Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Playa del Carmen and San Martin de los Andes

For one person, living is cheaper in Playa del Carmen: $1,204 a month against $1,264 in San Martin de los Andes, rent and utilities included – about $720 less a year. The total is higher in San Martin de los Andes despite lower rent and utilities.

58

Cost of Living Index in Playa del Carmen
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Playa del Carmen Living Index
61

Cost of Living Index in San Martin de los Andes
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San Martin de los Andes Living Index

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Playa del Carmen

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,204

/mo nomad

San Martin de los Andes

🇦🇷 Argentina

$1,264

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Playa del Carmen and in San Martin de los Andes

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 San Martin de los Andes actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

A single person spends $1,204 per month in Playa del Carmen vs $1,264 in San Martin de los Andes, rent included.

Playa del Carmen $1,204
San Martin de los Andes $1,264

A couple spends around $2,082 per month in Playa del Carmen vs $2,136 in San Martin de los Andes, rent included.

Playa del Carmen $2,082
San Martin de los Andes $2,136

A family of three spends $2,959 per month in Playa del Carmen vs $3,007 in San Martin de los Andes, rent included.

Playa del Carmen $2,959
San Martin de los Andes $3,007

Playa del Carmen is about 5% cheaper than San Martin de los Andes, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in clothing.

Both Playa del Carmen and San Martin de los Andes are more affordable than the global median – Playa del Carmen 12% lower, San Martin de los Andes 7% lower.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$10.92 MX$203

$18.03 ARS 27.8K

-39.43%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$43.37 MX$808

$57.1 ARS 88.1K

-24.07%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$11.78 MX$219

$13.84 ARS 21.3K

-14.88%

Cappuccino

$3.81 MX$71.0

$3.30 ARS 5,091

15.45%

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

$1.28 MX$23.89

$1.97 ARS 3,041

-35.03%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.78 MX$14.58

$2.02 ARS 3,122

-61.39%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.17 MX$59.0

$3.44 ARS 5,309

-7.85%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.93 MX$91.9

$4.66 ARS 7,191

5.79%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.41 MX$26.20

$1.42 ARS 2,183

-0.70%

White Bread (500g)

$2.22 MX$41.30

$2.37 ARS 3,656

-6.33%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.42 MX$26.40

$1.98 ARS 3,048

-28.28%

Eggs

$2.52 MX$47.00

$2.92 ARS 4,506

-13.70%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$7.26 MX$135

$10.62 ARS 16.4K

-31.64%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$7.70 MX$143

$7.95 ARS 12.3K

-3.14%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$12.69 MX$236

$9.95 ARS 15.3K

27.54%

Apples (1kg)

$2.78 MX$51.9

$2.13 ARS 3,291

30.52%

Banana (1kg)

$1.37 MX$25.49

$2.31 ARS 3,568

-40.69%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.55 MX$47.52

$1.49 ARS 2,296

71.14%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.12 MX$39.55

$2.48 ARS 3,815

-14.52%

Potato (1kg)

$1.94 MX$36.11

$1.17 ARS 1,797

65.81%

Onion (1kg)

$1.89 MX$35.13

$1.11 ARS 1,706

70.27%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.15 MX$21.36

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.18 MX$21.96

$1.44 ARS 2,220

-18.06%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$4.30 MX$80.0

$3.44 ARS 5,303

25.00%

Wine (Bottle)

