Chiang Mai vs Male - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Chiang Mai	Male
🚶 Cost of living one person	$727	$1320
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1970	$2817
🏠 One person rent	$315	$818
🏘️ Family rent	$547	$1403
🍽️ Food expenses	$250	$368
🚐 Transport expenses	$85	$43.1
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$505	$988
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	3 km	3 km
🎓 Higher education	56	7
😀 Quality of life	65	66
🏙️ Population	1.2M	133K

The cost of living in Chiang Mai is 45% less expensive than in Male. Cities ranked 6954th and 4439th ($727 vs $1320) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 19th and 2nd in Thailand and Maldives, respectively. Check Thailand vs Maldives comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.7 months in Chiang Mai compared to 0.7 months in Male. Chiang Mai ranked 3rd best city to live in Thailand vs Male ranked 1st in Maldives, while ranked 5236th and 5057th 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 Male infographic

Share this infographic!

Use the link below to embed the infographic from our site and automatically keep the data layer up to date.

If you prefer to download the image, please credit us as a source.

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

Prices in Chiang Mai vs Male

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

	Chiang Mai	Male
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$2.01	$5.55
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$19.1	$29.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$7.95	$9.82
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.25	$4.77
☕ Cappuccino	$1.88	$3.29
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.79	$1.45
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$395	$870
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$221	$609
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$703	$1575
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$405	$1116
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$40.8	$75
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$62.9	$114
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$19.1	$81.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	5.15%	14%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2210	$2585
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1552	$1897
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.92	$0.65
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$19.1	$29.1
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$11.8	$17.5
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.27	$0.93
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.74	$1.85
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.56	$1.59
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.19	$1.34
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.05	$1.78
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16.7	$9.08
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.99	$6.15
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.98	$8.98
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.92	$4.03
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.15	$3.83
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.72	$4.35
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.63	$3.26
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.41	$1.53
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.2	$1.22
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.34	$0.35
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.4	$1.97
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$18.4	$8.87
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.77	$2.96
🚬 Cigarette pack	$4.33	$13
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$1.24	$5.39
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.42	$3.83
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.29	$3.18
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.5	$1.81
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$34.8	$80.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$5.07	$9.82
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$18.9	$23.2
💇 Haircut, simple	$4.65	$4.39
👖 Brand Jeans	$61.4	$42.7
👟 Brand Sneakers	$92.4	$90.5
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$643	$166
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$15195	$3575

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 Male

Distance	City	Cost of living
5.4 km or 3.4 mi	Hulhumale	$1445
610 km or 379 mi	Thiruvananthapuram	$344
618 km or 384 mi	Varkala	$308
621 km or 386 mi	Nagercoil	$279
624 km or 388 mi	Kollam	$253
687 km or 427 mi	Tirunelveli	$270
688 km or 428 mi	Kottayam	$300
713 km or 443 mi	Kochi	$382
714 km or 444 mi	Ernakulam	$351
724 km or 450 mi	Thoothukudi	$296
761 km or 473 mi	Beruwala	$590
763 km or 474 mi	Colombo	$646
766 km or 476 mi	Thrissur	$356
771 km or 479 mi	Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte	$626
772 km or 479 mi	Galle	$512
777 km or 483 mi	Negombo	$469
788 km or 490 mi	Gampaha	$420
803 km or 499 mi	Matara	$479
814 km or 506 mi	Malappuram	$286
817 km or 507 mi	Madurai	$347
825 km or 513 mi	Kozhikode	$321
843 km or 524 mi	Dindigul	$310
849 km or 528 mi	Coimbatore	$326
862 km or 535 mi	Kandy	$440
879 km or 546 mi	Kannur	$317
892 km or 554 mi	Anuradhapura	$535
899 km or 559 mi	Tiruppur	$347
922 km or 573 mi	Erode	$286
935 km or 581 mi	Tiruchirappalli	$300
964 km or 599 mi	Thanjavur	$275
968 km or 602 mi	Mysore	$346
977 km or 607 mi	Salem	$295
979 km or 608 mi	Mangalore	$400
983 km or 611 mi	Trincomalee	$530
1027 km or 638 mi	Udupi	$283
1076 km or 669 mi	Bangalore	$524
1087 km or 675 mi	Cuddalore	$300
1093 km or 679 mi	Tumkur	$355
1106 km or 688 mi	Shimoga	$340
1108 km or 688 mi	Pondicherry	$327