Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Playa del Carmen and St.James

For one person, living is cheaper in St.James: $917 a month against $1,204 in Playa del Carmen, rent and utilities included – about $3,400 less a year. Higher rent and utilities in Playa del Carmen outweigh lower spending on other living expenses.

58

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

Cost of Living Index in St.James
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St.James Living Index

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Playa del Carmen

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,204

/mo nomad

St.James

🇹🇹 Trinidad And Tobago

$917

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Playa del Carmen and in St.James

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

A single person spends $1,204 per month in Playa del Carmen vs $917 in St.James, rent included.

Playa del Carmen $1,204
St.James $917

A couple spends around $2,082 per month in Playa del Carmen vs $1,593 in St.James, rent included.

Playa del Carmen $2,082
St.James $1,593

A family of three spends $2,959 per month in Playa del Carmen vs $2,270 in St.James, rent included.

Playa del Carmen $2,959
St.James $2,270

Playa del Carmen costs about 31% more than St.James, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in leisure.

Both Playa del Carmen and St.James are more affordable than the global median – Playa del Carmen 12% lower, St.James 33% lower.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$10.92 MX$205

$10.13 TTD 68.0

7.80%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$43.37 MX$815

$88.4 TTD 593

-50.92%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$11.78 MX$221

$9.03 TTD 60.6

30.45%

Cappuccino

$3.81 MX$71.6

$3.65 TTD 24.49

4.38%

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

$1.28 MX$24.10

$0.99 TTD 6.67

29.29%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.78 MX$14.71

$0.77 TTD 5.15

1.30%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.17 MX$59.5

$2.25 TTD 15.06

40.89%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.93 MX$92.7

$3.67 TTD 24.62

34.33%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.41 MX$26.43

$2.51 TTD 16.85

-43.82%

White Bread (500g)

$2.22 MX$41.66

$2.48 TTD 16.67

-10.48%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.42 MX$26.64

$2.80 TTD 18.82

-49.29%

Eggs

$2.52 MX$47.41

$4.43 TTD 29.73

-43.12%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$7.26 MX$137

$6.57 TTD 44.06

10.50%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$7.70 MX$145

$9.90 TTD 66.4

-22.22%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$12.69 MX$239

$11.79 TTD 79.1

7.63%

Apples (1kg)

$2.78 MX$52.3

$5.66 TTD 37.97

-50.88%

Banana (1kg)

$1.37 MX$25.71

$2.97 TTD 19.90

-53.87%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.55 MX$47.94

$3.75 TTD 25.19

-32.00%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.12 MX$39.90

$4.28 TTD 28.70

-50.47%

Potato (1kg)

$1.94 MX$36.43

$2.21 TTD 14.84

-12.22%

Onion (1kg)

$1.89 MX$35.44

$1.87 TTD 12.54

1.07%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.15 MX$21.55

$1.91 TTD 12.84

-39.79%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.18 MX$22.16

$1.35 TTD 9.08

-12.59%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$4.30 MX$80.7

$5.73 TTD 38.48

-24.96%

Wine (Bottle)

