Chengdu vs Phuket - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Chengdu	Phuket
🚶 Cost of living one person	$635	$1014
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1647	$2500
🏠 One person rent	$252	$544
🏘️ Family rent	$428	$932
🍽️ Food expenses	$230	$335
🚐 Transport expenses	$84.6	$32.8
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$917	$944
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	27 km
🎓 Higher education	94	7
😀 Quality of life	75	57
🏙️ Population	20.9M	77.6K

The cost of living in Chengdu is 37% less expensive than in Phuket. Cities ranked 7530th and 5469th ($635 vs $1014) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 114th and 1st in China and Thailand, respectively. Check China vs Thailand comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.4 months in Chengdu compared to 0.9 months in Phuket. Chengdu ranked 5th best city to live in China vs Phuket ranked 5th in Thailand, while ranked 1800th 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 Chengdu vs Phuket infographic

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Prices in Chengdu vs Phuket

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

	Chengdu	Phuket
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$2.87	$6.11
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$22.5	$41.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.87	$9.29
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.35	$2.15
☕ Cappuccino	$3.31	$3.04
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.46	$0.74
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$313	$595
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$183	$419
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$574	$1073
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$318	$738
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$30.1	$71.6
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$46.2	$109
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$12.2	$18.7
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.96%	5.28%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3973	$4256
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2045	$2916
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.42	$1.45
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$25.7	$23.4
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$3.61	$10.1
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.18	$1.31
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$2.02	$2.11
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.55	$1.67
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.07	$1.72
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.77	$2.23
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13	$16.9
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.68	$4
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.1	$11.6
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.77	$2.83
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.09	$1.97
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.44	$2.37
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.05	$2.13
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.68	$1.6
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.71	$1.39
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.4	$0.34
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.22	$1.52
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$11.1	$21.4
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.95	$1.83
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.34	$4.3
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.11	$3.35
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.97	$2.43
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.41	$1.34
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.62	$1.44
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$35.2	$53.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$5.52	$8.54
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$22	$29
💇 Haircut, simple	$6.37	$5.6
👖 Brand Jeans	$42.5	$65.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$66.6	$115
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$251	$612
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$11647	$14328

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Chengdu

Distance	City	Cost of living
38 km or 24 mi	Chongzhou	$596
38 km or 24 mi	Pengzhou	$588
41 km or 25 mi	Guanghan	$571
53 km or 33 mi	Shifang	$557
55 km or 34 mi	Jianyang	$591
56 km or 35 mi	Dujiangyan	$583
60 km or 38 mi	Deyang	$563
65 km or 40 mi	Qionglai	$580
71 km or 44 mi	Meishan	$599
77 km or 48 mi	Mianzhu	$544
81 km or 50 mi	Ziyang	$598
110 km or 68 mi	Mianyang	$528
124 km or 77 mi	Leshan	$563
127 km or 79 mi	Ya'an	$571
127 km or 79 mi	Shehong	$551
131 km or 81 mi	Emeishan	$552
139 km or 87 mi	Jiangyou	$536
145 km or 90 mi	Suining	$565
153 km or 95 mi	Neijiang	$645
161 km or 100 mi	Zigong	$573
188 km or 117 mi	Longchang	$575
193 km or 120 mi	Nanchong	$541
208 km or 129 mi	Langzhong	$538
219 km or 136 mi	Yibin	$570
237 km or 148 mi	Luzhou	$562
247 km or 153 mi	Guang'an	$569
259 km or 161 mi	Guangyuan	$587
261 km or 162 mi	Huaying	$542
265 km or 165 mi	Chongqing	$561
288 km or 179 mi	Bazhong	$601
333 km or 207 mi	Dazhou	$583
341 km or 212 mi	Longnan	$593
353 km or 220 mi	Xichang	$570
372 km or 231 mi	Zhaotong	$579
388 km or 241 mi	Hanzhong	$663
390 km or 243 mi	Renhuai	$538
392 km or 244 mi	Bijie	$569
408 km or 253 mi	Wanyuan	$567
431 km or 268 mi	Zunyi	$551
459 km or 285 mi	Liupanshui	$560

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