01
Coste de vida
$780/mo
MX · PLAYA-DEL-CARMENDatos locales
Vivir en Playa del Carmen.
The Riviera Maya's main resort and digital-nomad city, seat of Solidaridad municipality on the Caribbean coast. Warm year-round climate, a large foreign community and English widely used in tourist zones, offset by resort-level rents that run above smaller Mexican cities and a June–November hurricane season.
Verificado
Población 304.942
· America/Cancun· Se aplican las normas de Mexico
INEGI — Censo de Población y Vivienda 2020, resultados por localidad (ITER)
Fuente oficial
- Datos a fecha de
- 15 mar 2020
- Verificado
- 4 jul 2026
- Método
- INEGI Censo 2020 locality (localidad) figure for Playa del Carmen (locality code 230080001), Solidaridad municipality, Quintana Roo. Cross-referenced against the INEGI Panorama Sociodemográfico de Quintana Roo 2020 PDF (directly parsed), which reports the Solidaridad MUNICIPALITY at 333,800 — the great majority of whom live in the Playa del Carmen locality.
- Notas
- Locality (city-proper) basis, not municipality. No newer official count exists (next census 2030); Playa del Carmen was among Mexico's fastest-growing localities 2010–2020, so the current population is materially higher than the 2020 figure.
MX · PLAYA-DEL-CARMEN
01
Vista rápida
Las cifras principales de Playa del Carmen, cada una con su fuente y su frescura. Una cifra oficial viva no es lo mismo que una estimación de encuesta ni que una normal climática de 30 años.
8.6/10
02
Alquiler, 1–3 dorm.
$774–$1507
/mes
03
Impuestos del autónomo
2%
Seguridad
0.3/1025,6/100k
Calidad del aire
sin datos verificados
Internet
1.0/1018 Mbps
Inglés
2.0/10Low
Sanidad privada
6.5/10$1800/yr
Qué significan las etiquetasoficial — cifra viva de un gobierno o una autoridaddatos abiertos — conjunto de datos abierto (Eurostat, AEMA, M-Lab, UdSC…)encuesta — estimación de una encuesta o un índicerecopilado — estimación montada por SettleMetric: abre la fuente para ver el método
02
Lo que te cuesta al mes
Una estimación para planificar: alquiler de oferta real más una cesta de coste de vida ajustada a tu hogar. No es un presupuesto en firme.
Hogar
Estilo de vida
Zona
Total estimado
$1554/mes
≈ $18.648 / año
En qué se va
- Alquiler (1 dorm.)$774
- Food & non-alcoholic drinks$300
- Transport$130
- Recreation, culture & education$90
- Restaurants & eating out$80
- Utilities (electricity, gas, water)$70
- Personal care & household goods$45
- Communications (mobile + internet)$40
- Health (out-of-pocket)$25
- Gastos corrientes$780
El alquiler sale de la matriz de alquileres de oferta de abajo. Los gastos corrientes escalan una cesta de una persona ($780/mes) según el tamaño del hogar y el estilo de vida; los factores de equivalencia son un supuesto nuestro. No se incluyen colegios ni gastos únicos de instalación.
03
Coste de vida
Lo que gasta al mes una persona sola —comida, suministros, transporte, comer fuera y lo demás—, sin contar el alquiler.
INEGI — ENIGH 2024 spending shares, scaled to a single-person basket
Recopilado por SettleMetric
- Datos a fecha de
- 31 may 2026
- Verificado
- 4 jul 2026
- Método
- ENIGH 2024 monthly household spending shares (food/bev/tobacco 37.7%, transport & communications 19.5%, education & entertainment 9.6%, housing & services 9.1%, clothing, health etc.), rebased to a single-person no-rent basket and converted at 17.559 MXN/USD. Categories sum to the ≈$780/month cost-of-living aggregate. National average — a rough guide, not a survey of one-person households (INEGI does not headline a single-person series).
01Food & non-alcoholic drinks300 USD
02Transport130 USD
03Recreation, culture & education90 USD
04Restaurants & eating out80 USD
05Utilities (electricity, gas, water)70 USD
06Personal care & household goods45 USD
07Communications (mobile + internet)40 USD
08Health (out-of-pocket)25 USD
Cesta de gasto de un hogar de una persona en Mexico, sin contar el alquiler. Lo que no es alquiler varía poco entre ciudades; la parte propia de cada ciudad es el alquiler, que aparece más abajo en Vivienda.
01Cost of living (single, excl. rent)a nivel de país780USD/month, single person, excluding rent8.6
Qué mide esto
Monthly cost of a defined single-person basket (food, transport, utilities, mobile+internet, modest leisure) excluding rent, curated from national statistics office price data and large local retailers' published prices, converted to USD at the ECB rate recorded in fx-rates. The method field of each value itemizes the basket inputs.
Cuanto más bajo, mejorUSD/month, single person, excluding rentse vuelve a verificar cada 365 días
Recopilado por SettleMetric
INEGI — ENIGH 2024 (gasto corriente monetario), scaled to a single-person basket
- Datos a fecha de
- 31 may 2026
- Verificado
- 4 jul 2026
- Método
- ENIGH 2024 average household monetary current spending was 47,674 MXN/quarter ≈ 15,891 MXN/month across an average 3.4-person household. Removing housing rent, and taking the categories a single person still bears in full (food, utilities, transport, communications, personal care, leisure) at single-person rather than strict per-capita levels, gives ≈ 13,700 MXN/month for one person excluding rent. Converted at 17.559 MXN/USD (ECB EUR 20.0153 / USD 1.1399, 2026-07-02) ≈ $780/month. National average; Mexico City runs higher, smaller cities lower. See cost-breakdown for the itemised basket.
04
Vivienda
Lo que cuesta alquilar, por tipo de vivienda y zona.
