Busan vs Phuket - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 10, 2024

	Busan	Phuket
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1122	$985
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$3048	$3235
🏠 One person rent	$395	$544
🏘️ Family rent	$821	$1720
🍽️ Food expenses	$472	$308
🚐 Transport expenses	$148	$30.3
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$2421	$742
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	13 km	27 km
🎓 Higher education	73	7
😀 Quality of life	89	53
🏙️ Population	3.45M	77.6K

The cost of living in Busan is 14% more expensive than in Phuket. Cities ranked 4837th and 5798th ($1122 vs $985) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 13th and 2nd in South Korea and Thailand, respectively. Check South Korea vs Thailand comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 2.2 months in Busan compared to 0.8 months in Phuket. Busan ranked 4th best city to live in South Korea vs Phuket ranked 6th in Thailand, while ranked 181st and 6033rd 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 Phuket infographic

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Prices in Busan vs Phuket

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

	Busan	Phuket
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$5.92	$4.63
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$34.7	$36.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.87	$7.72
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.56	$2.94
☕ Cappuccino	$4.09	$2.47
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.86	$0.78
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$423	$498
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$273	$439
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$902	$1825
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$636	$1525
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$74.8	$76.3
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$114	$118
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$17.5	$16.6
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	4.21%	4.8%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$8000	$4213
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7248	$2936
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.15	$1.37
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$44.1	$11
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$12.3	$11.6
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.22	$1.28
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$2.17	$1.93
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$3.21	$1.73
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.99	$1.58
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.36	$2.25
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.9	$26
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.91	$3.23
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$28.2	$10.5
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.36	$3.19
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.31	$1.18
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.55	$1.8
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.13	$1.51
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.43	$1.57
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.51	$1.2
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.8	$0.34
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.14	$1.3
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$14.1	$21.3
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.85	$1.74
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.38	$4.48
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.71	$3.38
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.08	$2.46
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.72	$1.35
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.4	$1.46
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$47.1	$58.9
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$10.4	$9.26
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$25.1	$29.2
💇 Haircut, simple	$9.6	$5.56
👖 Brand Jeans	$92.7	$69.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$87.9	$107
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$557	$748
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$14632	$13132

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	$901
27 km or 16 mi	Yangsan	$973
40 km or 25 mi	Changwon	$1083
46 km or 28 mi	Masan	$1002
50 km or 31 mi	Geoje	$893
51 km or 32 mi	Miryang	$992
56 km or 35 mi	Ulsan	$1099
63 km or 39 mi	Tongyeong	$931
64 km or 40 mi	Sacheon	$1008
81 km or 50 mi	Tsushima Island	$981
84 km or 52 mi	Gyeongsan	$1022
85 km or 53 mi	Gyeongju	$1341
87 km or 54 mi	Jinju	$1146
94 km or 58 mi	Daegu	$1114
98 km or 61 mi	Yeongcheon	$941
102 km or 64 mi	Tsushima	$980
108 km or 67 mi	Pohang	$1000
123 km or 77 mi	Gwangyang	$999
131 km or 82 mi	Yeosu	$981
138 km or 86 mi	Gumi	$977
141 km or 88 mi	Gimcheon	$995
142 km or 88 mi	Suncheon	$1027
154 km or 96 mi	Namwon	$1005
162 km or 101 mi	Iki	$985
165 km or 103 mi	Andong	$871
166 km or 103 mi	Sangju	$981
183 km or 113 mi	Mungyeong	$992
189 km or 118 mi	Jeonju	$915
193 km or 120 mi	Gwangju	$1178
195 km or 121 mi	Yeongju	$978
198 km or 123 mi	Hirado	$968
199 km or 124 mi	Munakata	$996
199 km or 124 mi	Fukutsu	$1006
200 km or 124 mi	Okagaki	$985
201 km or 125 mi	Koga	$1015
201 km or 125 mi	Shingu	$1020
202 km or 125 mi	Itoshima	$1016
202 km or 126 mi	Karatsu	$994
204 km or 127 mi	Daejeon	$975
205 km or 127 mi	Jeongeup	$1000

Cities near Phuket

Distance	City	Cost of living
48 km or 30 mi	Ao Nang	$822
60 km or 38 mi	Krabi	$807
76 km or 47 mi	Ko Lanta	$799
173 km or 107 mi	Surat Thani	$635
183 km or 114 mi	Nakhon Si Thammarat	$795
185 km or 115 mi	Ko Lipe	$742
231 km or 143 mi	Langkawi	$594
248 km or 154 mi	Hat Yai	$561
248 km or 154 mi	Ko Samui	$745
256 km or 159 mi	Kangar	$563
269 km or 167 mi	Ko Pha-ngan	$763
289 km or 180 mi	Ko Tao	$806
293 km or 182 mi	Alor Setar	$523
331 km or 206 mi	Lhokseumawe	$461
339 km or 211 mi	Sungai Petani	$637
348 km or 216 mi	George Town	$669
352 km or 219 mi	Butterworth	$671
384 km or 238 mi	Langsa	$490
425 km or 264 mi	Taiping	$759
428 km or 266 mi	Banda Aceh	$421
468 km or 291 mi	Kota Bharu	$517
470 km or 292 mi	Ipoh	$670
470 km or 292 mi	Medan	$519
477 km or 296 mi	Binjai	$503
507 km or 315 mi	Myeik	$570
514 km or 319 mi	Tebing Tinggi	$504
517 km or 321 mi	Teluk Intan	$673
548 km or 340 mi	Hua Hin	$676
553 km or 344 mi	Pematangsiantar	$518
569 km or 353 mi	Tanjungbalai	$538
596 km or 370 mi	Kuala Terengganu	$544
625 km or 388 mi	Nong Prue	$773
625 km or 389 mi	Pattaya	$800
637 km or 396 mi	Klang	$729
637 km or 396 mi	Shah Alam	$687
638 km or 396 mi	Sihanoukville	$754
638 km or 396 mi	Ko Chang	$697
639 km or 397 mi	Petaling Jaya	$738
641 km or 398 mi	Laem Chabang	$769
641 km or 398 mi	Kuala Lumpur	$892