Cologne vs Thimphu - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Cologne	Thimphu
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1968	$420
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4619	$1031
🏠 One person rent	$1091	$152
🏘️ Family rent	$1830	$236
🍽️ Food expenses	$536	$174
🚐 Transport expenses	$196	$39.4
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3266	$544
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Bad
✈️ Airport proximity	15 km	22 km
🎓 Higher education	91	5
😀 Quality of life	96	42
🏙️ Population	1.09M	115K

The cost of living in Cologne is 369% more expensive than in Thimphu. Cities ranked 2104th and 8940th ($1968 vs $420) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 11th and 2nd in Germany and Bhutan, respectively. Check Germany vs Bhutan comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.7 months in Cologne compared to 1.3 months in Thimphu. Cologne ranked 1st best city to live in Germany vs Thimphu ranked 1st in Bhutan, while ranked 23rd and 7547th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Cologne vs Thimphu infographic

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Prices in Cologne vs Thimphu

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

	Cologne	Thimphu
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$15.4	$2.79
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$71.5	$17.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$11.3	$4.17
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$5.26	$2.28
☕ Cappuccino	$4.06	$1.77
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.38	$0.53
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1103	$168
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$870	$101
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1997	$255
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1478	$171
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$133	$17.1
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$206	$26.6
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$41.8	$20.9
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.8%	10.83%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6855	$600
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5848	$947
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$3.93	$1.71
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$67.6	$11.4
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$24	$18.7
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$2.03	$0.77
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.38	$0.82
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.03	$0.75
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.87	$0.61
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.16	$1.85
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.7	$4.81
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.6	$4.15
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$23.3	$4.17
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.25	$2.19
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.05	$1.46
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.17	$1.81
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.63	$0.73
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.73	$0.48
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.22	$0.58
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.77	$0.21
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.45	$1.03
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$7.3	$5.99
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.14	$0.67
🚬 Cigarette pack	$9.05	$3.72
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$8.07	$1.55
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$2.45	$3.54
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.93	$1.2
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.67	$0.62
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$40.3	$38.6
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$13.3	$3.16
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$54.3	$27.9
💇 Haircut, simple	$20.9	$3.19
👖 Brand Jeans	$98	$32
👟 Brand Sneakers	$109	$43.6
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$773	$235
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$19386	$653

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Cologne

Distance	City	Cost of living
9.2 km or 5.7 mi	Hurth	$1759
10 km or 6.4 mi	Leverkusen	$2037
10 km or 6.4 mi	Frechen	$1745
13 km or 7.9 mi	Bruhl	$1744
13 km or 7.9 mi	Pulheim	$1741
14 km or 8.4 mi	Wesseling	$1740
14 km or 8.5 mi	Bergisch Gladbach	$1726
15 km or 9.3 mi	Niederkassel	$1750
16 km or 10 mi	Rosrath	$1699
18 km or 11 mi	Monheim am Rhein	$1740
19 km or 12 mi	Dormagen	$1711
19 km or 12 mi	Erftstadt	$1702
19 km or 12 mi	Langenfeld	$1727
20 km or 12 mi	Troisdorf	$1736
20 km or 12 mi	Leichlingen	$1708
20 km or 12 mi	Kerpen	$1695
21 km or 13 mi	Bornheim	$1770
21 km or 13 mi	Lohmar	$1694
22 km or 14 mi	Bergheim	$1678
23 km or 15 mi	Siegburg	$1716
24 km or 15 mi	Overath	$1642
25 km or 16 mi	Sankt Augustin	$1747
25 km or 16 mi	Bonn	$1957
26 km or 16 mi	Hilden	$1674
26 km or 16 mi	Solingen	$1691
27 km or 17 mi	Elsdorf	$1654
28 km or 17 mi	Wermelskirchen	$1630
28 km or 17 mi	Haan	$1645
28 km or 18 mi	Bedburg	$1650
29 km or 18 mi	Hennef	$1666
31 km or 19 mi	Grevenbroich	$1659
31 km or 19 mi	Remscheid	$1608
31 km or 20 mi	Erkrath	$1661
33 km or 20 mi	Konigswinter	$1611
34 km or 21 mi	Euskirchen	$1674
34 km or 21 mi	Neuss	$1650
34 km or 21 mi	Mettmann	$1613
35 km or 21 mi	Zulpich	$1662
35 km or 21 mi	Meckenheim	$1689
35 km or 22 mi	Dusseldorf	$1979

Cities near Thimphu

Distance	City	Cost of living
22 km or 14 mi	Paro	$450
147 km or 91 mi	Siliguri	$297
196 km or 122 mi	Rangpur	$308
203 km or 126 mi	Saidpur	$311
211 km or 131 mi	Shigatse	$918
214 km or 133 mi	Damak	$316
257 km or 159 mi	Raiganj	$298
257 km or 160 mi	Guwahati	$348
258 km or 160 mi	Biratnagar	$321
259 km or 161 mi	Dispur	$338
266 km or 166 mi	Balurghat	$297
280 km or 174 mi	Lhasa	$981
287 km or 178 mi	Purnia	$284
294 km or 183 mi	Bogra	$287
308 km or 191 mi	Shillong	$354
313 km or 195 mi	Malda	$297
313 km or 195 mi	Mymensingh	$282
350 km or 217 mi	Saharsa	$281
360 km or 224 mi	Bhagalpur	$257
362 km or 225 mi	Rajshahi	$274
364 km or 226 mi	Sylhet	$321
377 km or 234 mi	Janakpur	$293
401 km or 249 mi	Berhampore	$294
413 km or 257 mi	Narsingdi	$352
418 km or 260 mi	Brahmanbaria	$332
421 km or 262 mi	Kathmandu	$427
424 km or 264 mi	Lalitpur	$350
426 km or 265 mi	Dhaka	$464
438 km or 272 mi	Agartala	$362
439 km or 273 mi	Narayanganj	$348
444 km or 276 mi	Muzaffarpur	$284
454 km or 282 mi	Hetauda	$293
468 km or 291 mi	Krishnanagar	$272
474 km or 295 mi	Birgunj	$328
482 km or 299 mi	Jessore	$300
486 km or 302 mi	Shantipur	$286
493 km or 306 mi	Patna	$320
495 km or 308 mi	Durgapur	$289
500 km or 311 mi	Asansol	$286
502 km or 312 mi	Kulti	$289