Dhaka vs Thimphu - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Dhaka	Thimphu
🚶 Cost of living one person	$430	$422
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1093	$1047
🏠 One person rent	$118	$145
🏘️ Family rent	$238	$225
🍽️ Food expenses	$194	$176
🚐 Transport expenses	$80.1	$46
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$274	$550
😷 Air quality	Unhealthy	Bad
✈️ Airport proximity	14 km	22 km
🎓 Higher education	72	5
😀 Quality of life	54	34
🏙️ Population	16.8M	115K

The cost of living in Dhaka is 2% more expensive than in Thimphu. Cities ranked 8899th and 8915th ($430 vs $422) 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 0.6 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 5971st and 7592nd among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Dhaka vs Thimphu 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/dhaka/thimphu.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Dhaka vs Thimphu infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/dhaka/thimphu" target="_blank">Dhaka vs Thimphu - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

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	$1.89	$3.18
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$12.4	$17.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.54	$4.04
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$4.23	$2.3
☕ Cappuccino	$2.06	$1.86
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.31	$0.54
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$123	$159
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$73.8	$94.7
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$290	$250
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$168	$161
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$21.6	$16.8
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$33.3	$25.6
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$12.5	$20.7
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	10.62%	10.76%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$963	$605
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$528	$920
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.41	$1.48
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$21.5	$27.1
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$4.43	$19.4
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.01	$0.91
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.77	$0.84
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.66	$0.77
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.62	$0.72
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.3	$2.02
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.37	$4.92
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.32	$4.2
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.55	$4.11
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.57	$2.1
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.08	$1.4
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.46	$1.77
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.87	$0.77
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.51	$0.48
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.92	$0.55
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.19	$0.21
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.14	$1.06
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$9.86	$4.94
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.46	$0.73
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.86	$3.79
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$3.55	$1.58
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.89	$3.59
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$0.78	$1.25
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.66	$0.65
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$17.3	$38.9
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.04	$3.23
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$11.9	$28.8
💇 Haircut, simple	$2.37	$3.27
👖 Brand Jeans	$18.5	$32
👟 Brand Sneakers	$40.3	$43.9
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$47.4	$239
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$1681	$666

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	$309
38 km or 24 mi	Narsingdi	$295
77 km or 48 mi	Brahmanbaria	$297
90 km or 56 mi	Agartala	$367
113 km or 70 mi	Barisal	$287
115 km or 71 mi	Mymensingh	$264
132 km or 82 mi	Khulna	$303
135 km or 84 mi	Jessore	$289
164 km or 102 mi	Bogra	$280
196 km or 122 mi	Rajshahi	$274
196 km or 122 mi	Krishnanagar	$281
199 km or 124 mi	Sylhet	$305
207 km or 129 mi	Shantipur	$294
213 km or 132 mi	Chittagong	$351
221 km or 137 mi	Naihati	$328
222 km or 138 mi	Berhampore	$304
223 km or 139 mi	Bhatpara	$337
224 km or 139 mi	Hugli-Chuchura	$327
226 km or 141 mi	Chandannagar	$327
228 km or 142 mi	Rajarhat	$347
229 km or 142 mi	Madhyamgram	$334
234 km or 145 mi	Barrackpore	$329
234 km or 146 mi	North Dumdum	$337
235 km or 146 mi	Balurghat	$307
236 km or 147 mi	Serampore	$330
236 km or 147 mi	Aizawl	$478
236 km or 147 mi	Panihati	$338
238 km or 148 mi	Kamarhati	$336
238 km or 148 mi	South Dumdum	$345
238 km or 148 mi	Bidhannagar	$355
239 km or 149 mi	Baranagar	$333
239 km or 149 mi	Uttarpara	$327
241 km or 150 mi	Bally	$331
247 km or 154 mi	Howrah	$332
248 km or 154 mi	Kolkata	$404
248 km or 154 mi	Rajpur Sonarpur	$354
254 km or 158 mi	Rangpur	$296
255 km or 159 mi	Shillong	$408
259 km or 161 mi	Barasat	$350
265 km or 165 mi	Bardhaman	$314

Cities near Thimphu

Distance	City	Cost of living
22 km or 14 mi	Paro	$459
147 km or 91 mi	Siliguri	$312
196 km or 122 mi	Rangpur	$296
203 km or 126 mi	Saidpur	$296
211 km or 131 mi	Shigatse	$900
214 km or 133 mi	Damak	$317
257 km or 159 mi	Raiganj	$309
257 km or 160 mi	Guwahati	$342
258 km or 160 mi	Biratnagar	$323
259 km or 161 mi	Dispur	$335
266 km or 166 mi	Balurghat	$307
280 km or 174 mi	Lhasa	$963
287 km or 178 mi	Purnia	$300
294 km or 183 mi	Bogra	$280
308 km or 191 mi	Shillong	$408
313 km or 195 mi	Malda	$308
313 km or 195 mi	Mymensingh	$264
350 km or 217 mi	Saharsa	$292
360 km or 224 mi	Bhagalpur	$282
362 km or 225 mi	Rajshahi	$274
364 km or 226 mi	Sylhet	$305
377 km or 234 mi	Janakpur	$292
401 km or 249 mi	Berhampore	$304
413 km or 257 mi	Narsingdi	$295
418 km or 260 mi	Brahmanbaria	$297
421 km or 262 mi	Kathmandu	$419
424 km or 264 mi	Lalitpur	$341
426 km or 265 mi	Dhaka	$430
438 km or 272 mi	Agartala	$367
439 km or 273 mi	Narayanganj	$309
444 km or 276 mi	Muzaffarpur	$288
454 km or 282 mi	Hetauda	$294
468 km or 291 mi	Krishnanagar	$281
474 km or 295 mi	Birgunj	$321
482 km or 299 mi	Jessore	$289
486 km or 302 mi	Shantipur	$294
493 km or 306 mi	Patna	$316
495 km or 308 mi	Durgapur	$292
500 km or 311 mi	Asansol	$299
502 km or 312 mi	Kulti	$300