Chiang Mai vs Male - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Chiang Mai	Male
🚶 Cost of living one person	$750	$1321
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2026	$2809
🏠 One person rent	$354	$810
🏘️ Family rent	$613	$1372
🍽️ Food expenses	$237	$379
🚐 Transport expenses	$78.6	$44.2
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$627	$863
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	3 km	3 km
🎓 Higher education	56	8
😀 Quality of life	66	64
🏙️ Population	1.2M	133K

The cost of living in Chiang Mai is 43% less expensive than in Male. Cities ranked 7014th and 4490th ($750 vs $1321) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 18th and 2nd in Thailand and Maldives, respectively. Check Thailand vs Maldives comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.8 months in Chiang Mai compared to 0.7 months in Male. Chiang Mai ranked 2nd best city to live in Thailand vs Male ranked 1st in Maldives, while ranked 4952nd and 5278th among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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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	$1.99	$6.01
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$19.7	$38.5
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$6.87	$9.71
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.42	$4.89
☕ Cappuccino	$1.8	$3.24
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.72	$1.63
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$452	$808
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$258	$624
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$802	$1454
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$467	$1116
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$38.7	$75.7
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$59.9	$115
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$18.7	$73.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	5.6%	14.04%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1970	$2242
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1475	$1870
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.91	$0.65
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$24.9	$32.2
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$8.65	$17.5
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.33	$0.95
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.85	$1.96
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.67	$1.53
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.19	$1.37
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.1	$1.77
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15.6	$6.43
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.9	$6.17
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.6	$9.51
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.39	$4.03
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.03	$3
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.6	$4.3
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.5	$2.82
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.26	$2.03
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.06	$1.65
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.32	$0.38
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.33	$1.97
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$16.9	$11.5
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.69	$2.69
🚬 Cigarette pack	$4.38	$15
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$1.23	$5.3
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.41	$3.77
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.29	$3.16
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.48	$1.82
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$39.8	$75.9
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$6.65	$9.64
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$19.1	$22.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$4.23	$4.32
👖 Brand Jeans	$58.4	$40.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$93.6	$84.5
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$796	$191
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$15185	$3305

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	$675
153 km or 95 mi	Chiang Rai	$581
255 km or 158 mi	Hpa-an	$601
258 km or 160 mi	Phitsanulok	$554
294 km or 183 mi	Mawlamyine	$575
306 km or 190 mi	Taunggyi	$549
308 km or 191 mi	Bago	$610
317 km or 197 mi	Naypyidaw	$627
353 km or 219 mi	Luang Prabang	$1261
363 km or 226 mi	Nakhon Sawan	$707
365 km or 227 mi	Vang Vieng	$1033
373 km or 232 mi	Yangon	$656
392 km or 244 mi	Vientiane	$968
404 km or 251 mi	Jinghong	$591
426 km or 265 mi	Udon Thani	$564
466 km or 289 mi	Mandalay	$555
485 km or 301 mi	Khon Kaen	$590
489 km or 304 mi	Pu'er	$616
503 km or 313 mi	Pathein	$721
537 km or 334 mi	Nakhon Ratchasima	$586
545 km or 339 mi	Monywa	$534
551 km or 342 mi	Tha Khlong	$671
561 km or 349 mi	Rangsit	$616
564 km or 351 mi	Nakhon Pathom	$603
566 km or 352 mi	Pak Kret	$762
571 km or 355 mi	Nonthaburi	$761
578 km or 359 mi	Lincang	$617
584 km or 363 mi	Bangkok	$996
597 km or 371 mi	Pu Chao Saming Phrai	$789
597 km or 371 mi	Lat Luang	$794
634 km or 394 mi	Thakhek	$968
641 km or 398 mi	Sa Pa	$553
656 km or 407 mi	Sittwe	$583
666 km or 414 mi	Chaophraya Surasak	$784
667 km or 415 mi	Laem Chabang	$799
681 km or 423 mi	Pattaya	$839
685 km or 426 mi	Nong Prue	$809
699 km or 435 mi	Hua Hin	$787
704 km or 438 mi	Baoshan	$617
707 km or 439 mi	Vinh	$583

Cities near Male

Distance	City	Cost of living
5.4 km or 3.4 mi	Hulhumale	$1387
610 km or 379 mi	Thiruvananthapuram	$342
618 km or 384 mi	Varkala	$291
621 km or 386 mi	Nagercoil	$261
624 km or 388 mi	Kollam	$243
687 km or 427 mi	Tirunelveli	$260
688 km or 428 mi	Kottayam	$268
713 km or 443 mi	Kochi	$372
714 km or 444 mi	Ernakulam	$329
724 km or 450 mi	Thoothukudi	$278
761 km or 473 mi	Beruwala	$582
763 km or 474 mi	Colombo	$683
766 km or 476 mi	Thrissur	$335
771 km or 479 mi	Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte	$597
772 km or 479 mi	Galle	$479
777 km or 483 mi	Negombo	$467
788 km or 490 mi	Gampaha	$381
803 km or 499 mi	Matara	$477
814 km or 506 mi	Malappuram	$259
817 km or 507 mi	Madurai	$342
825 km or 513 mi	Kozhikode	$315
843 km or 524 mi	Dindigul	$290
849 km or 528 mi	Coimbatore	$313
862 km or 535 mi	Kandy	$418
879 km or 546 mi	Kannur	$312
892 km or 554 mi	Anuradhapura	$538
899 km or 559 mi	Tiruppur	$330
922 km or 573 mi	Erode	$274
935 km or 581 mi	Tiruchirappalli	$297
964 km or 599 mi	Thanjavur	$275
968 km or 602 mi	Mysore	$332
977 km or 607 mi	Salem	$283
979 km or 608 mi	Mangalore	$379
983 km or 611 mi	Trincomalee	$522
1027 km or 638 mi	Udupi	$265
1076 km or 669 mi	Bangalore	$507
1087 km or 675 mi	Cuddalore	$294
1093 km or 679 mi	Tumkur	$303
1106 km or 688 mi	Shimoga	$318
1108 km or 688 mi	Pondicherry	$322