Dushanbe vs Thimphu - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Dushanbe	Thimphu
🚶 Cost of living one person	$712	$420
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1759	$1031
🏠 One person rent	$316	$152
🏘️ Family rent	$549	$236
🍽️ Food expenses	$259	$174
🚐 Transport expenses	$36.1	$39.4
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$140	$544
😷 Air quality	Bad	Bad
✈️ Airport proximity	5 km	22 km
🎓 Higher education	35	5
😀 Quality of life	42	42
🏙️ Population	863K	115K

The cost of living in Dushanbe is 70% more expensive than in Thimphu. Cities ranked 7031st and 8940th ($712 vs $420) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 2nd in Tajikistan and Bhutan, respectively. Check Tajikistan vs Bhutan comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.2 months in Dushanbe compared to 1.3 months in Thimphu. Dushanbe ranked 1st best city to live in Tajikistan vs Thimphu ranked 1st in Bhutan, while ranked 7474th and 7547th among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Dushanbe vs Thimphu infographic

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Prices in Dushanbe vs Thimphu

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

	Dushanbe	Thimphu
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$5.97	$2.79
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$15.2	$17.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$8.96	$4.17
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.08	$2.28
☕ Cappuccino	$1.99	$1.77
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.6	$0.53
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$402	$168
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$229	$101
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$739	$255
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$413	$171
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$34.4	$17.1
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$52.9	$26.6
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$17.6	$20.9
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	25.66%	10.83%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1032	$600
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$658	$947
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.27	$1.71
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$10.8	$11.4
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$3.69	$18.7
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.11	$0.77
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.06	$0.82
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.57	$0.75
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.16	$0.61
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.83	$1.85
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.9	$4.81
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.67	$4.15
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.2	$4.17
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.83	$2.19
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.02	$1.46
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.07	$1.81
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.31	$0.73
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.72	$0.48
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.56	$0.58
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.37	$0.21
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.39	$1.03
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$10.3	$5.99
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.54	$0.67
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.25	$3.72
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$1.92	$1.55
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.34	$3.54
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$0.96	$1.2
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.71	$0.62
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$42.3	$38.6
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$5.46	$3.16
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$85.8	$27.9
💇 Haircut, simple	$4.29	$3.19
👖 Brand Jeans	$33.1	$32
👟 Brand Sneakers	$81.5	$43.6
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$108	$235
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$7848	$653

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Dushanbe

Distance	City	Cost of living
49 km or 30 mi	Tursunzoda	$680
82 km or 51 mi	Qurghonteppa	$684
145 km or 90 mi	Panjakent	$674
150 km or 93 mi	Istaravshan	$658
190 km or 118 mi	Jizzakh	$555
198 km or 123 mi	Samarkand	$475
200 km or 124 mi	Ghafurov	$600
201 km or 125 mi	Buston	$650
203 km or 126 mi	Khujand	$603
205 km or 127 mi	Kunduz	$428
234 km or 145 mi	Istiklol	$620
236 km or 147 mi	Konibodom	$626
255 km or 158 mi	Mazar-i-Sharif	$470
261 km or 162 mi	Qarshi	$512
292 km or 181 mi	Puli Khumri	$404
306 km or 190 mi	Tashkent	$844
327 km or 203 mi	Fergana	$680
328 km or 204 mi	Margilan	$648
329 km or 204 mi	Chirchiq	$754
341 km or 212 mi	Sheberghan	$432
365 km or 227 mi	Namangan	$562
386 km or 240 mi	Andijan	$451
399 km or 248 mi	Bukhara	$433
406 km or 252 mi	Osh	$549
420 km or 261 mi	Shymkent	$525
445 km or 276 mi	Jalal-Abad	$585
451 km or 280 mi	Kabul	$458
456 km or 283 mi	Turkmenabat	$1716
484 km or 301 mi	Jalalabad	$354
511 km or 318 mi	Toktogul	$615
526 km or 327 mi	Taraz	$445
526 km or 327 mi	Talas	$532
528 km or 328 mi	Turkistan	$480
529 km or 329 mi	Mingora	$351
550 km or 342 mi	Kentau	$468
555 km or 345 mi	Gardez	$401
560 km or 348 mi	Ghazni	$396
564 km or 350 mi	Peshawar	$334
566 km or 352 mi	Mardan	$354
591 km or 367 mi	Khost	$393

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