Inmuebles24 / Lamudi — Playa del Carmen average asking rent by bedroom count
Recopilado por SettleMetric
- Datos a fecha de
- 28 feb 2026
- Verificado
- 4 jul 2026
- Método
- City-wide average asking rent by room count from Inmuebles24/Lamudi (2026): studio ≈ 12,000 MXN (midpoint of the ~11,000–14,000 MXN cluster), 1BR ≈ 16,000 MXN, 2BR ≈ 22,000 MXN, 3BR ≈ 23,000 MXN. Converted at 17.559 MXN/USD → studio $683, 1BR $911, 2BR $1,253, 3BR $1,310. Center vs outside cells are DERIVED by applying a ±15% split (center ×1.15, outside ×0.85) to each room-average, because the portals publish rent by bedroom count and by neighbourhood but not the two crossed at once.
- Notas
- Central/outside cells are DERIVED (city room-average × ±15% location multiplier), NOT directly observed — no source publishes rent by room count AND by center/outside simultaneously. The room-count city averages are directly observed from listing portals; the ±15% premium is a conservative, flagged assumption for this resort market where the beach/5ta Avenida/Playacar core is materially pricier than outer colonias. Asking prices, not signed leases.
| Vivienda | Centro | Fuera del centro |
|---|---|---|
| Estudio | 786 USD/mes | 581 USD/mes |
| 1 dormitorio | 1048 USD/mes | 774 USD/mes |
| 2 dormitorios | 1441 USD/mes | 1065 USD/mes |
| 3 dormitorios | 1507 USD/mes | 1113 USD/mes |
05
Clima
Temperatura y lluvia a lo largo del año, más la calidad del aire.
CONAGUA/SMN — Normal Climatológica 1991–2020, estación 23155 Cancún (Benito Juárez, Quintana Roo)
Fuente oficial
- Datos a fecha de
- 31 dic 2020
- Verificado
- 4 jul 2026
- Método
- NEARBY-STATION PROXY. Playa del Carmen (station 23163) has no published 1991–2020 normal, and the NOAA/WMO 1991–2020 global normals (NCEI accession 0253808) Mexico submission contains no Quintana Roo / Caribbean-coast station at all (verified: the Region-4/Mexico/CSV folder holds only Acapulco, Veracruz, Tuxpan, Monterrey, etc. — no Cancún, Cozumel or Chetumal). The nearest station with a full official 1991–2020 normal is Cancún (SMN 23155, lat 21.157, lon -86.820, alt 9 m), ≈55 km NNE along the same low-lying Caribbean coast of Quintana Roo — same warm sub-humid (Aw) climate, sea-breeze regime and June–November rainy season as Playa del Carmen, so it is a sound proxy. Values are the SMN NORMAL CLIMATOLÓGICA 1991–2020 monthly TEMPERATURA MÁXIMA (→tMax), TEMPERATURA MÍNIMA (→tMin) and PRECIPITACIÓN (→precipMm), file emitted 2026-06-26, already in °C and mm (no unit conversion needed).
- Notas
- Proxy from Cancún airport-area station 23155 (~55 km away), not Playa del Carmen itself — the city has no long-record WMO/SMN 1991–2020 normal of its own. Annual normals of the source station: mean max 32.3 °C, mean min 23.0 °C, precipitation 1371.3 mm — consistent with the municipal 'Medio Físico' characterisation of Playa del Carmen (cálido subhúmedo, ≈26 °C annual mean, 1,300–1,500 mm/yr). Treat as coastal-Quintana-Roo climate, accurate to a fraction of a degree but not micro-local.
Temperatura media de día y de noche (líneas, eje izquierdo) y lluvia total (barras, eje derecho) por mes, con normales de 1991–2020. Pasa el cursor por un mes para ver las cifras exactas.
| ene | feb | mar | abr | may | jun | jul | ago | sept | oct | nov | dic | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Máxima diurna °C | 28.7° | 30.1° | 31.5° | 33.1° | 34.2° | 34.0° | 34.8° | 35.1° | 34.2° | 32.2° | 30.3° | 29.4° |
| Mínima nocturna °C | 20.0° | 20.6° | 21.4° | 22.9° | 24.2° | 24.9° | 25.0° | 25.0° | 24.6° | 23.7° | 22.3° | 21.0° |
| Lluvia mm | 104 | 59 | 39 | 42 | 87 | 184 | 67 | 102 | 182 | 277 | 131 | 97 |
01Climate comfort0pleasant months/year0.0
Qué mide esto
Number of months whose 1991–2020 climate normals satisfy: mean daily maximum between 15°C and 28°C and monthly precipitation under 150mm. Computed from the city's climate-normals indicator; the raw normals are stored alongside so users can judge by their own taste.
Cuanto más alto, mejorpleasant months/yearse vuelve a verificar cada 3650 días
Recopilado por SettleMetric
SettleMetric computation over climate-normals (CONAGUA/SMN 1991–2020, station 23155 Cancún proxy)
- Datos a fecha de
- 31 dic 2020
- Verificado
- 4 jul 2026
- Método
- Months with mean daily max 15–28 °C AND precipitation < 150 mm, computed over the climate-normals object (nearby-station proxy, Cancún 23155). Count = 0: every month's normal daily maximum exceeds the 28 °C comfort ceiling — the coolest month, January, already peaks at 28.7 °C, and the hottest, August, at 35.1 °C. The precipitation test is irrelevant here because no month passes the temperature test.
- Notas
- Honest computed value of 0 for this hot tropical station: this criterion rewards mild-summer temperate climates (daytime highs 15–28 °C), which a Caribbean-coast city never meets — daytime highs sit at 29–35 °C all year. It does NOT mean the weather is unpleasant by beach/tropical standards; it means zero months fall inside the 15–28 °C 'pleasant' band the criterion defines. Scores 0 on the climate-comfort anchors (0 months → 0).
02Air quality (PM2.5)sin datos verificados—
Qué mide esto
Annual mean fine-particulate (PM2.5) concentration for the city, latest available year. Anchors follow the WHO 2021 guideline (5 µg/m³ → 10) through the EU limit value territory (25 µg/m³ → 2). Preferred source: European Environment Agency city-level air quality data; outside Europe: WHO Ambient Air Quality Database or the national monitoring network.