$9.95 MX$187

$19.28 TTD 129

-48.39%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.58 MX$29.76

$2.21 TTD 14.82

-28.51%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.67 MX$50.2

$3.00 TTD 20.13

-11.00%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.55 MX$10.40

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$26.62 MX$500

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$4.97 MX$93.4

$1.01 TTD 6.78

392.08%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$3.33 MX$62.6

$1.23 TTD 8.26

170.73%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$5.36 MX$101

$14.65 TTD 98.3

-63.41%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.44 MX$27.14

$1.17 TTD 7.83

23.08%

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

$20.7K MX$388.4K

$37.2K TTD 249.9K

-44.52%

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

$23.5K MX$441.0K

$40.7K TTD 273.4K

-42.42%

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

$84.8 MX$1,594

$90.2 TTD 605

-6.03%

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

$23.41 MX$440

$50.9 TTD 341

-54.00%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$28.66 MX$539

$56.0 TTD 376

-48.82%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$57.1 MX$1,072

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$28.91 MX$543

Cinema Ticket

$5.14 MX$96.6

$9.06 TTD 60.8

-43.27%

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

$207 MX$3,882

$398 TTD 2,669

-48.08%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$3,927 MX$73.8K

$10.9K TTD 73.1K

-63.97%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$43.35 MX$815

$54.3 TTD 364

-20.20%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$41.44 MX$779

$51.3 TTD 344

-19.22%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$74.2 MX$1,394

$148 TTD 996

-49.99%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$89.3 MX$1,677

$103 TTD 693

-13.64%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$980 MX$18.4K

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$381 MX$7,157

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,708 MX$32.1K

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,075 MX$20.2K

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$3,943 MX$74.1K

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$6,158 MX$115.7K

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$735 MX$13.8K

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

11.45

5.75

99.13%

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 St.James: October 24, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Playa del Carmen

$381 31.6%

St.James

- * 0% 100%

Groceries & Markets

Playa del Carmen

$255 21.2%

St.James

$356 38.8% 39.7% $101

Eating Out

Playa del Carmen

$202 16.8%

St.James

$178 19.4% 12.3% $25

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Playa del Carmen

$137 11.4%

St.James

$197 21.5% 44% $60

Clothing & Footwear

Playa del Carmen

$112 9.3%

St.James

$161 17.5% 43.9% $49

Sport & Entertainment

Playa del Carmen

$67 5.6%

St.James

$18 * 2% 73.1% $49

Getting Around

Playa del Carmen

$50 4.2%

St.James

$7.2 * 0.8% 85.8% $43

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

Cost Breakdown

A mid-range dinner for two costs $43 in Playa del Carmen versus $88 in St.James. Monthly groceries follow the same trend: $255 vs $356 – making Playa del Carmen the more affordable choice for daily food spending.

Good to know

🇲🇽 Playa del Carmen

🇹🇹 St.James

🕒 Local time

21:43 9:43 PM

22:43 10:43 PM

1 h ahead of Playa del Carmen

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

149,923

4,342

💱 Currency

Mexican Peso MXN $

Trinidad and Tobago Dollar TTD $

📈 Exchange rate

100 MXN = 5.32 USD

100 MXN = 4.77 EUR

1 TTD = 0.149 USD

1 TTD = 0.133 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

TTD, USD, EUR to MXN – Mexican Peso Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇲🇽 Mexican Peso ($)

Mexican Peso exchange rates as of November 2, 2026: 1 USD = 18.79 MXN (100 MXN = 5.32 USD). 1 EUR = 20.98 MXN (100 MXN = 4.77 EUR).

Trinidad and Tobago Dollar exchange rates as of November 2, 2026: 1 USD = 6.71 TTD (1 TTD = 0.149 USD). 1 EUR = 7.49 TTD (1 TTD = 0.133 EUR).

USD to MXN in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Playa del Carmen St.James 2,950 km ≈ 4 h 15 min nonstop flight

From you

Playa del Carmen
St.James

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 St.James: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Yes – Playa del Carmen is pricier by about 31%, and outside of rent the gap shows up most in leisure.

For a comfortable life, plan on about $1,806 per month in Playa del Carmen and $1,375 in St.James. That covers rent, food, utilities, transport, and enough left over to feel settled – not just surviving.

Monthly expenses with rent come to $1,204 in Playa del Carmen and $917 in St.James. That makes St.James about 24% cheaper.

Kindergarten costs $207 per month in Playa del Carmen and $398 in St.James. For families with young kids, this one expense can tip the scales when choosing between the two cities.

A $1,200 monthly budget goes further in St.James, where all-in costs run around $917, than in Playa del Carmen at $1,204. In St.James it covers expenses comfortably, while in Playa del Carmen it requires careful planning or may not stretch far enough.

It depends on your priorities. Playa del Carmen has an edge in some lifestyle areas, with costs from $917 in St.James to $1,204 in Playa del Carmen. Climate, culture, job market, and personal taste all factor in.