Chiang Mai vs Cologne - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Chiang Mai	Cologne
🚶 Cost of living one person	$691	$1744
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1891	$4212
🏠 One person rent	$291	$947
🏘️ Family rent	$597	$1673
🍽️ Food expenses	$237	$491
🚐 Transport expenses	$89	$174
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$680	$3148
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	3 km	15 km
🎓 Higher education	56	92
😀 Quality of life	64	96
🏙️ Population	1.2M	1.09M

The cost of living in Chiang Mai is 60% less expensive than in Cologne. Cities ranked 6939th and 2551st ($691 vs $1744) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 19th and 24th in Thailand and Germany, respectively. Check Thailand vs Germany comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1 months in Chiang Mai compared to 1.8 months in Cologne. Chiang Mai ranked 3rd best city to live in Thailand vs Cologne ranked 2nd in Germany, while ranked 4535th and 12th among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Chiang Mai vs Cologne infographic

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<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/chiang-mai/cologne.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Chiang Mai vs Cologne infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/chiang-mai/cologne" target="_blank">Chiang Mai vs Cologne - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Chiang Mai vs Cologne

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

	Chiang Mai	Cologne
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$1.78	$13.1
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$17.7	$61.3
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$7.11	$10.4
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.15	$4.67
☕ Cappuccino	$1.84	$3.64
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.7	$3.1
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$362	$963
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$203	$743
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$759	$1902
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$461	$1332
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$38.2	$120
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$59	$186
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$17.3	$40.4
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	4.98%	4.01%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2045	$6163
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1110	$5539
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.88	$3.35
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$23.5	$56.6
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$12.1	$22.1
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.2	$1.83
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.61	$1.23
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.52	$1.8
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.21	$2.69
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.02	$3.95
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16.5	$13.5
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.98	$13.2
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.1	$20.1
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.73	$2.71
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.19	$1.55
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.31	$2.06
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.41	$4.26
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.38	$1.64
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.2	$1.64
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.32	$0.64
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.37	$2.22
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$17.7	$6.56
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.82	$1.02
🚬 Cigarette pack	$4.46	$8.09
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$1.21	$8.17
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.36	$2.2
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.25	$1.75
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.46	$1.5
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$37.8	$32.5
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$5.63	$11.9
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$19	$49.2
💇 Haircut, simple	$4.48	$18.4
👖 Brand Jeans	$56.4	$94.7
👟 Brand Sneakers	$83.2	$103
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$294	$773
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$14196	$15595

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

$349

$907

$6.64K

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Chiang Mai

Distance	City	Cost of living
86 km or 53 mi	Pai	$633
153 km or 95 mi	Chiang Rai	$584
255 km or 158 mi	Hpa-an	$610
258 km or 160 mi	Phitsanulok	$537
294 km or 183 mi	Mawlamyine	$569
306 km or 190 mi	Taunggyi	$660
308 km or 191 mi	Bago	$650
317 km or 197 mi	Naypyidaw	$701
353 km or 219 mi	Luang Prabang	$1253
363 km or 226 mi	Nakhon Sawan	$654
365 km or 227 mi	Vang Vieng	$1183
373 km or 232 mi	Yangon	$705
392 km or 244 mi	Vientiane	$1163
404 km or 251 mi	Jinghong	$604
426 km or 265 mi	Udon Thani	$543
466 km or 289 mi	Mandalay	$710
485 km or 301 mi	Khon Kaen	$568
489 km or 304 mi	Pu'er	$625
503 km or 313 mi	Pathein	$778
537 km or 334 mi	Nakhon Ratchasima	$588
545 km or 339 mi	Monywa	$661
551 km or 342 mi	Tha Khlong	$641
561 km or 349 mi	Rangsit	$595
564 km or 351 mi	Nakhon Pathom	$548
566 km or 352 mi	Pak Kret	$715
571 km or 355 mi	Nonthaburi	$717
578 km or 359 mi	Lincang	$628
584 km or 363 mi	Bangkok	$941
597 km or 371 mi	Pu Chao Saming Phrai	$748
597 km or 371 mi	Lat Luang	$753
634 km or 394 mi	Thakhek	$1161
641 km or 398 mi	Sa Pa	$553
656 km or 407 mi	Sittwe	$678
666 km or 414 mi	Chaophraya Surasak	$739
667 km or 415 mi	Laem Chabang	$743
681 km or 423 mi	Pattaya	$781
685 km or 426 mi	Nong Prue	$752
699 km or 435 mi	Hua Hin	$656
704 km or 438 mi	Baoshan	$632
707 km or 439 mi	Vinh	$579

Cities near Cologne

Distance	City	Cost of living
9.2 km or 5.7 mi	Hurth	$1578
10 km or 6.4 mi	Leverkusen	$1822
10 km or 6.4 mi	Frechen	$1569
13 km or 7.9 mi	Bruhl	$1559
13 km or 7.9 mi	Pulheim	$1572
14 km or 8.4 mi	Wesseling	$1554
14 km or 8.5 mi	Bergisch Gladbach	$1586
15 km or 9.3 mi	Niederkassel	$1551
16 km or 10 mi	Rosrath	$1536
18 km or 11 mi	Monheim am Rhein	$1576
19 km or 12 mi	Dormagen	$1561
19 km or 12 mi	Erftstadt	$1534
19 km or 12 mi	Langenfeld	$1577
20 km or 12 mi	Troisdorf	$1544
20 km or 12 mi	Leichlingen	$1559
20 km or 12 mi	Kerpen	$1529
21 km or 13 mi	Bornheim	$1554
21 km or 13 mi	Lohmar	$1523
22 km or 14 mi	Bergheim	$1518
23 km or 15 mi	Siegburg	$1522
24 km or 15 mi	Overath	$1497
25 km or 16 mi	Sankt Augustin	$1542
25 km or 16 mi	Bonn	$1677
26 km or 16 mi	Hilden	$1522
26 km or 16 mi	Solingen	$1580
27 km or 17 mi	Elsdorf	$1502
28 km or 17 mi	Wermelskirchen	$1497
28 km or 17 mi	Haan	$1517
28 km or 18 mi	Bedburg	$1504
29 km or 18 mi	Hennef	$1494
31 km or 19 mi	Grevenbroich	$1499
31 km or 19 mi	Remscheid	$1494
31 km or 20 mi	Erkrath	$1516
33 km or 20 mi	Konigswinter	$1446
34 km or 21 mi	Euskirchen	$1503
34 km or 21 mi	Neuss	$1495
34 km or 21 mi	Mettmann	$1479
35 km or 21 mi	Zulpich	$1490
35 km or 21 mi	Meckenheim	$1500
35 km or 22 mi	Dusseldorf	$1772