How Oaxaca and Playa del Carmen compare on cost, visas, working hours, weather, internet and safety. Every figure comes from our city guides and tools, checked and dated there.
Dollars and pounds at today's exchange rate. Download speeds are the typical figure from each guide, which says where it comes from: some are for the city, some for the whole country, so treat a small gap as no gap.
Rent, a coworking desk, a cheap lunch on each of 22 working days, and getting around: the same four costs our budget calculator uses. The rent figures aren't always the same kind of figure (some are furnished one-beds, some are averages across every size of flat), so read the note under each.
$646 to $1,290£485 to £969 a month
$653 to $1,300£490 to £973 a month
Both are in Mexico, so the rules are the same.
Residente Temporal, economic solvency
The catch. Every consulate prints its own figure. Check the sheet for the one you will apply at, and apply before you travel: it cannot be done inside Mexico.
See where your own income stands in every country. Check your income
A 9am to 5pm day in the employer's city, shown in local time, for today's date, so it allows for the clocks changing.
Different hours or another employer city? Use the time-zone planner
The average high in °C each month, coloured by the rule on our best-time page: green is a high of 20 to 32°C with under 150mm of rain; red is a high of 38°C or more or under 12°C, 250mm of rain or more, or 33°C or more with 150mm of rain or more. Hover over a month for its rain.
| City | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oaxaca | 29° | 31° | 33° | 35° | 34° | 31° | 30° | 30° | 29° | 29° | 29° | 29° |
| Playa del Carmen | 28° | 29° | 30° | 31° | 32° | 32° | 33° | 33° | 33° | 31° | 29° | 29° |
Oaxaca: seasons and events · Playa del Carmen: seasons and events
Level 2: increased caution
Level 2: increased caution
The US level is for the whole country, as the State Department sets it, and some countries have stricter advice for particular regions.
From each city guide, word for word.
Someone who wants a walkable, food-first, mid-sized highland city with a dry season, and who will work from a desk in or near Centro and Jalatlaco rather than from a cafe. It suits someone who can live on a Mexican budget: furnished one-beds were listed from MXN 8,500 a month, and coworking starts around MXN 2,400 to 2,500 a month. Come from October to February and you get dry days and cool nights.
Anyone who needs reliable running water, a clear road to the airport or a reliable calendar. The mains supply can stop for weeks: in 2024 parts of Jalatlaco went 40 to 50 days between deliveries. In June 2026 teachers blocked the airport roads and the Pemex fuel plant, and passengers walked several kilometres with their luggage. From June to September it rains on 16 or 17 days a month. If a two-day protest or a dry tap would wreck your client week, go somewhere else.
Someone who wants a walkable beach town a bus ride from Cancun airport, a working coworking scene, and a life without a car: ADO buses, colectivos, the Tren Maya and the Cozumel ferry. It works best from December to March, and for someone earning in dollars or pounds who is happy to live in Colosio or Ejido and walk or ride into Centro. The visa is the same as for the rest of Mexico: a temporary residence permit from a consulate, with a route to permanent residence after four years.
Anyone who wants Mexico without the tourism. Downtown is a resort strip that GOV.UK tells you to be very cautious in after dark, where shootings have affected tourists since 2021 and British travellers have been assaulted, some involving hotel staff, taxi drivers and security staff. From May to July the beach can be brown with sargassum, and the 2026 season was forecast to be heavier than 2025. June to November is the wet season and hurricane season, and October brings 284mm of rain. Centro rents are tourist-priced, and foreigners pay double on the train and at the ruins. If you want culture, cheap rent and Spanish immersion, look at Merida or Oaxaca instead.
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