Cuanto más bajo, mejorµg/m³, annual mean PM2.5se vuelve a verificar cada 730 días
No official annual-mean PM2.5 exists for Playa del Carmen. Per INECC/SEMARNAT, Quintana Roo is one of only two Mexican states with NO official air-quality monitoring system (SMCA) reporting to the national network SINAICA, so there is no government station or published annual mean for the city. The state environment ministry (SEMA) runs some low-cost PurpleAir PM sensors in Chetumal and Bacalar (not Playa del Carmen), and consumer aggregators (e.g. IQAir) show only real-time readings from private/low-cost sensors (a spot value of ≈7 µg/m³ was observed on 2026-07-03), which are not an official annual mean on a defensible methodology. Coastal setting with strong sea breezes and little heavy industry means ambient PM2.5 is generally low, but no citable annual figure is recorded. Null pending an official annual mean (WHO Ambient Air Quality Database currently lists no Playa del Carmen / Quintana Roo station either).
06
Seguridad
Cómo de segura es la vida diaria, según estadísticas oficiales de criminalidad.
01Homicide ratea nivel de país25,6intentional homicides per 100,000/year0.3
Qué mide esto
Intentional homicide victims per 100,000 population, latest available year. Country level: UNODC national series. City level: official municipal/police statistics where published; otherwise null (country value shown as country-level).
Cuanto más bajo, mejorintentional homicides per 100,000/yearse vuelve a verificar cada 730 días
Fuente oficial
INEGI — Defunciones por homicidio 2024 (Reporte de resultados, 1-ago-2025)
- Datos a fecha de
- 31 dic 2024
- Verificado
- 4 jul 2026
- Notas
- 33,241 homicide deaths registered in 2024, rate 25.6 per 100,000 (up from 24.9 in 2023). Highly uneven by state: Colima 123, Morelos 77, Baja California 65 at the top; Yucatán 3, Coahuila 4, Mexico City ~10 at the low end. The national figure masks large regional variation relevant to city choice.
Recopilado por SettleMetric
- Datos a fecha de
- 31 dic 2024
- Verificado
- 12 jul 2026
- Método
- SESNSP recorded-offence counts (carpetas de investigación) for 2024 divided by the CONAPO mid-2024 population (132,274,416), times 100,000. Robo is split by violence into theft (sin violencia) and robbery (con violencia).
- Notas
- From SESNSP's incidencia delictiva del fuero común (investigation files, carpetas) for 2024. Robo is split by violence: theft = robo sin violencia, robbery = robo con violencia (burglary / casa habitación, about 34/100k, sits within these and is not added separately). Serious assault = lesiones dolosas (all intentional injury); drug offences = narcomenudeo (state jurisdiction only — federal trafficking is excluded); sexual violence = the whole 'libertad y seguridad sexual' offence group. Mexico's unreported share is very high (INEGI's ENVIPE estimates about 92% of crimes go unrecorded), so these levels understate real incidence — the composition is more informative than the absolute rates. Intentional homicide (about 22.7 victims/100k, SESNSP 2024) is the scored safety headline shown separately.
01Theft276por 100 000
02Robbery132por 100 000
03Serious assault124por 100 000
04Drug offences69,8por 100 000
05Sexual violence63,4por 100 000
From SESNSP's incidencia delictiva del fuero común (investigation files, carpetas) for 2024. Robo is split by violence: theft = robo sin violencia, robbery = robo con violencia (burglary / casa habitación, about 34/100k, sits within these and is not added separately). Serious assault = lesiones dolosas (all intentional injury); drug offences = narcomenudeo (state jurisdiction only — federal trafficking is excluded); sexual violence = the whole 'libertad y seguridad sexual' offence group. Mexico's unreported share is very high (INEGI's ENVIPE estimates about 92% of crimes go unrecorded), so these levels understate real incidence — the composition is more informative than the absolute rates. Intentional homicide (about 22.7 victims/100k, SESNSP 2024) is the scored safety headline shown separately.
07
Infraestructura
Velocidad de internet y cómo llegan los paquetes a tu puerta.
01Domestic delivery qualitya nivel de paísGood7.0
Qué mide esto
Quality of in-country parcel delivery. excellent = nationwide next-day widely available, dense parcel-locker network, real-time tracking standard; good = 1–3 day delivery, lockers in major cities; basic = reliable but slow (3–7 days), mostly to-door or post-office pickup; poor = unreliable delivery, street addresses often unusable, informal workarounds common. Classified from official service/coverage data of the national postal operator and the two largest private carriers; inputs itemized in each value's method field.
Valorado por categoría—se vuelve a verificar cada 730 días
Recopilado por SettleMetric
Estafeta / FedEx México / Correos de México (MexPost) official service pages (composite)
- Datos a fecha de
- 4 jul 2026
- Verificado
- 4 jul 2026
- Método
- Classified from carrier service/coverage pages: FedEx México, DHL, Estafeta and Redpack offer next-day delivery in major cities with standard real-time tracking; Correos de México/MexPost and Estafeta reach rural areas but 'zonas extendidas' incur reexpedición surcharges and slower delivery; OXXO/convenience-store pickup is widespread. Landed on 'good' (not 'excellent') because coverage is dense in metros but slower and pricier in the rural long tail, and there is no nationwide parcel-locker network on the European scale.
- Notas
- Next-day in major cities; slower and surcharged in hard-to-reach zones.
02International delivery easea nivel de paísSignificant friction4.0
Qué mide esto
Ease of receiving goods from abroad. seamless = major international carriers deliver door-to-door, meaningful duty-free de-minimis threshold, customs clearance predictable in days; minor-friction = carriers present but low de-minimis, extra paperwork or routine delays; significant-friction = frequent customs holds, high brokerage fees, some marketplaces refuse to ship; unreliable = parcels regularly lost or blocked, informal import channels dominate. De-minimis thresholds and clearance rules from the national customs authority (official source, cite the regulation); carrier presence from carriers' official pages.
