Dhaka vs Thimphu - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Dhaka	Thimphu
🚶 Cost of living one person	$464	$420
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1123	$1031
🏠 One person rent	$141	$152
🏘️ Family rent	$240	$236
🍽️ Food expenses	$202	$174
🚐 Transport expenses	$80.7	$39.4
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$181	$544
😷 Air quality	Unhealthy	Bad
✈️ Airport proximity	14 km	22 km
🎓 Higher education	73	5
😀 Quality of life	57	42
🏙️ Population	16.8M	115K

The cost of living in Dhaka is 11% more expensive than in Thimphu. Cities ranked 8829th and 8940th ($464 vs $420) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 2nd in Bangladesh and Bhutan, respectively. Check Bangladesh vs Bhutan comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.4 months in Dhaka compared to 1.3 months in Thimphu. Dhaka ranked 1st best city to live in Bangladesh vs Thimphu ranked 1st in Bhutan, while ranked 6151st and 7547th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Dhaka vs Thimphu infographic

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Prices in Dhaka vs Thimphu

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

	Dhaka	Thimphu
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$2.14	$2.79
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$12.2	$17.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.03	$4.17
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$5.09	$2.28
☕ Cappuccino	$2.34	$1.77
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.37	$0.53
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$149	$168
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$95.5	$101
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$274	$255
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$172	$171
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$22.7	$17.1
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$35.1	$26.6
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$12.5	$20.9
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.01%	10.83%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$939	$600
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$535	$947
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.41	$1.71
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$22.3	$11.4
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$4.36	$18.7
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1	$0.77
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.78	$0.82
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.6	$0.75
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.64	$0.61
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.2	$1.85
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.02	$4.81
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.38	$4.15
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.6	$4.17
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.76	$2.19
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.08	$1.46
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.67	$1.81
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.71	$0.73
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.35	$0.48
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.49	$0.58
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.19	$0.21
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.13	$1.03
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$10.6	$5.99
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.92	$0.67
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.15	$3.72
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$3.3	$1.55
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.47	$3.54
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$0.88	$1.2
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.88	$0.62
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$19.7	$38.6
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.04	$3.16
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$12.1	$27.9
💇 Haircut, simple	$2.15	$3.19
👖 Brand Jeans	$18.7	$32
👟 Brand Sneakers	$46.2	$43.6
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$57.7	$235
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$1844	$653

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Dhaka

Distance	City	Cost of living
15 km or 9.5 mi	Narayanganj	$348
38 km or 24 mi	Narsingdi	$352
77 km or 48 mi	Brahmanbaria	$332
90 km or 56 mi	Agartala	$362
113 km or 70 mi	Barisal	$312
115 km or 71 mi	Mymensingh	$282
132 km or 82 mi	Khulna	$301
135 km or 84 mi	Jessore	$300
164 km or 102 mi	Bogra	$287
196 km or 122 mi	Rajshahi	$274
196 km or 122 mi	Krishnanagar	$272
199 km or 124 mi	Sylhet	$321
207 km or 129 mi	Shantipur	$286
213 km or 132 mi	Chittagong	$358
221 km or 137 mi	Naihati	$313
222 km or 138 mi	Berhampore	$294
223 km or 139 mi	Bhatpara	$320
224 km or 139 mi	Hugli-Chuchura	$312
226 km or 141 mi	Chandannagar	$313
228 km or 142 mi	Rajarhat	$328
229 km or 142 mi	Madhyamgram	$317
234 km or 145 mi	Barrackpore	$315
234 km or 146 mi	North Dumdum	$320
235 km or 146 mi	Balurghat	$297
236 km or 147 mi	Serampore	$315
236 km or 147 mi	Aizawl	$456
236 km or 147 mi	Panihati	$324
238 km or 148 mi	Kamarhati	$320
238 km or 148 mi	South Dumdum	$327
238 km or 148 mi	Bidhannagar	$335
239 km or 149 mi	Baranagar	$318
239 km or 149 mi	Uttarpara	$312
241 km or 150 mi	Bally	$318
247 km or 154 mi	Howrah	$323
248 km or 154 mi	Kolkata	$366
248 km or 154 mi	Rajpur Sonarpur	$332
254 km or 158 mi	Rangpur	$308
255 km or 159 mi	Shillong	$354
259 km or 161 mi	Barasat	$333
265 km or 165 mi	Bardhaman	$302

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