Dubai vs Phuket - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Dubai	Phuket
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2514	$1014
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5509	$2500
🏠 One person rent	$1723	$544
🏘️ Family rent	$3020	$932
🍽️ Food expenses	$455	$335
🚐 Transport expenses	$184	$32.8
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4067	$944
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	6 km	27 km
🎓 Higher education	65	7
😀 Quality of life	91	57
🏙️ Population	3.94M	77.6K

The cost of living in Dubai is 148% more expensive than in Phuket. Cities ranked 848th and 5469th ($2514 vs $1014) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 2nd 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 1.6 months in Dubai compared to 0.9 months in Phuket. Dubai ranked 1st best city to live in the United Arab Emirates vs Phuket ranked 5th in Thailand, while ranked 158th and 6129th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Dubai vs Phuket infographic

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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	$10.3	$6.11
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$68.2	$41.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.32	$9.29
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$12.9	$2.15
☕ Cappuccino	$5.8	$3.04
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.14	$0.74
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$2095	$595
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1336	$419
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3716	$1073
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2461	$738
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$138	$71.6
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$211	$109
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$96.1	$18.7
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	4.52%	5.28%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7516	$4256
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3977	$2916
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.62	$1.45
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$86.3	$23.4
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$9.15	$10.1
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.77	$1.31
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.92	$2.11
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.43	$1.67
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.1	$1.72
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.47	$2.23
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.8	$16.9
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.16	$4
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.2	$11.6
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.38	$2.83
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.9	$1.97
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.73	$2.37
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.53	$2.13
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.2	$1.6
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.11	$1.39
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.44	$0.34
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.94	$1.52
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$16.4	$21.4
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.62	$1.83
🚬 Cigarette pack	$6.12	$4.3
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$8.15	$3.35
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.73	$2.43
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.6	$1.34
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.44	$1.44
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$81.6	$53.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$14.6	$8.54
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$77.7	$29
💇 Haircut, simple	$8.82	$5.6
👖 Brand Jeans	$78.3	$65.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$122	$115
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$857	$612
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$15029	$14328

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	$1419
22 km or 14 mi	Ajman	$2521
41 km or 25 mi	Umm al-Quwain	$1183
104 km or 65 mi	Fujairah	$1228
108 km or 67 mi	Ras al-Khaimah	$1398
126 km or 78 mi	Al Ain	$1449
129 km or 80 mi	Abu Dhabi	$1942
234 km or 146 mi	Bandar Abbas	$632
246 km or 153 mi	Madinat Zayed	$1730
339 km or 211 mi	Seeb	$1078
344 km or 214 mi	Nizwa	$792
380 km or 236 mi	Doha	$1849
380 km or 236 mi	Muscat	$1081
385 km or 239 mi	Al Khor	$1770
399 km or 248 mi	Jahrom	$530
440 km or 273 mi	Fasa	$529
449 km or 279 mi	Jiroft	$568
466 km or 290 mi	Sirjan	$534
485 km or 301 mi	Manama	$1237
486 km or 302 mi	Riffa	$1201
487 km or 303 mi	Isa Town	$1230
523 km or 325 mi	Bam	$557
528 km or 328 mi	Dhahran	$908
534 km or 332 mi	Chabahar	$573
537 km or 334 mi	Dammam	$1008
554 km or 345 mi	Shiraz	$553
560 km or 348 mi	Qatif	$873
568 km or 353 mi	Al-Mubarraz	$806
568 km or 353 mi	Marvdasht	$530
574 km or 357 mi	Rafsanjan	$604
578 km or 359 mi	Iranshahr	$624
584 km or 363 mi	Kerman	$761
595 km or 370 mi	Jubail	$930
601 km or 373 mi	Borazjan	$477
603 km or 375 mi	Kazerun	$503
604 km or 375 mi	Bushehr	$453
703 km or 437 mi	Yasuj	$463
721 km or 448 mi	Zahedan	$808
743 km or 461 mi	Yazd	$545
773 km or 481 mi	Behbahan	$483

Cities near Phuket

Distance	City	Cost of living
48 km or 30 mi	Ao Nang	$773
60 km or 38 mi	Krabi	$854
76 km or 47 mi	Ko Lanta	$807
173 km or 107 mi	Surat Thani	$593
183 km or 114 mi	Nakhon Si Thammarat	$810
185 km or 115 mi	Ko Lipe	$756
231 km or 143 mi	Langkawi	$592
248 km or 154 mi	Hat Yai	$592
248 km or 154 mi	Ko Samui	$741
256 km or 159 mi	Kangar	$570
269 km or 167 mi	Ko Pha-ngan	$765
289 km or 180 mi	Ko Tao	$812
293 km or 182 mi	Alor Setar	$509
331 km or 206 mi	Lhokseumawe	$423
339 km or 211 mi	Sungai Petani	$653
348 km or 216 mi	George Town	$754
352 km or 219 mi	Butterworth	$701
384 km or 238 mi	Langsa	$449
425 km or 264 mi	Taiping	$552
428 km or 266 mi	Banda Aceh	$386
468 km or 291 mi	Kota Bharu	$517
470 km or 292 mi	Ipoh	$657
470 km or 292 mi	Medan	$466
477 km or 296 mi	Binjai	$460
507 km or 315 mi	Myeik	$553
514 km or 319 mi	Tebing Tinggi	$461
517 km or 321 mi	Teluk Intan	$654
548 km or 340 mi	Hua Hin	$724
553 km or 344 mi	Pematangsiantar	$472
569 km or 353 mi	Tanjungbalai	$488
596 km or 370 mi	Kuala Terengganu	$534
625 km or 388 mi	Nong Prue	$787
625 km or 389 mi	Pattaya	$812
637 km or 396 mi	Klang	$704
637 km or 396 mi	Shah Alam	$681
638 km or 396 mi	Sihanoukville	$763
638 km or 396 mi	Ko Chang	$708
639 km or 397 mi	Petaling Jaya	$731
641 km or 398 mi	Laem Chabang	$779
641 km or 398 mi	Kuala Lumpur	$866