Busan vs Pattaya - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Busan	Pattaya
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1060	$781
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2838	$2066
🏠 One person rent	$390	$395
🏘️ Family rent	$797	$863
🍽️ Food expenses	$436	$278
🚐 Transport expenses	$135	$31.3
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$2181	$461
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	13 km	32 km
🎓 Higher education	72	31
😀 Quality of life	89	54
🏙️ Population	3.45M	120K

The cost of living in Busan is 36% more expensive than in Pattaya. Cities ranked 5092nd and 6518th ($1060 vs $781) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 30th and 5th in South Korea and Thailand, respectively. Check South Korea vs Thailand comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 2.1 months in Busan compared to 0.6 months in Pattaya. Busan ranked 4th best city to live in South Korea vs Pattaya ranked 5th in Thailand, while ranked 201st and 5997th among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Busan vs Pattaya infographic

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Prices in Busan vs Pattaya

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

	Busan	Pattaya
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$5.69	$3.58
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$28	$29.8
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.51	$8.11
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.28	$2.37
☕ Cappuccino	$3.79	$2.03
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.8	$0.83
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$392	$475
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$248	$294
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$825	$1152
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$584	$679
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$92.3	$47.1
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$143	$71.7
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$20.7	$17.7
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	4.26%	5.67%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7716	$2486
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7051	$1693
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.09	$0.3
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$40.2	$17.7
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$11.2	$12.1
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.12	$1.26
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$2.05	$1.68
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.95	$1.3
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.46	$1.24
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.1	$2.23
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.6	$16.7
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.19	$3.06
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$26.4	$11.9
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.81	$2.96
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.06	$1.36
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.97	$1.85
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.64	$1.37
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.35	$1.57
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.2	$1.18
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.75	$0.39
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.98	$1.09
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$13	$17.8
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.7	$1.7
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.11	$4.44
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.4	$2.67
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.79	$4.39
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.58	$1.74
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.3	$1.3
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$43.7	$41
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$9.64	$7.49
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$23	$26.9
💇 Haircut, simple	$8.84	$3.69
👖 Brand Jeans	$85.9	$29.8
👟 Brand Sneakers	$80.7	$93.9
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$470	$284
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$13395	$8876

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Busan

Distance	City	Cost of living
21 km or 13 mi	Gimhae	$959
27 km or 16 mi	Yangsan	$1027
40 km or 25 mi	Changwon	$1075
46 km or 28 mi	Masan	$998
50 km or 31 mi	Geoje	$887
51 km or 32 mi	Miryang	$1030
56 km or 35 mi	Ulsan	$1059
63 km or 39 mi	Tongyeong	$924
64 km or 40 mi	Sacheon	$983
81 km or 50 mi	Tsushima Island	$901
84 km or 52 mi	Gyeongsan	$991
85 km or 53 mi	Gyeongju	$1388
87 km or 54 mi	Jinju	$1054
94 km or 58 mi	Daegu	$995
98 km or 61 mi	Yeongcheon	$1115
102 km or 64 mi	Tsushima	$903
108 km or 67 mi	Pohang	$988
123 km or 77 mi	Gwangyang	$1002
131 km or 82 mi	Yeosu	$989
138 km or 86 mi	Gumi	$992
141 km or 88 mi	Gimcheon	$977
142 km or 88 mi	Suncheon	$1059
154 km or 96 mi	Namwon	$987
162 km or 101 mi	Iki	$902
165 km or 103 mi	Andong	$880
166 km or 103 mi	Sangju	$1000
183 km or 113 mi	Mungyeong	$979
189 km or 118 mi	Jeonju	$854
193 km or 120 mi	Gwangju	$1101
195 km or 121 mi	Yeongju	$964
198 km or 123 mi	Hirado	$891
199 km or 124 mi	Munakata	$916
199 km or 124 mi	Fukutsu	$916
200 km or 124 mi	Okagaki	$913
201 km or 125 mi	Koga	$921
201 km or 125 mi	Shingu	$919
202 km or 125 mi	Itoshima	$910
202 km or 126 mi	Karatsu	$895
204 km or 127 mi	Daejeon	$992
205 km or 127 mi	Jeongeup	$970

Cities near Pattaya

Distance	City	Cost of living
5.7 km or 3.5 mi	Nong Prue	$752
16 km or 9.7 mi	Laem Chabang	$743
23 km or 14 mi	Chaophraya Surasak	$739
84 km or 52 mi	Pu Chao Saming Phrai	$748
85 km or 53 mi	Klaeng	$685
85 km or 53 mi	Lat Luang	$753
98 km or 61 mi	Bangkok	$941
110 km or 68 mi	Nonthaburi	$717
110 km or 68 mi	Hua Hin	$656
115 km or 72 mi	Pak Kret	$715
119 km or 74 mi	Rangsit	$595
130 km or 81 mi	Tha Khlong	$641
132 km or 82 mi	Nakhon Pathom	$548
184 km or 114 mi	Ko Chang	$677
237 km or 147 mi	Serei Saophoan	$639
250 km or 156 mi	Battambang	$573
255 km or 159 mi	Myeik	$576
259 km or 161 mi	Nakhon Ratchasima	$588
318 km or 198 mi	Nakhon Sawan	$654
324 km or 202 mi	Siem Reap	$644
340 km or 211 mi	Ko Tao	$777
372 km or 231 mi	Ko Pha-ngan	$730
383 km or 238 mi	Sihanoukville	$755
396 km or 246 mi	Ko Samui	$705
435 km or 270 mi	Phitsanulok	$537
440 km or 273 mi	Khon Kaen	$568
442 km or 275 mi	Kampot	$596
450 km or 280 mi	Phu Quoc	$519
457 km or 284 mi	Surat Thani	$563
464 km or 288 mi	Phnom Penh	$836
497 km or 309 mi	Ubon Ratchathani	$545
506 km or 314 mi	Kampong Cham	$513
508 km or 315 mi	Prey Veng	$721
512 km or 318 mi	Nakhon Si Thammarat	$763
527 km or 328 mi	Mawlamyine	$569
535 km or 333 mi	Udon Thani	$543
553 km or 343 mi	Stung Treng	$634
561 km or 349 mi	Hpa-an	$610
562 km or 349 mi	Rach Gia	$526
571 km or 355 mi	Long Xuyen	$508