Busan vs Pattaya - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Busan	Pattaya
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1114	$874
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2827	$2115
🏠 One person rent	$430	$463
🏘️ Family rent	$741	$800
🍽️ Food expenses	$443	$296
🚐 Transport expenses	$144	$31.1
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$2595	$487
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	13 km	32 km
🎓 Higher education	72	31
😀 Quality of life	92	59
🏙️ Population	3.45M	120K

The cost of living in Busan is 28% more expensive than in Pattaya. Cities ranked 5007th and 6471st ($1114 vs $874) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 11th and 4th in South Korea and Thailand, respectively. Check South Korea vs Thailand comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 2.3 months in Busan compared to 0.6 months in Pattaya. Busan ranked 3rd best city to live in South Korea vs Pattaya ranked 3rd in Thailand, while ranked 121st and 6065th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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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	$5.89	$3.85
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$32.2	$32.7
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.33	$9.69
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.24	$2.44
☕ Cappuccino	$3.77	$2.25
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.65	$0.87
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$478	$543
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$269	$349
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$873	$1002
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$493	$618
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$95.3	$55.3
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$148	$85.7
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$24	$19.7
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	4.2%	5.41%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$8921	$2865
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7114	$1743
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.03	$0.32
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$49.9	$21.2
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$10.6	$11
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.14	$1.32
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.97	$1.72
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.59	$1.49
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.56	$1.46
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.73	$2.18
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.8	$16.8
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.37	$3.11
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$23.1	$9.85
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.87	$3.53
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.4	$1.48
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.57	$1.88
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.95	$1.84
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.64	$1.41
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.08	$1.16
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.81	$0.35
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.94	$1.18
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$14.9	$16.1
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.94	$1.78
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.07	$4.75
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.27	$2.83
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.7	$4.7
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.57	$1.77
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.27	$1.38
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$49.6	$46.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$9.72	$8.36
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$23	$28.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$7.96	$4.13
👖 Brand Jeans	$83.9	$34.2
👟 Brand Sneakers	$78.8	$98.3
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$465	$340
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$15370	$12044

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	$946
27 km or 16 mi	Yangsan	$1005
40 km or 25 mi	Changwon	$1032
46 km or 28 mi	Masan	$994
50 km or 31 mi	Geoje	$961
51 km or 32 mi	Miryang	$991
56 km or 35 mi	Ulsan	$1020
63 km or 39 mi	Tongyeong	$981
64 km or 40 mi	Sacheon	$993
81 km or 50 mi	Tsushima Island	$945
84 km or 52 mi	Gyeongsan	$976
85 km or 53 mi	Gyeongju	$1012
87 km or 54 mi	Jinju	$1111
94 km or 58 mi	Daegu	$1043
98 km or 61 mi	Yeongcheon	$997
102 km or 64 mi	Tsushima	$944
108 km or 67 mi	Pohang	$1030
123 km or 77 mi	Gwangyang	$996
131 km or 82 mi	Yeosu	$1008
138 km or 86 mi	Gumi	$943
141 km or 88 mi	Gimcheon	$916
142 km or 88 mi	Suncheon	$1014
154 km or 96 mi	Namwon	$970
162 km or 101 mi	Iki	$944
165 km or 103 mi	Andong	$916
166 km or 103 mi	Sangju	$951
183 km or 113 mi	Mungyeong	$954
189 km or 118 mi	Jeonju	$823
193 km or 120 mi	Gwangju	$1062
195 km or 121 mi	Yeongju	$994
198 km or 123 mi	Hirado	$932
199 km or 124 mi	Munakata	$968
199 km or 124 mi	Fukutsu	$965
200 km or 124 mi	Okagaki	$977
201 km or 125 mi	Koga	$955
201 km or 125 mi	Shingu	$954
202 km or 125 mi	Itoshima	$940
202 km or 126 mi	Karatsu	$934
204 km or 127 mi	Daejeon	$922
205 km or 127 mi	Jeongeup	$963

Cities near Pattaya

Distance	City	Cost of living
5.7 km or 3.5 mi	Nong Prue	$846
16 km or 9.7 mi	Laem Chabang	$838
23 km or 14 mi	Chaophraya Surasak	$823
84 km or 52 mi	Pu Chao Saming Phrai	$829
85 km or 53 mi	Klaeng	$768
85 km or 53 mi	Lat Luang	$833
98 km or 61 mi	Bangkok	$1027
110 km or 68 mi	Nonthaburi	$789
110 km or 68 mi	Hua Hin	$784
115 km or 72 mi	Pak Kret	$788
119 km or 74 mi	Rangsit	$656
130 km or 81 mi	Tha Khlong	$710
132 km or 82 mi	Nakhon Pathom	$658
184 km or 114 mi	Ko Chang	$763
237 km or 147 mi	Serei Saophoan	$629
250 km or 156 mi	Battambang	$575
255 km or 159 mi	Myeik	$562
259 km or 161 mi	Nakhon Ratchasima	$610
318 km or 198 mi	Nakhon Sawan	$730
324 km or 202 mi	Siem Reap	$679
340 km or 211 mi	Ko Tao	$845
372 km or 231 mi	Ko Pha-ngan	$805
383 km or 238 mi	Sihanoukville	$764
396 km or 246 mi	Ko Samui	$782
435 km or 270 mi	Phitsanulok	$585
440 km or 273 mi	Khon Kaen	$621
442 km or 275 mi	Kampot	$587
450 km or 280 mi	Phu Quoc	$530
457 km or 284 mi	Surat Thani	$612
464 km or 288 mi	Phnom Penh	$882
497 km or 309 mi	Ubon Ratchathani	$583
506 km or 314 mi	Kampong Cham	$501
508 km or 315 mi	Prey Veng	$760
512 km or 318 mi	Nakhon Si Thammarat	$834
527 km or 328 mi	Mawlamyine	$571
535 km or 333 mi	Udon Thani	$581
553 km or 343 mi	Stung Treng	$652
561 km or 349 mi	Hpa-an	$593
562 km or 349 mi	Rach Gia	$535
571 km or 355 mi	Long Xuyen	$514