Busan vs Phuket - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Busan	Phuket
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1108	$1014
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2784	$2500
🏠 One person rent	$427	$544
🏘️ Family rent	$724	$932
🍽️ Food expenses	$440	$335
🚐 Transport expenses	$144	$32.8
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$2577	$944
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	13 km	27 km
🎓 Higher education	72	7
😀 Quality of life	92	57
🏙️ Population	3.45M	77.6K

The cost of living in Busan is 9% more expensive than in Phuket. Cities ranked 4938th and 5469th ($1108 vs $1014) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 15th and 1st 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 0.9 months in Phuket. Busan ranked 4th best city to live in South Korea vs Phuket ranked 5th in Thailand, while ranked 150th and 6129th 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	$6.02	$6.11
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$28.2	$41.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.67	$9.29
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.25	$2.15
☕ Cappuccino	$3.89	$3.04
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.87	$0.74
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$414	$595
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$278	$419
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$752	$1073
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$499	$738
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$97.5	$71.6
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$150	$109
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$24.7	$18.7
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	4.23%	5.28%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$8888	$4256
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7037	$2916
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.09	$1.45
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$49.9	$23.4
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$10.6	$10.1
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.14	$1.31
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.99	$2.11
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.72	$1.67
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.58	$1.72
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.92	$2.23
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.7	$16.9
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.15	$4
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$26.1	$11.6
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.92	$2.83
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.17	$1.97
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.25	$2.37
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.68	$2.13
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.28	$1.6
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.19	$1.39
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.79	$0.34
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.98	$1.52
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$12.9	$21.4
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.7	$1.83
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.07	$4.3
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.34	$3.35
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.74	$2.43
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.61	$1.34
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.3	$1.44
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$48.3	$53.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$9.66	$8.54
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$23	$29
💇 Haircut, simple	$8.83	$5.6
👖 Brand Jeans	$85.9	$65.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$71.6	$115
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$470	$612
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$13429	$14328

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	$975
27 km or 16 mi	Yangsan	$1039
40 km or 25 mi	Changwon	$1084
46 km or 28 mi	Masan	$1008
50 km or 31 mi	Geoje	$913
51 km or 32 mi	Miryang	$1038
56 km or 35 mi	Ulsan	$1076
63 km or 39 mi	Tongyeong	$934
64 km or 40 mi	Sacheon	$984
81 km or 50 mi	Tsushima Island	$937
84 km or 52 mi	Gyeongsan	$1001
85 km or 53 mi	Gyeongju	$1097
87 km or 54 mi	Jinju	$1064
94 km or 58 mi	Daegu	$1062
98 km or 61 mi	Yeongcheon	$1008
102 km or 64 mi	Tsushima	$933
108 km or 67 mi	Pohang	$1024
123 km or 77 mi	Gwangyang	$991
131 km or 82 mi	Yeosu	$994
138 km or 86 mi	Gumi	$949
141 km or 88 mi	Gimcheon	$934
142 km or 88 mi	Suncheon	$1016
154 km or 96 mi	Namwon	$980
162 km or 101 mi	Iki	$925
165 km or 103 mi	Andong	$929
166 km or 103 mi	Sangju	$957
183 km or 113 mi	Mungyeong	$973
189 km or 118 mi	Jeonju	$831
193 km or 120 mi	Gwangju	$1081
195 km or 121 mi	Yeongju	$1005
198 km or 123 mi	Hirado	$908
199 km or 124 mi	Munakata	$950
199 km or 124 mi	Fukutsu	$942
200 km or 124 mi	Okagaki	$955
201 km or 125 mi	Koga	$939
201 km or 125 mi	Shingu	$936
202 km or 125 mi	Itoshima	$923
202 km or 126 mi	Karatsu	$913
204 km or 127 mi	Daejeon	$959
205 km or 127 mi	Jeongeup	$981

Cities near Phuket

Distance	City	Cost of living
48 km or 30 mi	Ao Nang	$773
60 km or 38 mi	Krabi	$854
76 km or 47 mi	Ko Lanta	$807
173 km or 107 mi	Surat Thani	$593
183 km or 114 mi	Nakhon Si Thammarat	$810
185 km or 115 mi	Ko Lipe	$756
231 km or 143 mi	Langkawi	$592
248 km or 154 mi	Hat Yai	$592
248 km or 154 mi	Ko Samui	$741
256 km or 159 mi	Kangar	$570
269 km or 167 mi	Ko Pha-ngan	$765
289 km or 180 mi	Ko Tao	$812
293 km or 182 mi	Alor Setar	$509
331 km or 206 mi	Lhokseumawe	$423
339 km or 211 mi	Sungai Petani	$653
348 km or 216 mi	George Town	$754
352 km or 219 mi	Butterworth	$701
384 km or 238 mi	Langsa	$449
425 km or 264 mi	Taiping	$552
428 km or 266 mi	Banda Aceh	$386
468 km or 291 mi	Kota Bharu	$517
470 km or 292 mi	Ipoh	$657
470 km or 292 mi	Medan	$466
477 km or 296 mi	Binjai	$460
507 km or 315 mi	Myeik	$553
514 km or 319 mi	Tebing Tinggi	$461
517 km or 321 mi	Teluk Intan	$654
548 km or 340 mi	Hua Hin	$724
553 km or 344 mi	Pematangsiantar	$472
569 km or 353 mi	Tanjungbalai	$488
596 km or 370 mi	Kuala Terengganu	$534
625 km or 388 mi	Nong Prue	$787
625 km or 389 mi	Pattaya	$812
637 km or 396 mi	Klang	$704
637 km or 396 mi	Shah Alam	$681
638 km or 396 mi	Sihanoukville	$763
638 km or 396 mi	Ko Chang	$708
639 km or 397 mi	Petaling Jaya	$731
641 km or 398 mi	Laem Chabang	$779
641 km or 398 mi	Kuala Lumpur	$866