Last update: Nov 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Playa del Carmen and San Miguel de Tucuman

For one person, living is cheaper in Playa del Carmen: $1,202 a month against $1,266 in San Miguel de Tucuman, rent and utilities included – about $770 less a year. The total is higher in San Miguel de Tucuman despite lower rent and utilities.

57

Cost of Living Index in Playa del Carmen
Learn more

Playa del Carmen Living Index
61

Cost of Living Index in San Miguel de Tucuman
Learn more

San Miguel de Tucuman Living Index

Jump to prices

Playa del Carmen

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,202

/mo nomad

San Miguel de Tucuman

🇦🇷 Argentina

$1,266

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Playa del Carmen and in San Miguel de Tucuman

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 Miguel de Tucuman actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

A single person spends $1,202 per month in Playa del Carmen vs $1,266 in San Miguel de Tucuman, rent included.

Playa del Carmen $1,202
San Miguel de Tucuman $1,266

A couple spends around $2,082 per month in Playa del Carmen vs $2,125 in San Miguel de Tucuman, rent included.

Playa del Carmen $2,082
San Miguel de Tucuman $2,125

A family of three spends $2,962 per month in Playa del Carmen vs $2,984 in San Miguel de Tucuman, rent included.

Playa del Carmen $2,962
San Miguel de Tucuman $2,984

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

Both Playa del Carmen and San Miguel de Tucuman are more affordable than the global median – Playa del Carmen 11% lower, San Miguel de Tucuman 6% lower.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$10.67 MX$198

$17.15 ARS 26.5K

-37.78%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$43.80 MX$815

$56.7 ARS 87.6K

-22.76%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$11.79 MX$219

$12.86 ARS 19.9K

-8.32%

Cappuccino

$3.79 MX$70.4

$3.91 ARS 6,038

-3.07%

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

$1.30 MX$24.12

$2.25 ARS 3,478

-42.22%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.83 MX$15.50

$1.93 ARS 2,983

-56.99%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.15 MX$58.5

$3.78 ARS 5,841

-16.67%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.93 MX$91.8

$4.05 ARS 6,264

21.73%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.41 MX$26.20

$1.39 ARS 2,147

1.44%

White Bread (500g)

$2.20 MX$40.83

$2.27 ARS 3,508

-3.08%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.47 MX$27.39

$1.86 ARS 2,881

-20.97%

Eggs

$2.50 MX$46.43

$2.79 ARS 4,310

-10.39%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$7.29 MX$136

$11.82 ARS 18.3K

-38.32%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$7.95 MX$148

$7.97 ARS 12.3K

-0.25%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$12.86 MX$239

$11.40 ARS 17.6K

12.81%

Apples (1kg)

$2.90 MX$53.9

$2.45 ARS 3,778

18.37%

Banana (1kg)

$1.38 MX$25.73

$2.28 ARS 3,517

-39.47%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.49 MX$46.32

$1.57 ARS 2,425

58.60%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.03 MX$37.75

$2.63 ARS 4,056

-22.81%

Potato (1kg)

$2.02 MX$37.66

$1.06 ARS 1,643

90.57%

Onion (1kg)

$1.90 MX$35.40

$1.03 ARS 1,586

84.47%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.14 MX$21.28

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.24 MX$23.04

$1.55 ARS 2,393

-20.00%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$4.27 MX$79.4

$3.39 ARS 5,238

25.96%

Wine (Bottle)