Valorado por categoría—se vuelve a verificar cada 365 días
Fuente oficial
US Dept. of Commerce (trade.gov) — Mexico Customs Regulations (de minimis) & SAT RFC courier rule
- Datos a fecha de
- 15 oct 2024
- Verificado
- 4 jul 2026
- Notas
- Major carriers (DHL, FedEx, UPS) deliver door-to-door, but import friction is real: de minimis is only USD $50 (duty- and VAT-free); USMCA-origin goods $50.01–$117 are duty-free but still bear 16% VAT; above $117 both duties and VAT apply. Since 2024-10-15 couriers require the consignee's RFC (Mexican tax ID) to use the simplified clearance procedure, and 2026 rules tightened low-value/textile imports. Customs holds and brokerage fees are common, so cross-border receiving is workable but bureaucratic.
03Internet speeda nivel de país18,2Mbps, median fixed download1.0
Qué mide esto
Median fixed-broadband download speed over the trailing 6 months from M-Lab NDT open data (CC0), aggregated at country or city level. Not comparable with Ookla figures (different test methodology) — do not mix sources within this criterion.
Cuanto más alto, mejorMbps, median fixed downloadse vuelve a verificar cada 365 días
Datos abiertos
M-Lab NDT country aggregates for Mexico
- Datos a fecha de
- 31 dic 2023
- Verificado
- 4 jul 2026
- Método
- Median of the daily country median download values (download_MED) from M-Lab's public NDT statistics for Mexico, 2023 (the latest full year in M-Lab's published stats API; 2024+ files not yet available). Daily medians cluster tightly around 18 Mbps over hundreds of thousands of tests.
- Notas
- M-Lab NDT is a single-stream test and reads well below Ookla-style marketing figures (Mexican fixed connections commonly sell 50–200 Mbps) — comparable only within this criterion. Fixed broadband quality varies widely: fibre is strong in Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey, weaker in smaller towns.
08
Sanidad
Lo que cuesta un seguro médico privado completo.
01Private healthcare costa nivel de país1800USD/year, comprehensive private insurance premium, healthy 35-year-old6.5
Qué mide esto
Median of at least three publicly quoted annual premiums for comprehensive private medical insurance (outpatient + inpatient, ~$100k coverage, small deductible) for a healthy 35-year-old resident foreigner, from local and international insurers. Method field lists the insurers quoted.
Cuanto más bajo, mejorUSD/year, comprehensive private insurance premium, healthy 35-year-oldse vuelve a verificar cada 365 días
Recopilado por SettleMetric
- Datos a fecha de
- 4 jul 2026
- Verificado
- 4 jul 2026
- Método
- Comprehensive 'gastos médicos mayores' plans (major-medical: hospitalisation, surgery, plus outpatient riders) from GNP, AXA México, Allianz and Mapfre run roughly $120–190 USD/month for a healthy adult under 35 → ≈$1,440–$2,280/year. Midpoint ≈ $1,800/year. Premiums are quoted individually (age, deductible, hospital network), so this is a curated market midpoint, not a public engine quote. Mexican medical inflation is high (est. ~15% for 2026), pushing premiums up 20–40% year on year.
- Notas
- Comprehensive (with-inpatient) basis per the data-quality lesson. Residents also have free access to public IMSS-Bienestar/IMSS care, but private cover is the norm for expats/freelancers who want private-hospital access. Deductibles and coinsurance apply on top of the premium.
09
Dinero y cripto
Normas sobre cripto y con qué libertad se mueve el dinero personal.
01Crypto regulationa nivel de paísRestricted4.0
Qué mide esto
Own classification of the legal status of holding, trading and cashing out cryptocurrency for individuals: legal-friendly (legal with clear, favourable rules or explicit tax exemptions), legal-regulated (legal under standard licensing/AML and taxation), restricted (partial bans: payments or banking access prohibited), banned (holding/trading prohibited). Classified from national regulators' and central banks' official positions.
Valorado por categoría—se vuelve a verificar cada 180 días
Fuente oficial
Banco de México — Circular 4/2019 (Disposiciones aplicables a operaciones con activos virtuales)
- Datos a fecha de
- 8 mar 2019
- Verificado
- 4 jul 2026
- Notas
- Holding and trading crypto is legal for individuals and gains are taxed under ISR as enajenación de bienes. But virtual assets are not legal tender, and Banxico Circular 4/2019 bars banks and regulated fintechs from offering crypto services (custody, exchange, transmission) to the public; no institution has been authorised. Individuals buy/sell through unregulated exchanges that cannot hold client fiat. Classified 'restricted' because banking-channel access to crypto is prohibited, not merely regulated.
02Financial control levela nivel de paísModerate7.0
Qué mide esto
Own composite of state control over personal money flows: currency/capital controls (IMF AREAER), restrictions on foreign accounts and transfers, mandatory income declaration scope for residents, cash payment limits, banking access for foreigners. Low = free movement of personal funds and easy non-resident banking; very-high = strict capital controls and pervasive reporting. Method field on each value lists the inputs used.
Valorado por categoría—se vuelve a verificar cada 365 días
Recopilado por SettleMetric
SAT — declaración anual / obligations, and Banco de México FX regime (composite)
- Datos a fecha de
- 4 jul 2026
- Verificado
- 4 jul 2026
- Método
- Composite: the peso floats freely and is fully convertible with no capital or currency controls (IMF AREAER classifies MXN as free-floating); non-residents can open Mexican bank accounts (requires RFC/CURP and proof of address, more friction than the EU). No FBAR-style personal foreign-account disclosure regime, though CRS applies via banks and Mexico joined the crypto CARF reporting from 2026. Cash caps: purchases in cash above ~$100,000–500,000 MXN trigger anti-money-laundering reporting by the counterparty (Ley Antilavado), and cash payments above certain limits are non-deductible. Rated 'moderate' rather than 'low' because of RFC-gated banking, mandatory e-invoicing (CFDI) capturing most income, and AML cash-reporting thresholds.
10
Idioma
Hasta dónde llega el inglés en la vida diaria y en los trámites.
