Dubai vs Phuket - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Dubai	Phuket
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2420	$1059
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5315	$2644
🏠 One person rent	$1634	$573
🏘️ Family rent	$2835	$1004
🍽️ Food expenses	$459	$352
🚐 Transport expenses	$182	$34.3
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4093	$801
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	6 km	27 km
🎓 Higher education	66	8
😀 Quality of life	90	56
🏙️ Population	3.94M	77.6K

The cost of living in Dubai is 128% more expensive than in Phuket. Cities ranked 1039th and 5233rd ($2420 vs $1059) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 1st in the United Arab Emirates and Thailand, respectively. Check the United Arab Emirates vs Thailand comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.7 months in Dubai compared to 0.8 months in Phuket. Dubai ranked 1st best city to live in the United Arab Emirates vs Phuket ranked 8th in Thailand, while ranked 203rd and 6325th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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Prices in Dubai vs Phuket

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

	Dubai	Phuket
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$10.2	$6.74
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$69.2	$47.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.33	$9.77
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$13.5	$2.26
☕ Cappuccino	$6.31	$3.26
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.3	$0.78
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1988	$632
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1244	$446
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3617	$1154
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2237	$805
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$148	$70.1
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$227	$109
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$94	$19.5
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	4.46%	5.58%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7290	$4350
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4052	$3066
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.64	$1.55
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$83	$23.7
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$9.52	$10.8
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.75	$1.35
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.89	$2.04
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.39	$1.8
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.08	$1.77
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.73	$2.27
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.2	$18.5
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.09	$3.44
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.6	$11.6
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.52	$3.19
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.85	$2.11
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.83	$2.4
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.49	$2.36
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.14	$1.56
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.07	$1.48
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.4	$0.39
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.86	$1.41
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$18	$20.8
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.57	$1.9
🚬 Cigarette pack	$6.2	$4.71
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$8.2	$3.45
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$6.05	$2.5
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3	$1.38
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.08	$1.51
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$72.5	$62.5
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$14.1	$8.3
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$75.5	$30.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$10.2	$5.55
👖 Brand Jeans	$72.2	$68
👟 Brand Sneakers	$106	$99.9
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$829	$652
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$16876	$16566

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Dubai

Distance	City	Cost of living
13 km or 8 mi	Sharjah	$1473
22 km or 14 mi	Ajman	$2183
41 km or 25 mi	Umm al-Quwain	$1148
104 km or 65 mi	Fujairah	$1214
108 km or 67 mi	Ras al-Khaimah	$1373
126 km or 78 mi	Al Ain	$1457
129 km or 80 mi	Abu Dhabi	$2070
234 km or 146 mi	Bandar Abbas	$635
246 km or 153 mi	Madinat Zayed	$1710
339 km or 211 mi	Seeb	$1080
344 km or 214 mi	Nizwa	$796
380 km or 236 mi	Doha	$2014
380 km or 236 mi	Muscat	$1135
385 km or 239 mi	Al Khor	$1923
399 km or 248 mi	Jahrom	$545
440 km or 273 mi	Fasa	$541
449 km or 279 mi	Jiroft	$575
466 km or 290 mi	Sirjan	$545
485 km or 301 mi	Manama	$1309
486 km or 302 mi	Riffa	$1109
487 km or 303 mi	Isa Town	$1192
523 km or 325 mi	Bam	$563
528 km or 328 mi	Dhahran	$931
534 km or 332 mi	Chabahar	$575
537 km or 334 mi	Dammam	$1037
554 km or 345 mi	Shiraz	$565
560 km or 348 mi	Qatif	$823
568 km or 353 mi	Al-Mubarraz	$793
568 km or 353 mi	Marvdasht	$547
574 km or 357 mi	Rafsanjan	$613
578 km or 359 mi	Iranshahr	$627
584 km or 363 mi	Kerman	$761
595 km or 370 mi	Jubail	$928
601 km or 373 mi	Borazjan	$489
603 km or 375 mi	Kazerun	$523
604 km or 375 mi	Bushehr	$465
703 km or 437 mi	Yasuj	$487
721 km or 448 mi	Zahedan	$813
743 km or 461 mi	Yazd	$565
773 km or 481 mi	Behbahan	$492

Cities near Phuket

Distance	City	Cost of living
48 km or 30 mi	Ao Nang	$808
60 km or 38 mi	Krabi	$891
76 km or 47 mi	Ko Lanta	$846
173 km or 107 mi	Surat Thani	$612
183 km or 114 mi	Nakhon Si Thammarat	$834
185 km or 115 mi	Ko Lipe	$790
231 km or 143 mi	Langkawi	$634
248 km or 154 mi	Hat Yai	$622
248 km or 154 mi	Ko Samui	$782
256 km or 159 mi	Kangar	$628
269 km or 167 mi	Ko Pha-ngan	$805
289 km or 180 mi	Ko Tao	$845
293 km or 182 mi	Alor Setar	$564
331 km or 206 mi	Lhokseumawe	$438
339 km or 211 mi	Sungai Petani	$663
348 km or 216 mi	George Town	$792
352 km or 219 mi	Butterworth	$740
384 km or 238 mi	Langsa	$451
425 km or 264 mi	Taiping	$572
428 km or 266 mi	Banda Aceh	$407
468 km or 291 mi	Kota Bharu	$551
470 km or 292 mi	Ipoh	$696
470 km or 292 mi	Medan	$461
477 km or 296 mi	Binjai	$458
507 km or 315 mi	Myeik	$562
514 km or 319 mi	Tebing Tinggi	$461
517 km or 321 mi	Teluk Intan	$701
548 km or 340 mi	Hua Hin	$784
553 km or 344 mi	Pematangsiantar	$470
569 km or 353 mi	Tanjungbalai	$485
596 km or 370 mi	Kuala Terengganu	$572
625 km or 388 mi	Nong Prue	$846
625 km or 389 mi	Pattaya	$874
637 km or 396 mi	Klang	$762
637 km or 396 mi	Shah Alam	$750
638 km or 396 mi	Sihanoukville	$764
638 km or 396 mi	Ko Chang	$763
639 km or 397 mi	Petaling Jaya	$813
641 km or 398 mi	Laem Chabang	$838
641 km or 398 mi	Kuala Lumpur	$981