$9.95 MX$185

$5.39 ARS 8,314

84.60%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.58 MX$29.50

$2.13 ARS 3,279

-25.82%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.67 MX$49.76

$3.03 ARS 4,670

-11.88%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.55 MX$10.31

$0.93 ARS 1,433

-40.86%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$26.62 MX$496

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$4.97 MX$92.6

$1.58 ARS 2,429

214.56%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$3.33 MX$62.1

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$5.36 MX$99.8

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.44 MX$26.90

$1.22 ARS 1,876

18.03%

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

$20.7K MX$385.0K

$27.5K ARS 42.4M

-24.79%

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

$23.5K MX$437.2K

$30.9K ARS 47.7M

-24.18%

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

$84.8 MX$1,580

$134 ARS 206.8K

-36.80%

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

$23.41 MX$436

$15.99 ARS 24.7K

46.40%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$28.66 MX$534

$27.53 ARS 42.4K

4.10%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$57.1 MX$1,063

$31.26 ARS 48.2K

82.50%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$28.91 MX$539

$19.28 ARS 29.7K

49.95%

Cinema Ticket

$5.14 MX$95.7

$8.74 ARS 13.5K

-41.19%

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

$207 MX$3,848

$239 ARS 368.6K

-13.62%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$3,927 MX$73.2K

$4,149 ARS 6.4M

-5.33%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$43.35 MX$808

$106 ARS 163.7K

-59.17%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$41.44 MX$772

$85.5 ARS 131.8K

-51.53%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$74.2 MX$1,382

$126 ARS 194.9K

-41.32%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$89.3 MX$1,663

$130 ARS 200.6K

-31.41%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$980 MX$18.2K

$465 ARS 717.2K

110.54%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$381 MX$7,095

$311 ARS 479.0K

22.54%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,708 MX$31.8K

$1,006 ARS 1.6M

69.84%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,075 MX$20.0K

$823 ARS 1.3M

30.64%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$3,943 MX$73.5K

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$6,158 MX$114.7K

$1,249 ARS 1.9M

392.99%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$735 MX$13.7K

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

11.45

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 San Martin de los Andes: October 25, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Playa del Carmen

$381 31.6%

San Martin de los Andes

$311 24.6% 18.4% $70

Groceries & Markets

Playa del Carmen

$255 21.2%

San Martin de los Andes

$252 * 20% 1% $2.5

Eating Out

Playa del Carmen

$202 16.8%

San Martin de los Andes

$268 21.2% 32.4% $66

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Playa del Carmen

$137 11.4%

San Martin de los Andes

$178 14.1% 29.8% $41

Clothing & Footwear

Playa del Carmen

$112 9.3%

San Martin de los Andes

$202 16% 80.6% $90

Sport & Entertainment

Playa del Carmen

$67 5.6%

San Martin de los Andes

$49 3.9% 27.6% $19

Getting Around

Playa del Carmen

$50 4.2%

San Martin de los Andes

$5.3 * 0.4% 89.5% $45

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

Cost Breakdown

A central one-bedroom costs $980 in Playa del Carmen versus $465 in San Martin de los Andes. 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 $43 in Playa del Carmen versus $57 in San Martin de los Andes. Groceries tell a different story – $255 in Playa del Carmen vs $252 in San Martin de los Andes – so San Martin de los Andes wins on supermarket bills even if dining out costs more.

Good to know

🇲🇽 Playa del Carmen

🇦🇷 San Martin de los Andes

🕒 Local time

21:31 9:31 PM

23:31 11:31 PM

2 h ahead of Playa del Carmen

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

149,923

36,913

💱 Currency

Mexican Peso MXN $

Argentine Peso ARS $

📈 Exchange rate

100 MXN = 5.37 USD

100 MXN = 4.82 EUR

10,000 ARS = 6.49 USD

10,000 ARS = 5.83 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

ARS, USD, EUR to MXN – Mexican Peso Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇲🇽 Mexican Peso ($)

Mexican Peso exchange rates as of October 29, 2026: 1 USD = 18.63 MXN (100 MXN = 5.37 USD). 1 EUR = 20.74 MXN (100 MXN = 4.82 EUR).

Argentine Peso exchange rates as of October 29, 2026: 1 USD = 1,541 ARS (10,000 ARS = 6.49 USD). 1 EUR = 1,716 ARS (10,000 ARS = 5.83 EUR).

USD to MXN in detail →

On the map

Lowest

Highest

Between locations

Playa del Carmen San Martin de los Andes 6,950 km ≈ 9 h nonstop flight

From you

Playa del Carmen
San Martin de los Andes

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 San Martin de los Andes: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Yes – San Martin de los Andes is pricier by about 5%, and outside of rent the gap shows up most in clothing.

For a comfortable life, plan on about $1,806 per month in Playa del Carmen and $1,897 in San Martin de los Andes. That covers rent, food, utilities, transport, and enough left over to feel settled – not just surviving.

Rent is clearly cheaper in San Martin de los Andes, especially for central apartments: a one-bedroom in the center costs $465 there versus $980 in Playa del Carmen.

A mid-range dinner for two costs $43 in Playa del Carmen and $57 in San Martin de los Andes. That’s a good indicator of the overall restaurant and café pricing gap between the two cities.

Kindergarten costs $207 per month in Playa del Carmen and $239 in San Martin de los Andes. For families with young kids, this one expense can tip the scales when choosing between the two cities.

$1,500 covers both cities comfortably – all-in costs are $1,204 in Playa del Carmen and $1,264 in San Martin de los Andes, leaving budget for savings and extras in both cases.

It depends on your priorities. Playa del Carmen has an edge in some lifestyle areas, with costs from $1,204 in Playa del Carmen to $1,264 in San Martin de los Andes. Climate, culture, job market, and personal taste all factor in.