฿52.8

-10.19%

White Bread (500g)

$2.20 MX$41.32

$1.41 ฿47.67

56.03%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.47 MX$27.71

$1.40 ฿47.24

5.00%

Eggs

$2.50 MX$46.99

$2.22 ฿75.0

12.61%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$7.29 MX$137

$15.45 ฿521

-52.82%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$7.95 MX$150

$2.53 ฿85.3

214.23%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$12.86 MX$242

$10.14 ฿342

26.82%

Apples (1kg)

$2.90 MX$54.5

$3.54 ฿119

-18.08%

Banana (1kg)

$1.38 MX$26.03

$1.20 ฿40.35

15.00%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.49 MX$46.88

$1.85 ฿62.3

34.59%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.03 MX$38.20

$1.87 ฿63.1

8.56%

Potato (1kg)

$2.02 MX$38.11

$1.23 ฿41.59

64.23%

Onion (1kg)

$1.90 MX$35.82

$1.04 ฿35.13

82.69%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.14 MX$21.54

$1.22 ฿41.18

-6.56%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.24 MX$23.32

$0.43 ฿14.44

188.37%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$4.27 MX$80.4

$4.22 ฿142

1.18%

Wine (Bottle)

$9.81 MX$185

$18.14 ฿612

-45.92%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.59 MX$29.85

$1.74 ฿58.5

-8.62%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.75 MX$51.7

$2.95 ฿99.5

-6.78%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.51 MX$9.69

$0.39 ฿13.07

30.77%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$27.39 MX$515

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$4.76 MX$89.6

$1.05 ฿35.49

353.33%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$3.25 MX$61.1

$1.12 ฿37.84

190.18%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$5.39 MX$101

$3.62 ฿122

48.90%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.53 MX$28.76

$1.17 ฿39.56

30.77%

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

$21.2K MX$399.2K

$44.9K ฿1.5M

-52.78%

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

$23.3K MX$437.8K

$27.0K ฿911.0K

-13.87%

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

$83.5 MX$1,571

$93.8 ฿3,163

-10.96%

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

$23.19 MX$436

$11.33 ฿382

104.68%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$27.61 MX$520

$19.04 ฿642

45.01%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$56.4 MX$1,062

$50.3 ฿1,696

12.21%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$28.19 MX$531

$14.99 ฿506

88.06%

Cinema Ticket

$5.00 MX$94.1

$7.72 ฿260

-35.23%

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

$207 MX$3,897

$619 ฿20.9K

-66.52%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$5,231 MX$98.4K

$21.3K ฿718.2K

-75.43%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$43.45 MX$818

$49.60 ฿1,673

-12.40%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$42.54 MX$801

$29.66 ฿1,000

43.43%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$72.8 MX$1,369

$93.1 ฿3,140

-21.84%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$88.4 MX$1,663

$76.5 ฿2,580

15.54%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$995 MX$18.7K

$509 ฿17.2K

95.57%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$382 MX$7,197

$320 ฿10.8K

19.59%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,674 MX$31.5K

$1,158 ฿39.1K

44.54%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,081 MX$20.3K

$776 ฿26.2K

39.28%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$3,909 MX$73.6K

$2,033 ฿68.6K

92.30%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$6,138 MX$115.5K

$1,580 ฿53.3K

288.49%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$832 MX$15.7K

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

11.45

5.96

92.11%

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 Samut Sakhon: November 1, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Playa del Carmen

$382 31.8%

Samut Sakhon

$320 34.2% 16.4% $63

Groceries & Markets

Playa del Carmen

$257 21.4%

Samut Sakhon

$242 25.9% 6% $15

Eating Out

Playa del Carmen

$200 16.7%

Samut Sakhon

$63 6.7% 68.5% $137

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Playa del Carmen

$134 11.2%

Samut Sakhon

$124 13.3% 7.6% $10

Clothing & Footwear

Playa del Carmen

$111 9.3%

Samut Sakhon

$112 12% 0.7% $0.8

Sport & Entertainment

Playa del Carmen

$66 5.5%

Samut Sakhon

$66 7% 1.1% $0.7

Getting Around

Playa del Carmen

$50 4.2%

Samut Sakhon

$8.2 * 0.9% 83.7% $42

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

Cost Breakdown

A central one-bedroom costs $995 in Playa del Carmen versus $509 in Samut Sakhon. 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 $18 in Samut Sakhon. Monthly groceries follow the same trend: $257 vs $242 – making Samut Sakhon the more affordable choice for daily food spending.

Good to know

🇲🇽 Playa del Carmen

🇹🇭 Samut Sakhon

🕒 Local time

04:50 4:50 AM

16:50 4:50 PM

12 h ahead of Playa del Carmen

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

149,923

67,515

💱 Currency

Mexican Peso MXN $

Thai Baht THB ฿

📈 Exchange rate

100 MXN = 5.31 USD

100 MXN = 4.74 EUR

100 THB = 2.96 USD

100 THB = 2.64 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

THB, USD, EUR to MXN – Mexican Peso Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇲🇽 Mexican Peso ($)

Mexican Peso exchange rates as of November 4, 2026: 1 USD = 18.82 MXN (100 MXN = 5.31 USD). 1 EUR = 21.1 MXN (100 MXN = 4.74 EUR).

Thai Baht exchange rates as of November 4, 2026: 1 USD = 33.73 THB (100 THB = 2.96 USD). 1 EUR = 37.81 THB (100 THB = 2.64 EUR).

USD to MXN in detail →

On the map

Lowest

Highest

Between locations

Playa del Carmen Samut Sakhon 16,130 km ≈ 21 h nonstop flight

From you

Playa del Carmen
Samut Sakhon

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 Samut Sakhon: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Yes – Playa del Carmen is pricier by about 29%, 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 $1,402 in Samut Sakhon. That covers rent, food, utilities, transport, and enough left over to feel settled – not just surviving.

Rent is clearly cheaper in Samut Sakhon, especially for central apartments: a one-bedroom in the center costs $509 there versus $995 in Playa del Carmen.

Monthly expenses with rent come to $1,202 in Playa del Carmen and $935 in Samut Sakhon. That makes Samut Sakhon about 22% cheaper.

Kindergarten costs $207 per month in Playa del Carmen and $619 in Samut Sakhon. For families with young kids, this one expense can tip the scales when choosing between the two cities.

It depends on your priorities. Playa del Carmen has an edge in some lifestyle areas, with costs from $935 in Samut Sakhon to $1,202 in Playa del Carmen. Climate, culture, job market, and personal taste all factor in.