Abu Dhabi vs Chiang Mai - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Abu Dhabi	Chiang Mai
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2133	$750
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4670	$2026
🏠 One person rent	$1489	$354
🏘️ Family rent	$2612	$613
🍽️ Food expenses	$432	$237
🚐 Transport expenses	$73.8	$78.6
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$2773	$627
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	11 km	3 km
🎓 Higher education	51	56
😀 Quality of life	85	66
🏙️ Population	1.57M	1.2M

The cost of living in Abu Dhabi is 184% more expensive than in Chiang Mai. Cities ranked 1650th and 7014th ($2133 vs $750) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd and 18th in the United Arab Emirates and Thailand, respectively. Check the United Arab Emirates vs Thailand comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.3 months in Abu Dhabi compared to 0.8 months in Chiang Mai. Abu Dhabi ranked 3rd best city to live in the United Arab Emirates vs Chiang Mai ranked 2nd in Thailand, while ranked 424th and 4952nd among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/abu-dhabi/chiang-mai.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Abu Dhabi vs Chiang Mai infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/abu-dhabi/chiang-mai" target="_blank">Abu Dhabi vs Chiang Mai - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Abu Dhabi vs Chiang Mai

Prices for goods and services in Abu Dhabi and Chiang Mai are partly crowdsourced by our visitors, just like yourself. Please consider telling us about your city.

	Abu Dhabi	Chiang Mai
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$8.11	$1.99
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$67.9	$19.7
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.6	$6.87
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$11.9	$2.42
☕ Cappuccino	$5.69	$1.8
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.14	$0.72
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1728	$452
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1197	$258
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3067	$802
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2202	$467
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$97	$38.7
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$149	$59.9
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$88	$18.7
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	4.64%	5.6%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4681	$1970
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$8556	$1475
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.68	$0.91
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$25.6	$24.9
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$7.63	$8.65
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.86	$1.33
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.87	$1.85
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.59	$1.67
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.18	$1.19
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.17	$2.1
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.8	$15.6
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.69	$2.9
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.2	$10.6
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.4	$2.39
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.95	$1.03
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.96	$1.6
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.41	$1.5
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.18	$1.26
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.17	$1.06
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.38	$0.32
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.48	$1.33
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$13.5	$16.9
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.37	$1.69
🚬 Cigarette pack	$6.55	$4.38
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.49	$1.23
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.98	$3.41
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$4.56	$1.29
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$4.22	$1.48
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$72.8	$39.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$13.5	$6.65
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$66.9	$19.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$14.3	$4.23
👖 Brand Jeans	$63.1	$58.4
👟 Brand Sneakers	$103	$93.6
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$628	$796
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$14421	$15185

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Abu Dhabi

Distance	City	Cost of living
117 km or 73 mi	Madinat Zayed	$1791
129 km or 80 mi	Dubai	$2470
142 km or 88 mi	Sharjah	$1543
143 km or 89 mi	Al Ain	$1455
152 km or 94 mi	Ajman	$2356
170 km or 105 mi	Umm al-Quwain	$1170
211 km or 131 mi	Fujairah	$1173
237 km or 147 mi	Ras al-Khaimah	$1355
300 km or 187 mi	Doha	$2100
318 km or 198 mi	Al Khor	$2015
356 km or 221 mi	Bandar Abbas	$620
365 km or 227 mi	Nizwa	$797
395 km or 246 mi	Seeb	$1082
425 km or 264 mi	Riffa	$1062
427 km or 265 mi	Manama	$1340
428 km or 266 mi	Isa Town	$1218
439 km or 273 mi	Muscat	$1193
454 km or 282 mi	Jahrom	$494
468 km or 291 mi	Dhahran	$965
481 km or 299 mi	Dammam	$1059
486 km or 302 mi	Al-Mubarraz	$821
501 km or 311 mi	Fasa	$497
514 km or 320 mi	Qatif	$778
548 km or 341 mi	Jubail	$917
568 km or 353 mi	Sirjan	$521
575 km or 357 mi	Jiroft	$526
599 km or 372 mi	Shiraz	$505
610 km or 379 mi	Bushehr	$454
617 km or 384 mi	Borazjan	$457
620 km or 385 mi	Marvdasht	$485
632 km or 392 mi	Kazerun	$471
637 km or 396 mi	Chabahar	$530
649 km or 404 mi	Bam	$514
678 km or 421 mi	Rafsanjan	$558
698 km or 434 mi	Kerman	$700
701 km or 435 mi	Iranshahr	$559
741 km or 460 mi	Yasuj	$459
775 km or 481 mi	Riyadh	$1628
790 km or 491 mi	Al Wafrah	$1247
792 km or 492 mi	Behbahan	$469

Cities near Chiang Mai

Distance	City	Cost of living
86 km or 53 mi	Pai	$675
153 km or 95 mi	Chiang Rai	$581
255 km or 158 mi	Hpa-an	$601
258 km or 160 mi	Phitsanulok	$554
294 km or 183 mi	Mawlamyine	$575
306 km or 190 mi	Taunggyi	$549
308 km or 191 mi	Bago	$610
317 km or 197 mi	Naypyidaw	$627
353 km or 219 mi	Luang Prabang	$1261
363 km or 226 mi	Nakhon Sawan	$707
365 km or 227 mi	Vang Vieng	$1033
373 km or 232 mi	Yangon	$656
392 km or 244 mi	Vientiane	$968
404 km or 251 mi	Jinghong	$591
426 km or 265 mi	Udon Thani	$564
466 km or 289 mi	Mandalay	$555
485 km or 301 mi	Khon Kaen	$590
489 km or 304 mi	Pu'er	$616
503 km or 313 mi	Pathein	$721
537 km or 334 mi	Nakhon Ratchasima	$586
545 km or 339 mi	Monywa	$534
551 km or 342 mi	Tha Khlong	$671
561 km or 349 mi	Rangsit	$616
564 km or 351 mi	Nakhon Pathom	$603
566 km or 352 mi	Pak Kret	$762
571 km or 355 mi	Nonthaburi	$761
578 km or 359 mi	Lincang	$617
584 km or 363 mi	Bangkok	$996
597 km or 371 mi	Pu Chao Saming Phrai	$789
597 km or 371 mi	Lat Luang	$794
634 km or 394 mi	Thakhek	$968
641 km or 398 mi	Sa Pa	$553
656 km or 407 mi	Sittwe	$583
666 km or 414 mi	Chaophraya Surasak	$784
667 km or 415 mi	Laem Chabang	$799
681 km or 423 mi	Pattaya	$839
685 km or 426 mi	Nong Prue	$809
699 km or 435 mi	Hua Hin	$787
704 km or 438 mi	Baoshan	$617
707 km or 439 mi	Vinh	$583