01English proficiencya nivel de paísLow2.0
Qué mide esto
Own banding of how far English gets a resident in daily life (government offices, healthcare, housing, services). Informed by EF EPI band (research source, cited with attribution, not republished) plus official language status and service-sector realities. Values are our bands, not EF scores.
Valorado por categoría—se vuelve a verificar cada 730 días
Estudio
EF EPI 2025 — Mexico (score 440, rank 103/123, Low band)
- Datos a fecha de
- 1 nov 2025
- Verificado
- 4 jul 2026
- Notas
- Own band informed by EF EPI 2025 (attribution: EF Education First): Mexico scores 440 and ranks 103rd, in EF's 'Low' band. English is workable in tourist zones, international business, and among younger urban professionals, but government offices, healthcare, and everyday services are conducted in Spanish; functional Spanish is effectively required for daily life.
11
Educación
Opciones de colegios internacionales para familias.
01International schools1accredited international schools, count2.0
Qué mide esto
Count of international schools in the metro area accredited by or member of IB, CIS, COBIS, or an equivalent national-curriculum-abroad body (verified against the accreditor's public registry, not aggregator sites).
Cuanto más alto, mejoraccredited international schools, countse vuelve a verificar cada 730 días
Recopilado por SettleMetric
- Datos a fecha de
- 4 jul 2026
- Verificado
- 4 jul 2026
- Método
- Count of schools in the Playa del Carmen metro accreditor-verified against the required bodies (IB / Cambridge / AEFE / German Auslandsschulwesen / US-College Board / CIS / COBIS). Verified as qualifying: Britt Academy, Playa del Carmen — part of Orbital Education (a COBIS- and CIS-accredited group), offering the Cambridge programme with Cambridge certifications at Grades 6/9/12, confirmed on the school's own and Orbital Education's official pages. Count = 1.
- Notas
- Recorded as a verified FLOOR, not a ceiling. The IB registry (ibo.org / find-an-ib-school) could not be queried during this pass (server returned 403 to automated fetches), so IB claims for other local schools could NOT be confirmed against the accreditor and are therefore excluded per the data-quality rule (verify against the accreditor, never count aggregator claims): (a) 'International School of Playa del Carmen' (ISPDC) describes itself as only 'in process' of IB certification = candidate, not authorised → not counted; (b) real-estate/expat aggregators claim IB at a 'British International School' (Playacar), Instituto Tepeyac and Colegio Inglés, none verifiable against the IB registry here → not counted; (c) Colegio Británico is an IB World School (ibo.org/school/049129) but is in CANCÚN (~65 km), outside the Playa del Carmen metro → not counted. Manual review should re-run the IB finder for Solidaridad/Playa del Carmen to confirm any authorised IB schools and raise this count accordingly.
12
Demografía
Quién más vive aquí: el porcentaje de residentes extranjeros y las mayores comunidades nacionales, según estadísticas oficiales.
Openness to foreignersa nivel de paísModeradaGallup MAI 4,75/9 · 2016
Qué mide esto
How accepting the resident population is of migrants and foreigners — the inverse of xenophobia, a real concern for someone relocating. Our own five-band reading (very-open / open / moderate / reserved / low) informed primarily by the Gallup Migrant Acceptance Index (0–9 scale: three questions on migrants living in the country, becoming neighbours, and marrying into the family; 2019 wave), cross-checked where available with the World Values Survey wave 7 / European Values Study 2017 question on whether people would not want immigrants or foreign workers as neighbours (a higher share = more hostile). Banding guide against the Gallup 0–9 score: ≥7.0 very-open, 5.5–7.0 open, 4.0–5.5 moderate, 2.5–4.0 reserved, below 2.5 low (the 2019 global average of 5.21 sits in 'moderate'). Country level only: no credible city-level survey of attitudes to foreigners exists, so on city pages the country reading is shown as country context. Gallup is a research source cited with attribution, not republished in bulk; the raw index score/year and any cross-check figure are carried inside each value. Value shape: { band, gallupMai?, gallupYear?, unwantedNeighborPct?, unwantedNeighborSource? }. Display-only: attitudinal, survey-based and ~2019 vintage, so it is shown as honest context and never folded into the composite score.
Datos de referencia—se vuelve a verificar cada 1825 días
Estudio
- Datos a fecha de
- 23 ago 2017
- Verificado
- 15 jul 2026
- Notas
- Gallup MAI 4.75/9 (2016/2017 wave) — near the global average, moderate band; no exact 2019 per-country figure was published. Band: moderate.
INEGI — Censo de Población y Vivienda 2020 (población nacida en otro país)
Fuente oficial
- Datos a fecha de
- 15 mar 2020
- Verificado
- 4 jul 2026
- Notas
- 1,212,252 residents were born abroad in the 2020 census = 0.96% of the 126M population. Basis is BIRTHPLACE, not citizenship: Mexico's census records country of birth, and 48.8% of the foreign-born actually hold Mexican nationality (largely US-born children of returning Mexican migrants), so the true foreign-national share is lower. No newer national figure is published (next census 2030); post-2020 growth in Venezuelan, Haitian and US remote-worker arrivals is not captured here.
Mayores comunidades de los nacidos en el extranjero1.212.252 total
INEGI Censo 2020 / CONAPO — población nacida en el extranjero por país de nacimiento
Fuente oficial
- Datos a fecha de
- 15 mar 2020
- Verificado
- 4 jul 2026
- Notas
- Basis is country of BIRTH, not citizenship. The United States dominates (797,266; ~66% of foreign-born) — many are minor children of Mexican return migrants who also hold Mexican nationality, so this overstates the resident US-national community. totalForeign = 1,212,252 (full census). Counts for the US, Guatemala and Venezuela are from the INEGI/CONAPO release directly; the remaining countries (Colombia, Honduras, Cuba, Spain, El Salvador, Argentina) are the next-ranked countries of birth from the 2020 census tabulations as compiled from INEGI census data (cross-checked, secondary compilation). Shares = count ÷ total.
