Busan vs Phuket - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Busan	Phuket
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1060	$940
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2838	$3111
🏠 One person rent	$390	$519
🏘️ Family rent	$797	$1664
🍽️ Food expenses	$436	$300
🚐 Transport expenses	$135	$29.5
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$2181	$718
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	13 km	27 km
🎓 Higher education	72	7
😀 Quality of life	89	53
🏙️ Population	3.45M	77.6K

The cost of living in Busan is 13% more expensive than in Phuket. Cities ranked 5092nd and 5827th ($1060 vs $940) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 30th 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 2.1 months in Busan compared to 0.8 months in Phuket. Busan ranked 4th best city to live in South Korea vs Phuket ranked 7th in Thailand, while ranked 201st and 6063rd among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
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	$5.69	$5.23
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$28	$36
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.51	$7.38
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.28	$2.68
☕ Cappuccino	$3.79	$2.39
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.8	$0.73
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$392	$504
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$248	$403
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$825	$1891
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$584	$1436
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$92.3	$79.6
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$143	$120
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$20.7	$16.4
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	4.26%	6.17%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7716	$4059
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7051	$2821
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.09	$1.34
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$40.2	$10.5
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$11.2	$11.3
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.12	$1.25
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$2.05	$1.87
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.95	$1.77
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.46	$1.5
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.1	$2.19
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.6	$20.1
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.19	$3.15
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$26.4	$11.6
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.81	$3.05
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.06	$1.33
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.97	$2.06
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.64	$1.76
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.35	$1.44
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.2	$1.31
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.75	$0.33
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.98	$1.25
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$13	$18
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.7	$1.71
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.11	$4.02
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.4	$3.23
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.79	$2.36
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.58	$1.28
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.3	$1.4
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$43.7	$56.9
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$9.64	$8.94
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$23	$28.2
💇 Haircut, simple	$8.84	$5.56
👖 Brand Jeans	$85.9	$45.4
👟 Brand Sneakers	$80.7	$98.1
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$470	$723
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$13395	$13013

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

$349

$907

$6.64K

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 Phuket

Distance	City	Cost of living
48 km or 30 mi	Ao Nang	$792
60 km or 38 mi	Krabi	$782
76 km or 47 mi	Ko Lanta	$772
173 km or 107 mi	Surat Thani	$563
183 km or 114 mi	Nakhon Si Thammarat	$763
185 km or 115 mi	Ko Lipe	$719
231 km or 143 mi	Langkawi	$560
248 km or 154 mi	Hat Yai	$570
248 km or 154 mi	Ko Samui	$705
256 km or 159 mi	Kangar	$536
269 km or 167 mi	Ko Pha-ngan	$730
289 km or 180 mi	Ko Tao	$777
293 km or 182 mi	Alor Setar	$490
331 km or 206 mi	Lhokseumawe	$435
339 km or 211 mi	Sungai Petani	$605
348 km or 216 mi	George Town	$620
352 km or 219 mi	Butterworth	$619
384 km or 238 mi	Langsa	$461
425 km or 264 mi	Taiping	$695
428 km or 266 mi	Banda Aceh	$398
468 km or 291 mi	Kota Bharu	$485
470 km or 292 mi	Ipoh	$628
470 km or 292 mi	Medan	$481
477 km or 296 mi	Binjai	$470
507 km or 315 mi	Myeik	$576
514 km or 319 mi	Tebing Tinggi	$474
517 km or 321 mi	Teluk Intan	$631
548 km or 340 mi	Hua Hin	$656
553 km or 344 mi	Pematangsiantar	$486
569 km or 353 mi	Tanjungbalai	$503
596 km or 370 mi	Kuala Terengganu	$501
625 km or 388 mi	Nong Prue	$752
625 km or 389 mi	Pattaya	$781
637 km or 396 mi	Klang	$670
637 km or 396 mi	Shah Alam	$645
638 km or 396 mi	Sihanoukville	$755
638 km or 396 mi	Ko Chang	$677
639 km or 397 mi	Petaling Jaya	$701
641 km or 398 mi	Laem Chabang	$743
641 km or 398 mi	Kuala Lumpur	$810