Chengdu vs Thimphu - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Chengdu	Thimphu
🚶 Cost of living one person	$623	$422
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1664	$1047
🏠 One person rent	$240	$145
🏘️ Family rent	$430	$225
🍽️ Food expenses	$229	$176
🚐 Transport expenses	$83.8	$46
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$863	$550
😷 Air quality	Bad	Bad
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	22 km
🎓 Higher education	94	5
😀 Quality of life	72	34
🏙️ Population	20.9M	115K

The cost of living in Chengdu is 48% more expensive than in Thimphu. Cities ranked 7421st and 8915th ($623 vs $422) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 164th and 2nd in China and Bhutan, respectively. Check China vs Bhutan comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.4 months in Chengdu compared to 1.3 months in Thimphu. Chengdu ranked 9th best city to live in China vs Thimphu ranked 1st in Bhutan, while ranked 1890th and 7592nd 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 Thimphu infographic

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Prices in Chengdu vs Thimphu

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

	Chengdu	Thimphu
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$2.78	$3.18
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$21.9	$17.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.74	$4.04
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.32	$2.3
☕ Cappuccino	$3.32	$1.86
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.45	$0.54
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$304	$159
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$170	$94.7
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$595	$250
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$313	$161
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$31.5	$16.8
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$47.7	$25.6
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$12.1	$20.7
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	4.34%	10.76%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3812	$605
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2020	$920
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.41	$1.48
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$26.2	$27.1
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$3.51	$19.4
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.14	$0.91
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.95	$0.84
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.4	$0.77
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.04	$0.72
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.83	$2.02
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.4	$4.92
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.72	$4.2
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.6	$4.11
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.78	$2.1
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.15	$1.4
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.41	$1.77
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.03	$0.77
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.66	$0.48
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.72	$0.55
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.4	$0.21
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.21	$1.06
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$9.97	$4.94
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.89	$0.73
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.18	$3.79
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.03	$1.58
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.9	$3.59
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.39	$1.25
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.57	$0.65
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$27.4	$38.9
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$6.02	$3.23
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$22.1	$28.8
💇 Haircut, simple	$6.41	$3.27
👖 Brand Jeans	$45.7	$32
👟 Brand Sneakers	$72.9	$43.9
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$305	$239
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$11550	$666

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	$581
38 km or 24 mi	Pengzhou	$572
41 km or 25 mi	Guanghan	$554
53 km or 33 mi	Shifang	$540
55 km or 34 mi	Jianyang	$580
56 km or 35 mi	Dujiangyan	$570
60 km or 38 mi	Deyang	$549
65 km or 40 mi	Qionglai	$572
71 km or 44 mi	Meishan	$590
77 km or 48 mi	Mianzhu	$529
81 km or 50 mi	Ziyang	$592
110 km or 68 mi	Mianyang	$527
124 km or 77 mi	Leshan	$554
127 km or 79 mi	Ya'an	$573
127 km or 79 mi	Shehong	$546
131 km or 81 mi	Emeishan	$540
139 km or 87 mi	Jiangyou	$532
145 km or 90 mi	Suining	$579
153 km or 95 mi	Neijiang	$652
161 km or 100 mi	Zigong	$584
188 km or 117 mi	Longchang	$593
193 km or 120 mi	Nanchong	$526
208 km or 129 mi	Langzhong	$530
219 km or 136 mi	Yibin	$590
237 km or 148 mi	Luzhou	$613
247 km or 153 mi	Guang'an	$584
259 km or 161 mi	Guangyuan	$599
261 km or 162 mi	Huaying	$553
265 km or 165 mi	Chongqing	$634
288 km or 179 mi	Bazhong	$610
333 km or 207 mi	Dazhou	$591
341 km or 212 mi	Longnan	$608
353 km or 220 mi	Xichang	$580
372 km or 231 mi	Zhaotong	$601
388 km or 241 mi	Hanzhong	$696
390 km or 243 mi	Renhuai	$540
392 km or 244 mi	Bijie	$584
408 km or 253 mi	Wanyuan	$585
431 km or 268 mi	Zunyi	$554
459 km or 285 mi	Liupanshui	$574

Cities near Thimphu

Distance	City	Cost of living
22 km or 14 mi	Paro	$459
147 km or 91 mi	Siliguri	$312
196 km or 122 mi	Rangpur	$296
203 km or 126 mi	Saidpur	$296
211 km or 131 mi	Shigatse	$900
214 km or 133 mi	Damak	$317
257 km or 159 mi	Raiganj	$309
257 km or 160 mi	Guwahati	$342
258 km or 160 mi	Biratnagar	$323
259 km or 161 mi	Dispur	$335
266 km or 166 mi	Balurghat	$307
280 km or 174 mi	Lhasa	$963
287 km or 178 mi	Purnia	$300
294 km or 183 mi	Bogra	$280
308 km or 191 mi	Shillong	$408
313 km or 195 mi	Malda	$308
313 km or 195 mi	Mymensingh	$264
350 km or 217 mi	Saharsa	$292
360 km or 224 mi	Bhagalpur	$282
362 km or 225 mi	Rajshahi	$274
364 km or 226 mi	Sylhet	$305
377 km or 234 mi	Janakpur	$292
401 km or 249 mi	Berhampore	$304
413 km or 257 mi	Narsingdi	$295
418 km or 260 mi	Brahmanbaria	$297
421 km or 262 mi	Kathmandu	$419
424 km or 264 mi	Lalitpur	$341
426 km or 265 mi	Dhaka	$430
438 km or 272 mi	Agartala	$367
439 km or 273 mi	Narayanganj	$309
444 km or 276 mi	Muzaffarpur	$288
454 km or 282 mi	Hetauda	$294
468 km or 291 mi	Krishnanagar	$281
474 km or 295 mi	Birgunj	$321
482 km or 299 mi	Jessore	$289
486 km or 302 mi	Shantipur	$294
493 km or 306 mi	Patna	$316
495 km or 308 mi	Durgapur	$292
500 km or 311 mi	Asansol	$299
502 km or 312 mi	Kulti	$300