01United States65,8%797.266
02Guatemala4,7%56.810
03Venezuela4,4%52.948
04Colombia3%36.234
05Honduras2,9%35.361
06Cuba2,1%25.976
07Spain1,7%20.763
08El Salvador1,6%19.736
09Argentina1,5%18.693
Basis is country of BIRTH, not citizenship. The United States dominates (797,266; ~66% of foreign-born) — many are minor children of Mexican return migrants who also hold Mexican nationality, so this overstates the resident US-national community. totalForeign = 1,212,252 (full census). Counts for the US, Guatemala and Venezuela are from the INEGI/CONAPO release directly; the remaining countries (Colombia, Honduras, Cuba, Spain, El Salvador, Argentina) are the next-ranked countries of birth from the 2020 census tabulations as compiled from INEGI census data (cross-checked, secondary compilation). Shares = count ÷ total.
13
Cómo puedes quedarte
Cómo puedes entrar y quedarte legalmente. Se aplican en todo Mexico.
Todos los requisitos y filtro por nacionalidad- 01Temporary Resident visa by economic solvencyResidencia temporalTodas las nacionalidadesingresos ≥ 79.771 MXN/monthApply at a Mexican consulate abroad (cannot be initiated inside Mexico); proof of economic solvency by foreign income OR savings1 año +→ vía a la residencia permanente
- 02Visitor without permission for paid activities (FMM, up to 180 days)Estancia sin visadoTodas las nacionalidadesNationals of visa-exempt countries (incl. EU, US, UK, Canada, most of Latin America) enter on a Forma Migratoria Múltiple; other nationalities need a visitor visa or a valid US/UK/EU/Canada/Japan visa or residence6 meses
- 03Temporary Resident by job offer (employer-sponsored)Residencia temporalTodas las nacionalidadesA Mexican employer files a job-offer petition (oferta de empleo) with the INM and obtains an authorised NUT before the applicant attends the consulate1 año +→ vía a la residencia permanente
- 04Permanent Resident by economic solvency (retiree/pensioner)Residencia temporalTodas las nacionalidadesingresos ≥ 133.733 MXN/monthApply at a Mexican consulate abroad on grounds of pension/retirement income or high savings; grants permanent residence directly (indefinite, no renewal)10 años→ vía a la residencia permanente
14
Lo que pagarías en impuestos
Los regímenes fiscales entre los que puede elegir un autónomo. Las normas son nacionales: las mismas en todo Mexico.
Regímenes completos y calculadora- 01RESICO — Régimen Simplificado de Confianza (personas físicas)2% of revenue2.0%de carga con 60 000 €
- 02Actividades empresariales y profesionales (honorarios) — progressive ISRprogressive on profit: 2% up to 10,135, 6% up to 86,022, 11% up to 151,176, 16% up to 175,736, 18% up to 210,404, 21% up to 424,354, 24% up to 668,840, 30% up to 1,276,926, 32% up to 1,702,568, 34% up to 5,107,704, 35% above23.7%de carga con 60 000 €
Mira cuánto te quedaría
Tus ingresos frente a los regímenes fiscales reales de Mexico, con el mismo motor que la calculadora completa.
- 1 RESICO — Régimen Simplificado de Confianza (personas físicas)58.800 EURneto/año2.0 % de carga
- 2 Actividades empresariales y profesionales (honorarios) — progressive ISR45.755 EURneto/año23.7 % de carga
15
¿Para quién es Playa del Carmen?
El mismo lugar se lee distinto según por qué te mudes. Cada perspectiva reúne los datos que más importan para ese plan, con sus fuentes y las contrapartidas dichas sin rodeos.
Contrato o trabajo por cuenta propia en tecnología, facturando a clientes de fuera.
Juega a tu favor
Freelancer tax burden2%
SettleMetric tax engine over official 2026 rules (Art. 113-E LISR, SAT)
Recopilado por SettleMetric
- Datos a fecha de
- 1 ene 2026
- Verificado
- 4 jul 2026
- Método
- Best eligible scheme mx-resico at €60,000 = 1,200,918 MXN (ECB 20.0153 MXN/EUR, 2026-07-02). RESICO annual income in the $1M–$2.5M band → 2.0% of gross with no deductions → ISR 24,018.36 MXN, and no mandatory social contributions (IMSS is voluntary in Mexico). Total burden 24,018.36 / 1,200,918 = 2.0%. The general professional-activity regime would tax the same profile at roughly 20.7% (see mx-actividad-profesional), so RESICO is decisively better for a low-cost freelancer.
Cost of living (single, excl. rent)$780/mo
INEGI — ENIGH 2024 (gasto corriente monetario), scaled to a single-person basket
Recopilado por SettleMetric
- Datos a fecha de
- 31 may 2026
- Verificado
- 4 jul 2026
- Método
- ENIGH 2024 average household monetary current spending was 47,674 MXN/quarter ≈ 15,891 MXN/month across an average 3.4-person household. Removing housing rent, and taking the categories a single person still bears in full (food, utilities, transport, communications, personal care, leisure) at single-person rather than strict per-capita levels, gives ≈ 13,700 MXN/month for one person excluding rent. Converted at 17.559 MXN/USD (ECB EUR 20.0153 / USD 1.1399, 2026-07-02) ≈ $780/month. National average; Mexico City runs higher, smaller cities lower. See cost-breakdown for the itemised basket.
Domestic delivery qualityGood
Estafeta / FedEx México / Correos de México (MexPost) official service pages (composite)
Recopilado por SettleMetric
- Datos a fecha de
- 4 jul 2026
- Verificado
- 4 jul 2026
- Método
- Classified from carrier service/coverage pages: FedEx México, DHL, Estafeta and Redpack offer next-day delivery in major cities with standard real-time tracking; Correos de México/MexPost and Estafeta reach rural areas but 'zonas extendidas' incur reexpedición surcharges and slower delivery; OXXO/convenience-store pickup is widespread. Landed on 'good' (not 'excellent') because coverage is dense in metros but slower and pricier in the rural long tail, and there is no nationwide parcel-locker network on the European scale.
