Bangkok vs Medan - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Bangkok	Medan
🚶 Cost of living one person	$941	$481
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2857	$1335
🏠 One person rent	$416	$187
🏘️ Family rent	$1154	$394
🍽️ Food expenses	$276	$189
🚐 Transport expenses	$148	$35.6
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$753	$262
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	21 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	89	53
😀 Quality of life	74	44
🏙️ Population	5.68M	2.11M

The cost of living in Bangkok is 95% more expensive than in Medan. Cities ranked 5822nd and 8745th ($941 vs $481) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 47th in Thailand and Indonesia, respectively. Check Thailand vs Indonesia comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.8 months in Bangkok compared to 0.5 months in Medan. Bangkok ranked 1st best city to live in Thailand vs Medan ranked 14th in Indonesia, while ranked 1221st and 6633rd among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Bangkok vs Medan infographic

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Prices in Bangkok vs Medan

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

	Bangkok	Medan
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$2.97	$1.97
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$29.9	$12.8
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.91	$3.31
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.69	$2.39
☕ Cappuccino	$2.5	$2.24
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.61	$0.45
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$576	$174
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$291	$107
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1879	$469
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$853	$265
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$52.9	$40.4
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$81	$62.2
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$14.7	$26.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.06%	9.24%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5781	$1337
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2619	$614
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.18	$0.31
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$38.8	$8.02
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$10.5	$2.8
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.2	$0.79
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.93	$1.37
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.33	$1.14
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.42	$0.98
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.19	$1.55
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$19.3	$8.21
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.8	$3.56
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.99	$6.98
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.35	$2.38
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.73	$1.01
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.26	$1.5
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.98	$0.84
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.56	$0.75
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.39	$1.29
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.33	$0.31
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.3	$1.13
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$18	$15.6
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.81	$1.68
🚬 Cigarette pack	$4.22	$2.26
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$2.46	$2.01
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.63	$2.41
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.93	$0.83
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.03	$0.77
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$49.7	$23
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$7.38	$3.48
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$40	$15.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$10.5	$2.73
👖 Brand Jeans	$53	$55.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$102	$105
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$579	$124
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$13301	$10763

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

$349

$907

$6.64K

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Bangkok

Distance	City	Cost of living
13 km or 8.1 mi	Nonthaburi	$717
13 km or 8.4 mi	Lat Luang	$753
14 km or 8.4 mi	Pu Chao Saming Phrai	$748
18 km or 11 mi	Pak Kret	$715
28 km or 18 mi	Rangsit	$595
39 km or 25 mi	Tha Khlong	$641
50 km or 31 mi	Nakhon Pathom	$548
86 km or 53 mi	Laem Chabang	$743
87 km or 54 mi	Chaophraya Surasak	$739
98 km or 61 mi	Pattaya	$781
103 km or 64 mi	Nong Prue	$752
145 km or 90 mi	Hua Hin	$656
164 km or 102 mi	Klaeng	$685
217 km or 135 mi	Nakhon Ratchasima	$588
222 km or 138 mi	Nakhon Sawan	$654
254 km or 158 mi	Myeik	$576
267 km or 166 mi	Serei Saophoan	$639
270 km or 168 mi	Ko Chang	$677
299 km or 186 mi	Battambang	$573
342 km or 212 mi	Phitsanulok	$537
364 km or 226 mi	Siem Reap	$644
388 km or 241 mi	Khon Kaen	$568
416 km or 258 mi	Ko Tao	$777
434 km or 270 mi	Mawlamyine	$569
452 km or 281 mi	Ko Pha-ngan	$730
466 km or 290 mi	Hpa-an	$610
473 km or 294 mi	Udon Thani	$543
475 km or 295 mi	Sihanoukville	$755
475 km or 295 mi	Ko Samui	$705
496 km or 308 mi	Ubon Ratchathani	$545
519 km or 323 mi	Vientiane	$1163
529 km or 329 mi	Surat Thani	$563
529 km or 329 mi	Kampot	$596
536 km or 333 mi	Phnom Penh	$836
542 km or 337 mi	Phu Quoc	$519
569 km or 354 mi	Kampong Cham	$513
578 km or 359 mi	Yangon	$705
579 km or 360 mi	Prey Veng	$721
584 km or 363 mi	Chiang Mai	$691
587 km or 365 mi	Bago	$650

Cities near Medan

Distance	City	Cost of living
21 km or 13 mi	Binjai	$470
67 km or 41 mi	Tebing Tinggi	$474
90 km or 56 mi	Pematangsiantar	$486
119 km or 74 mi	Langsa	$461
148 km or 92 mi	Tanjungbalai	$503
238 km or 148 mi	Lhokseumawe	$435
264 km or 164 mi	Teluk Intan	$631
264 km or 164 mi	Taiping	$695
264 km or 164 mi	Padangsidempuan	$582
268 km or 166 mi	George Town	$620
269 km or 167 mi	Butterworth	$619
286 km or 178 mi	Ipoh	$628
298 km or 185 mi	Sungai Petani	$605
307 km or 191 mi	Gunungsitoli	$571
317 km or 197 mi	Klang	$670
322 km or 200 mi	Ko Lipe	$719
324 km or 201 mi	Langkawi	$560
325 km or 202 mi	Shah Alam	$645
331 km or 206 mi	Alor Setar	$490
332 km or 206 mi	Subang Jaya	$714
332 km or 206 mi	Petaling Jaya	$701
341 km or 212 mi	Kuala Lumpur	$810
342 km or 212 mi	Cyberjaya	$585
345 km or 215 mi	Putrajaya	$532
352 km or 219 mi	Kangar	$536
378 km or 235 mi	Seremban	$604
381 km or 237 mi	Dumai	$543
422 km or 262 mi	Hat Yai	$570
426 km or 265 mi	Banda Aceh	$398
431 km or 268 mi	Malacca	$669
445 km or 277 mi	Ko Lanta	$772
466 km or 289 mi	Pekanbaru	$542
468 km or 291 mi	Muar	$682
470 km or 292 mi	Phuket	$940
483 km or 300 mi	Kota Bharu	$485
487 km or 303 mi	Ao Nang	$792
489 km or 304 mi	Krabi	$782
515 km or 320 mi	Batu Pahat	$703
518 km or 322 mi	Kuantan	$529
529 km or 329 mi	Kuala Terengganu	$501