Ashgabat vs Thimphu - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Ashgabat	Thimphu
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1584	$422
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$3634	$1047
🏠 One person rent	$798	$145
🏘️ Family rent	$1502	$225
🍽️ Food expenses	$609	$176
🚐 Transport expenses	$49.1	$46
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$718	$550
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Bad
✈️ Airport proximity	5 km	22 km
🎓 Higher education	7	5
😀 Quality of life	29	34
🏙️ Population	1.03M	115K

The cost of living in Ashgabat is 275% more expensive than in Thimphu. Cities ranked 3105th and 8915th ($1584 vs $422) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 2nd in Turkmenistan and Bhutan, respectively. Check Turkmenistan vs Bhutan comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.5 months in Ashgabat compared to 1.3 months in Thimphu. Ashgabat ranked 1st best city to live in Turkmenistan vs Thimphu ranked 1st in Bhutan, while ranked 8250th and 7592nd among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Ashgabat vs Thimphu infographic

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Prices in Ashgabat vs Thimphu

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

	Ashgabat	Thimphu
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$25.9	$3.18
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$60.4	$17.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$10.1	$4.04
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$4.4	$2.3
☕ Cappuccino	$5.56	$1.86
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.25	$0.54
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$884	$159
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$607	$94.7
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1501	$250
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1302	$161
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$45.2	$16.8
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$70	$25.6
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$90.5	$20.7
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	8.58%	10.76%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3897	$605
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3006	$920
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.14	$1.48
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$8.52	$27.1
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$9.74	$19.4
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.38	$0.91
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$3	$0.84
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.35	$0.77
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.49	$0.72
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.83	$2.02
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.29	$4.92
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.83	$4.2
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$18.9	$4.11
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.02	$2.1
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.36	$1.4
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.81	$1.77
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.06	$0.77
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.57	$0.48
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.41	$0.55
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.74	$0.21
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.08	$1.06
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$27.3	$4.94
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.79	$0.73
🚬 Cigarette pack	$25.2	$3.79
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.01	$1.58
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.8	$3.59
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3	$1.25
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.77	$0.65
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$112	$38.9
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$17.7	$3.23
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$31.8	$28.8
💇 Haircut, simple	$6.36	$3.27
👖 Brand Jeans	$69.9	$32
👟 Brand Sneakers	$92.4	$43.9
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$22.7	$239
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$6132	$666

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Ashgabat

Distance	City	Cost of living
12 km or 7.2 mi	Anau	$1553
95 km or 59 mi	Quchan	$515
99 km or 61 mi	Baherden	$1541
107 km or 66 mi	Bojnord	$510
197 km or 123 mi	Nishapur	$509
203 km or 126 mi	Sabzevar	$524
212 km or 132 mi	Mashhad	$508
294 km or 183 mi	Gonbad-e Kavus	$495
302 km or 187 mi	Kashmar	$521
306 km or 190 mi	Mary	$1503
307 km or 191 mi	Torbat-e Heydarieh	$521
344 km or 213 mi	Shahrud	$598
361 km or 224 mi	Torbat-e Jam	$550
367 km or 228 mi	Gorgan	$685
451 km or 280 mi	Dasoguz	$1535
469 km or 291 mi	Turkmenabat	$1523
496 km or 308 mi	Sari	$658
513 km or 318 mi	Nukus	$392
516 km or 321 mi	Qaem Shahr	$554
517 km or 321 mi	Semnan	$580
524 km or 325 mi	Herat	$512
528 km or 328 mi	Babol	$458
558 km or 347 mi	Amol	$557
561 km or 349 mi	Bukhara	$431
570 km or 354 mi	Birjand	$574
634 km or 394 mi	Pardis	$665
654 km or 406 mi	Qarshi	$484
657 km or 408 mi	Pakdasht	$680
660 km or 410 mi	Golestan	$714
667 km or 414 mi	Sheberghan	$414
668 km or 415 mi	Qarchak	$681
668 km or 415 mi	Tehran	$788
670 km or 417 mi	Varamin	$651
671 km or 417 mi	Ray	$710
693 km or 431 mi	Qods	$698
694 km or 431 mi	Eslamshahr	$700
695 km or 432 mi	Nasimshahr	$697
700 km or 435 mi	Shahriar	$698
701 km or 435 mi	Karaj	$736
703 km or 437 mi	Fardis	$688

Cities near Thimphu

Distance	City	Cost of living
22 km or 14 mi	Paro	$459
147 km or 91 mi	Siliguri	$312
196 km or 122 mi	Rangpur	$296
203 km or 126 mi	Saidpur	$296
211 km or 131 mi	Shigatse	$900
214 km or 133 mi	Damak	$317
257 km or 159 mi	Raiganj	$309
257 km or 160 mi	Guwahati	$342
258 km or 160 mi	Biratnagar	$323
259 km or 161 mi	Dispur	$335
266 km or 166 mi	Balurghat	$307
280 km or 174 mi	Lhasa	$963
287 km or 178 mi	Purnia	$300
294 km or 183 mi	Bogra	$280
308 km or 191 mi	Shillong	$408
313 km or 195 mi	Malda	$308
313 km or 195 mi	Mymensingh	$264
350 km or 217 mi	Saharsa	$292
360 km or 224 mi	Bhagalpur	$282
362 km or 225 mi	Rajshahi	$274
364 km or 226 mi	Sylhet	$305
377 km or 234 mi	Janakpur	$292
401 km or 249 mi	Berhampore	$304
413 km or 257 mi	Narsingdi	$295
418 km or 260 mi	Brahmanbaria	$297
421 km or 262 mi	Kathmandu	$419
424 km or 264 mi	Lalitpur	$341
426 km or 265 mi	Dhaka	$430
438 km or 272 mi	Agartala	$367
439 km or 273 mi	Narayanganj	$309
444 km or 276 mi	Muzaffarpur	$288
454 km or 282 mi	Hetauda	$294
468 km or 291 mi	Krishnanagar	$281
474 km or 295 mi	Birgunj	$321
482 km or 299 mi	Jessore	$289
486 km or 302 mi	Shantipur	$294
493 km or 306 mi	Patna	$316
495 km or 308 mi	Durgapur	$292
500 km or 311 mi	Asansol	$299
502 km or 312 mi	Kulti	$300