- Notas
- Next-day in major cities; slower and surcharged in hard-to-reach zones.
A lo que estar atento
Internet speed18 Mbps
M-Lab NDT country aggregates for Mexico
Datos abiertos
- Datos a fecha de
- 31 dic 2023
- Verificado
- 4 jul 2026
- Método
- Median of the daily country median download values (download_MED) from M-Lab's public NDT statistics for Mexico, 2023 (the latest full year in M-Lab's published stats API; 2024+ files not yet available). Daily medians cluster tightly around 18 Mbps over hundreds of thousands of tests.
- Notas
- M-Lab NDT is a single-stream test and reads well below Ookla-style marketing figures (Mexican fixed connections commonly sell 50–200 Mbps) — comparable only within this criterion. Fixed broadband quality varies widely: fibre is strong in Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey, weaker in smaller towns.
English proficiencyLow
EF EPI 2025 — Mexico (score 440, rank 103/123, Low band)
Estudio
- Datos a fecha de
- 1 nov 2025
- Verificado
- 4 jul 2026
- Notas
- Own band informed by EF EPI 2025 (attribution: EF Education First): Mexico scores 440 and ranks 103rd, in EF's 'Low' band. English is workable in tourist zones, international business, and among younger urban professionals, but government offices, healthcare, and everyday services are conducted in Spanish; functional Spanish is effectively required for daily life.
Mudarse con pareja e hijos en edad escolar.
Juega a tu favor
Private healthcare cost$1800/yr
Recopilado por SettleMetric
- Datos a fecha de
- 4 jul 2026
- Verificado
- 4 jul 2026
- Método
- Comprehensive 'gastos médicos mayores' plans (major-medical: hospitalisation, surgery, plus outpatient riders) from GNP, AXA México, Allianz and Mapfre run roughly $120–190 USD/month for a healthy adult under 35 → ≈$1,440–$2,280/year. Midpoint ≈ $1,800/year. Premiums are quoted individually (age, deductible, hospital network), so this is a curated market midpoint, not a public engine quote. Mexican medical inflation is high (est. ~15% for 2026), pushing premiums up 20–40% year on year.
- Notas
- Comprehensive (with-inpatient) basis per the data-quality lesson. Residents also have free access to public IMSS-Bienestar/IMSS care, but private cover is the norm for expats/freelancers who want private-hospital access. Deductibles and coinsurance apply on top of the premium.
A lo que estar atento
International schools1
Recopilado por SettleMetric
- Datos a fecha de
- 4 jul 2026
- Verificado
- 4 jul 2026
- Método
- Count of schools in the Playa del Carmen metro accreditor-verified against the required bodies (IB / Cambridge / AEFE / German Auslandsschulwesen / US-College Board / CIS / COBIS). Verified as qualifying: Britt Academy, Playa del Carmen — part of Orbital Education (a COBIS- and CIS-accredited group), offering the Cambridge programme with Cambridge certifications at Grades 6/9/12, confirmed on the school's own and Orbital Education's official pages. Count = 1.
- Notas
- Recorded as a verified FLOOR, not a ceiling. The IB registry (ibo.org / find-an-ib-school) could not be queried during this pass (server returned 403 to automated fetches), so IB claims for other local schools could NOT be confirmed against the accreditor and are therefore excluded per the data-quality rule (verify against the accreditor, never count aggregator claims): (a) 'International School of Playa del Carmen' (ISPDC) describes itself as only 'in process' of IB certification = candidate, not authorised → not counted; (b) real-estate/expat aggregators claim IB at a 'British International School' (Playacar), Instituto Tepeyac and Colegio Inglés, none verifiable against the IB registry here → not counted; (c) Colegio Británico is an IB World School (ibo.org/school/049129) but is in CANCÚN (~65 km), outside the Playa del Carmen metro → not counted. Manual review should re-run the IB finder for Solidaridad/Playa del Carmen to confirm any authorised IB schools and raise this count accordingly.
Homicide rate25,6/100k
INEGI — Defunciones por homicidio 2024 (Reporte de resultados, 1-ago-2025)
Fuente oficial
- Datos a fecha de
- 31 dic 2024
- Verificado
- 4 jul 2026
- Notas
- 33,241 homicide deaths registered in 2024, rate 25.6 per 100,000 (up from 24.9 in 2023). Highly uneven by state: Colima 123, Morelos 77, Baja California 65 at the top; Yucatán 3, Coahuila 4, Mexico City ~10 at the low end. The national figure masks large regional variation relevant to city choice.
Air quality (PM2.5)sin datos verificados
INECC / SEMARNAT — Sistemas de Monitoreo de la Calidad del Aire (SMCA) por estado; SINAICA
Fuente oficial
- Datos a fecha de
- 4 jul 2026
- Verificado
- 4 jul 2026
- Notas
- No official annual-mean PM2.5 exists for Playa del Carmen. Per INECC/SEMARNAT, Quintana Roo is one of only two Mexican states with NO official air-quality monitoring system (SMCA) reporting to the national network SINAICA, so there is no government station or published annual mean for the city. The state environment ministry (SEMA) runs some low-cost PurpleAir PM sensors in Chetumal and Bacalar (not Playa del Carmen), and consumer aggregators (e.g. IQAir) show only real-time readings from private/low-cost sensors (a spot value of ≈7 µg/m³ was observed on 2026-07-03), which are not an official annual mean on a defensible methodology. Coastal setting with strong sea breezes and little heavy industry means ambient PM2.5 is generally low, but no citable annual figure is recorded. Null pending an official annual mean (WHO Ambient Air Quality Database currently lists no Playa del Carmen / Quintana Roo station either).
Optimizar impuestos, banca y normas sobre cripto.