$9.81 MX$183

$4.97 ARS 7,679

97.38%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.59 MX$29.49

$2.03 ARS 3,138

-21.67%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.75 MX$51.1

$3.42 ARS 5,280

-19.59%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.51 MX$9.58

$0.98 ARS 1,514

-47.96%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$27.39 MX$509

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$4.76 MX$88.6

$1.54 ARS 2,379

209.09%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$3.25 MX$60.4

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$5.39 MX$100

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.53 MX$28.42

$1.23 ARS 1,901

24.39%

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

$21.2K MX$394.5K

$25.2K ARS 38.9M

-15.81%

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

$23.3K MX$432.6K

$32.4K ARS 50.1M

-28.19%

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

$83.5 MX$1,553

$123 ARS 190.6K

-32.33%

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

$23.19 MX$431

$17.20 ARS 26.6K

34.83%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$27.61 MX$514

$23.80 ARS 36.8K

16.01%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$56.4 MX$1,050

$31.46 ARS 48.6K

79.37%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$28.19 MX$524

$20.58 ARS 31.8K

36.98%

Cinema Ticket

$5.00 MX$93.0

$9.35 ARS 14.5K

-46.52%

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

$207 MX$3,851

$234 ARS 361.3K

-11.45%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$5,231 MX$97.3K

$4,212 ARS 6.5M

24.18%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$43.45 MX$808

$115 ARS 177.1K

-62.10%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$42.54 MX$791

$84.0 ARS 129.7K

-49.33%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$72.8 MX$1,353

$114 ARS 175.8K

-36.04%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$88.4 MX$1,644

$117 ARS 180.8K

-24.47%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$995 MX$18.5K

$509 ARS 786.1K

95.51%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$382 MX$7,112

$325 ARS 502.6K

17.55%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,674 MX$31.1K

$1,041 ARS 1.6M

60.80%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,081 MX$20.1K

$812 ARS 1.3M

33.12%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$3,909 MX$72.7K

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$6,138 MX$114.1K

$1,275 ARS 2.0M

381.28%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$832 MX$15.5K

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: November 2, 2026

Last update for San Miguel de Tucuman: November 1, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Playa del Carmen

$382 31.8%

San Miguel de Tucuman

$325 25.7% 14.9% $57

Groceries & Markets

Playa del Carmen

$257 21.4%

San Miguel de Tucuman

$261 * 20.6% 1.3% $3.3

Eating Out

Playa del Carmen

$200 16.7%

San Miguel de Tucuman

$266 21.1% 33% $66

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Playa del Carmen

$134 11.2%

San Miguel de Tucuman

$164 13% 22.4% $30

Clothing & Footwear

Playa del Carmen

$111 9.3%

San Miguel de Tucuman

$193 15.3% 73.7% $82

Sport & Entertainment

Playa del Carmen

$66 5.5%

San Miguel de Tucuman

$50 4% 24.5% $16

Getting Around

Playa del Carmen

$50 4.2%

San Miguel de Tucuman

$5.5 * 0.4% 89.2% $45

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 San Miguel de Tucuman. 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 $57 in San Miguel de Tucuman. Monthly groceries follow the same trend: $257 vs $261 – making Playa del Carmen the more affordable choice for daily food spending.

Good to know

🇲🇽 Playa del Carmen

🇦🇷 San Miguel de Tucuman

🕒 Local time

07:46 7:46 AM

09:46 9:46 AM

2 h ahead of Playa del Carmen

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

149,923

527,607

💱 Currency

Mexican Peso MXN $

Argentine Peso ARS $

📈 Exchange rate

100 MXN = 5.38 USD

100 MXN = 4.83 EUR

10,000 ARS = 6.47 USD

10,000 ARS = 5.81 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 November 7, 2026: 1 USD = 18.6 MXN (100 MXN = 5.38 USD). 1 EUR = 20.72 MXN (100 MXN = 4.83 EUR).

Argentine Peso exchange rates as of November 7, 2026: 1 USD = 1,545 ARS (10,000 ARS = 6.47 USD). 1 EUR = 1,722 ARS (10,000 ARS = 5.81 EUR).

USD to MXN in detail →

On the map

Lowest

Highest

Between locations

Playa del Carmen San Miguel de Tucuman 5,780 km ≈ 8 h nonstop flight

From you

Playa del Carmen
San Miguel de Tucuman

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 Miguel de Tucuman: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

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

For a comfortable life, plan on about $1,804 per month in Playa del Carmen and $1,899 in San Miguel de Tucuman. That covers rent, food, utilities, transport, and enough left over to feel settled – not just surviving.

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

A mid-range dinner for two costs $44 in Playa del Carmen and $57 in San Miguel de Tucuman. 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 $234 in San Miguel de Tucuman. 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 $1,202 in Playa del Carmen and $1,266 in San Miguel de Tucuman, 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 $1,202 in Playa del Carmen to $1,266 in San Miguel de Tucuman. Climate, culture, job market, and personal taste all factor in.