Chiang Mai vs Hefei - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Chiang Mai	Hefei
🚶 Cost of living one person	$727	$643
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1970	$1702
🏠 One person rent	$315	$216
🏘️ Family rent	$547	$373
🍽️ Food expenses	$250	$243
🚐 Transport expenses	$85	$105
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$505	$927
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	3 km	32 km
🎓 Higher education	56	93
😀 Quality of life	65	69
🏙️ Population	1.2M	9.37M

The cost of living in Chiang Mai is 13% more expensive than in Hefei. Cities ranked 6954th and 7469th ($727 vs $643) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 19th and 101st in Thailand and China, respectively. Check Thailand vs China comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.7 months in Chiang Mai compared to 1.4 months in Hefei. Chiang Mai ranked 3rd best city to live in Thailand vs Hefei ranked 35th in China, while ranked 5236th and 4318th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Chiang Mai vs Hefei infographic

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

Prices in Chiang Mai vs Hefei

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

	Chiang Mai	Hefei
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$2.01	$3.48
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$19.1	$19.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$7.95	$4.21
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.25	$0.77
☕ Cappuccino	$1.88	$2.28
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.79	$0.46
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$395	$210
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$221	$168
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$703	$385
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$405	$302
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$40.8	$25.8
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$62.9	$39.6
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$19.1	$14.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	5.15%	3.54%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2210	$3665
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1552	$2183
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.92	$0.28
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$19.1	$42.3
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$11.8	$3.42
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.27	$1.17
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.74	$1.53
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.56	$1.52
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.19	$1.19
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.05	$1.88
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16.7	$11.2
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.99	$5.15
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.98	$10.2
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.92	$2.86
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.15	$1.4
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.72	$1.37
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.63	$1.25
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.41	$0.7
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.2	$0.65
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.34	$0.4
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.4	$1.1
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$18.4	$7.02
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.77	$0.81
🚬 Cigarette pack	$4.33	$3.38
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$1.24	$9.33
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.42	$4.71
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.29	$0.95
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.5	$1.71
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$34.8	$39.2
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$5.07	$5.65
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$18.9	$28.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$4.65	$6.44
👖 Brand Jeans	$61.4	$70
👟 Brand Sneakers	$92.4	$59.4
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$643	$259
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$15195	$9056

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Chiang Mai

Distance	City	Cost of living
86 km or 53 mi	Pai	$667
153 km or 95 mi	Chiang Rai	$603
255 km or 158 mi	Hpa-an	$581
258 km or 160 mi	Phitsanulok	$558
294 km or 183 mi	Mawlamyine	$567
306 km or 190 mi	Taunggyi	$534
308 km or 191 mi	Bago	$571
317 km or 197 mi	Naypyidaw	$594
353 km or 219 mi	Luang Prabang	$1261
363 km or 226 mi	Nakhon Sawan	$680
365 km or 227 mi	Vang Vieng	$1181
373 km or 232 mi	Yangon	$614
392 km or 244 mi	Vientiane	$1152
404 km or 251 mi	Jinghong	$577
426 km or 265 mi	Udon Thani	$578
466 km or 289 mi	Mandalay	$540
485 km or 301 mi	Khon Kaen	$590
489 km or 304 mi	Pu'er	$599
503 km or 313 mi	Pathein	$666
537 km or 334 mi	Nakhon Ratchasima	$588
545 km or 339 mi	Monywa	$519
551 km or 342 mi	Tha Khlong	$675
561 km or 349 mi	Rangsit	$635
564 km or 351 mi	Nakhon Pathom	$623
566 km or 352 mi	Pak Kret	$736
571 km or 355 mi	Nonthaburi	$737
578 km or 359 mi	Lincang	$601
584 km or 363 mi	Bangkok	$958
597 km or 371 mi	Pu Chao Saming Phrai	$774
597 km or 371 mi	Lat Luang	$774
634 km or 394 mi	Thakhek	$1139
641 km or 398 mi	Sa Pa	$529
656 km or 407 mi	Sittwe	$558
666 km or 414 mi	Chaophraya Surasak	$770
667 km or 415 mi	Laem Chabang	$779
681 km or 423 mi	Pattaya	$812
685 km or 426 mi	Nong Prue	$787
699 km or 435 mi	Hua Hin	$724
704 km or 438 mi	Baoshan	$607
707 km or 439 mi	Vinh	$560

Cities near Hefei

Distance	City	Cost of living
48 km or 30 mi	Chaohu	$620
73 km or 45 mi	Huainan	$601
74 km or 46 mi	Lu'an	$631
95 km or 59 mi	Tongcheng	$592
103 km or 64 mi	Ma'anshan	$656
113 km or 70 mi	Tongling	$629
118 km or 73 mi	Wuhu	$672
119 km or 74 mi	Bengbu	$509
122 km or 76 mi	Mingguang	$583
135 km or 84 mi	Chizhou	$617
142 km or 88 mi	Nanjing	$753
152 km or 94 mi	Qianshan	$567
153 km or 95 mi	Anqing	$532
173 km or 107 mi	Xuancheng	$659
178 km or 110 mi	Jurong	$618
180 km or 112 mi	Fuyang	$595
183 km or 114 mi	Yizheng	$590
186 km or 116 mi	Tianchang	$610
199 km or 124 mi	Suzhou	$582
209 km or 130 mi	Zhenjiang	$531
211 km or 131 mi	Yangzhou	$602
213 km or 132 mi	Ningguo	$637
214 km or 133 mi	Liyang	$639
217 km or 135 mi	Danyang	$597
227 km or 141 mi	Macheng	$592
228 km or 141 mi	Gaoyou	$617
229 km or 142 mi	Guangde	$642
237 km or 147 mi	Huaibei	$570
238 km or 148 mi	Jieshou	$563
242 km or 151 mi	Yangzhong	$597
243 km or 151 mi	Yongcheng	$570
247 km or 153 mi	Yixing	$674
248 km or 154 mi	Suqian	$602
251 km or 156 mi	Huai'an	$654
254 km or 158 mi	Changzhou	$601
256 km or 159 mi	Taizhou	$651
259 km or 161 mi	Huangshan	$620
260 km or 162 mi	Taixing	$622
267 km or 166 mi	Xuzhou	$499
268 km or 167 mi	Xinghua	$663