Juega a tu favor
Financial control levelModerate
SAT — declaración anual / obligations, and Banco de México FX regime (composite)
Recopilado por SettleMetric
- Datos a fecha de
- 4 jul 2026
- Verificado
- 4 jul 2026
- Método
- Composite: the peso floats freely and is fully convertible with no capital or currency controls (IMF AREAER classifies MXN as free-floating); non-residents can open Mexican bank accounts (requires RFC/CURP and proof of address, more friction than the EU). No FBAR-style personal foreign-account disclosure regime, though CRS applies via banks and Mexico joined the crypto CARF reporting from 2026. Cash caps: purchases in cash above ~$100,000–500,000 MXN trigger anti-money-laundering reporting by the counterparty (Ley Antilavado), and cash payments above certain limits are non-deductible. Rated 'moderate' rather than 'low' because of RFC-gated banking, mandatory e-invoicing (CFDI) capturing most income, and AML cash-reporting thresholds.
Freelancer tax burden2%
SettleMetric tax engine over official 2026 rules (Art. 113-E LISR, SAT)
Recopilado por SettleMetric
- Datos a fecha de
- 1 ene 2026
- Verificado
- 4 jul 2026
- Método
- Best eligible scheme mx-resico at €60,000 = 1,200,918 MXN (ECB 20.0153 MXN/EUR, 2026-07-02). RESICO annual income in the $1M–$2.5M band → 2.0% of gross with no deductions → ISR 24,018.36 MXN, and no mandatory social contributions (IMSS is voluntary in Mexico). Total burden 24,018.36 / 1,200,918 = 2.0%. The general professional-activity regime would tax the same profile at roughly 20.7% (see mx-actividad-profesional), so RESICO is decisively better for a low-cost freelancer.
A lo que estar atento
Crypto regulationRestricted
Banco de México — Circular 4/2019 (Disposiciones aplicables a operaciones con activos virtuales)
Fuente oficial
- Datos a fecha de
- 8 mar 2019
- Verificado
- 4 jul 2026
- Notas
- Holding and trading crypto is legal for individuals and gains are taxed under ISR as enajenación de bienes. But virtual assets are not legal tender, and Banxico Circular 4/2019 bars banks and regulated fintechs from offering crypto services (custody, exchange, transmission) to the public; no institution has been authorised. Individuals buy/sell through unregulated exchanges that cannot hold client fiat. Classified 'restricted' because banking-channel access to crypto is prohibited, not merely regulated.
Priorizar la seguridad, el aire y una vida diaria sencilla.
Juega a tu favor
Cost of living (single, excl. rent)$780/mo
INEGI — ENIGH 2024 (gasto corriente monetario), scaled to a single-person basket
Recopilado por SettleMetric
- Datos a fecha de
- 31 may 2026
- Verificado
- 4 jul 2026
- Método
- ENIGH 2024 average household monetary current spending was 47,674 MXN/quarter ≈ 15,891 MXN/month across an average 3.4-person household. Removing housing rent, and taking the categories a single person still bears in full (food, utilities, transport, communications, personal care, leisure) at single-person rather than strict per-capita levels, gives ≈ 13,700 MXN/month for one person excluding rent. Converted at 17.559 MXN/USD (ECB EUR 20.0153 / USD 1.1399, 2026-07-02) ≈ $780/month. National average; Mexico City runs higher, smaller cities lower. See cost-breakdown for the itemised basket.
A lo que estar atento
Homicide rate25,6/100k
INEGI — Defunciones por homicidio 2024 (Reporte de resultados, 1-ago-2025)
Fuente oficial
- Datos a fecha de
- 31 dic 2024
- Verificado
- 4 jul 2026
- Notas
- 33,241 homicide deaths registered in 2024, rate 25.6 per 100,000 (up from 24.9 in 2023). Highly uneven by state: Colima 123, Morelos 77, Baja California 65 at the top; Yucatán 3, Coahuila 4, Mexico City ~10 at the low end. The national figure masks large regional variation relevant to city choice.
Climate comfort0/12 mo
SettleMetric computation over climate-normals (CONAGUA/SMN 1991–2020, station 23155 Cancún proxy)
Recopilado por SettleMetric
- Datos a fecha de
- 31 dic 2020
- Verificado
- 4 jul 2026
- Método
- Months with mean daily max 15–28 °C AND precipitation < 150 mm, computed over the climate-normals object (nearby-station proxy, Cancún 23155). Count = 0: every month's normal daily maximum exceeds the 28 °C comfort ceiling — the coolest month, January, already peaks at 28.7 °C, and the hottest, August, at 35.1 °C. The precipitation test is irrelevant here because no month passes the temperature test.
- Notas
- Honest computed value of 0 for this hot tropical station: this criterion rewards mild-summer temperate climates (daytime highs 15–28 °C), which a Caribbean-coast city never meets — daytime highs sit at 29–35 °C all year. It does NOT mean the weather is unpleasant by beach/tropical standards; it means zero months fall inside the 15–28 °C 'pleasant' band the criterion defines. Scores 0 on the climate-comfort anchors (0 months → 0).
Air quality (PM2.5)sin datos verificados
INECC / SEMARNAT — Sistemas de Monitoreo de la Calidad del Aire (SMCA) por estado; SINAICA
Fuente oficial
- Datos a fecha de
- 4 jul 2026
- Verificado
- 4 jul 2026
- Notas
- No official annual-mean PM2.5 exists for Playa del Carmen. Per INECC/SEMARNAT, Quintana Roo is one of only two Mexican states with NO official air-quality monitoring system (SMCA) reporting to the national network SINAICA, so there is no government station or published annual mean for the city. The state environment ministry (SEMA) runs some low-cost PurpleAir PM sensors in Chetumal and Bacalar (not Playa del Carmen), and consumer aggregators (e.g. IQAir) show only real-time readings from private/low-cost sensors (a spot value of ≈7 µg/m³ was observed on 2026-07-03), which are not an official annual mean on a defensible methodology. Coastal setting with strong sea breezes and little heavy industry means ambient PM2.5 is generally low, but no citable annual figure is recorded. Null pending an official annual mean (WHO Ambient Air Quality Database currently lists no Playa del Carmen / Quintana Roo station either).
16
Comparar Playa del Carmen
Panorama completo del país:
resumen de Mexico