Chiang Mai vs Guangzhou - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Chiang Mai	Guangzhou
🚶 Cost of living one person	$691	$774
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1891	$2226
🏠 One person rent	$291	$352
🏘️ Family rent	$597	$830
🍽️ Food expenses	$237	$266
🚐 Transport expenses	$89	$79
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$680	$1294
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	3 km	20 km
🎓 Higher education	56	97
😀 Quality of life	64	75
🏙️ Population	1.2M	18.7M

The cost of living in Chiang Mai is 11% less expensive than in Guangzhou. Cities ranked 6939th and 6548th ($691 vs $774) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 19th and 31st in Thailand and China, respectively. Check Thailand vs China comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1 months in Chiang Mai compared to 1.7 months in Guangzhou. Chiang Mai ranked 3rd best city to live in Thailand vs Guangzhou ranked 6th in China, while ranked 4535th and 1055th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Chiang Mai vs Guangzhou infographic

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

Prices in Chiang Mai vs Guangzhou

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

	Chiang Mai	Guangzhou
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$1.78	$3.42
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$17.7	$22.2
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$7.11	$4.78
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.15	$0.95
☕ Cappuccino	$1.84	$3.14
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.7	$0.49
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$362	$465
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$203	$263
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$759	$1183
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$461	$655
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$38.2	$37.9
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$59	$58
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$17.3	$11.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	4.98%	4.17%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2045	$10125
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1110	$4029
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.88	$0.28
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$23.5	$19.2
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$12.1	$4.55
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.2	$1.13
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.61	$1.9
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.52	$2.09
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.21	$1.19
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.02	$1.56
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16.5	$16.2
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.98	$4.44
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.1	$15.2
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.73	$1.97
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.19	$1.23
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.31	$1.84
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.41	$1.4
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.38	$0.85
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.2	$1.03
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.32	$0.41
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.37	$1.26
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$17.7	$20.6
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.82	$0.9
🚬 Cigarette pack	$4.46	$3.77
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$1.21	$5.18
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.36	$5.48
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.25	$1.16
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.46	$2.64
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$37.8	$33.9
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$5.63	$6.72
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$19	$27.7
💇 Haircut, simple	$4.48	$9.58
👖 Brand Jeans	$56.4	$39
👟 Brand Sneakers	$83.2	$70
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$294	$408
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$14196	$14511

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 Guangzhou

Distance	City	Cost of living
19 km or 12 mi	Foshan	$611
51 km or 32 mi	Dongguan	$656
63 km or 39 mi	Jiangmen	$804
65 km or 41 mi	Qingyuan	$794
67 km or 42 mi	Zhongshan	$461
83 km or 52 mi	Zhaoqing	$793
100 km or 62 mi	Zhuhai	$653
102 km or 63 mi	Kaiping	$812
105 km or 65 mi	Shenzhen	$916
111 km or 69 mi	Macau	$1588
118 km or 73 mi	Huizhou	$601
127 km or 79 mi	Yunfu	$823
131 km or 81 mi	Kowloon	$2432
132 km or 82 mi	Hong Kong	$2737
162 km or 100 mi	Heyuan	$764
189 km or 117 mi	Shaoguan	$818
194 km or 121 mi	Yangjiang	$877
202 km or 126 mi	Wuzhou	$803
205 km or 127 mi	Lianzhou	$755
216 km or 134 mi	Shanwei	$936
225 km or 140 mi	Hezhou	$758
281 km or 175 mi	Gaozhou	$761
291 km or 181 mi	Maoming	$756
298 km or 185 mi	Chenzhou	$724
298 km or 185 mi	Puning	$569
319 km or 198 mi	Meizhou	$655
321 km or 199 mi	Jieyang	$443
323 km or 201 mi	Yulin	$771
345 km or 214 mi	Ganzhou	$761
349 km or 217 mi	Chaozhou	$451
352 km or 219 mi	Shantou	$581
364 km or 226 mi	Zhanjiang	$764
373 km or 232 mi	Guigang	$702
384 km or 239 mi	Guilin	$522
406 km or 252 mi	Yongzhou	$609
414 km or 257 mi	Liuzhou	$579
416 km or 259 mi	Laibin	$598
424 km or 264 mi	Hengyang	$590
440 km or 273 mi	Longyan	$649
460 km or 286 mi	Haikou	$650