Gwangju vs Phuket - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Gwangju	Phuket
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1081	$1014
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2620	$2500
🏠 One person rent	$462	$544
🏘️ Family rent	$793	$932
🍽️ Food expenses	$422	$335
🚐 Transport expenses	$114	$32.8
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$2442	$944
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	11 km	27 km
🎓 Higher education	58	7
😀 Quality of life	87	57
🏙️ Population	1.49M	77.6K

The cost of living in Gwangju is 7% more expensive than in Phuket. Cities ranked 5038th and 5469th ($1081 vs $1014) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 26th and 1st in South Korea and Thailand, respectively. Check South Korea vs Thailand comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 2.3 months in Gwangju compared to 0.9 months in Phuket. Gwangju ranked 7th best city to live in South Korea vs Phuket ranked 5th in Thailand, while ranked 363rd and 6129th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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

Prices in Gwangju vs Phuket

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

	Gwangju	Phuket
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$6.64	$6.11
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$35.2	$41.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.63	$9.29
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.78	$2.15
☕ Cappuccino	$3.46	$3.04
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.32	$0.74
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$390	$595
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$307	$419
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$709	$1073
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$560	$738
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$119	$71.6
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$183	$109
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$19.6	$18.7
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.94%	5.28%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7419	$4256
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4877	$2916
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.88	$1.45
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$63.2	$23.4
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$7.55	$10.1
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.17	$1.31
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.74	$2.11
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.27	$1.67
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.64	$1.72
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.52	$2.23
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.98	$16.9
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.38	$4
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.9	$11.6
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.11	$2.83
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.79	$1.97
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.11	$2.37
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.4	$2.13
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.28	$1.6
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.35	$1.39
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.85	$0.34
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.69	$1.52
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$15.8	$21.4
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.52	$1.83
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.14	$4.3
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$8.13	$3.35
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.5	$2.43
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.24	$1.34
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.39	$1.44
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$45.4	$53.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$8.33	$8.54
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$34.8	$29
💇 Haircut, simple	$6.38	$5.6
👖 Brand Jeans	$47.8	$65.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$61.1	$115
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$253	$612
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$10915	$14328

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Gwangju

Distance	City	Cost of living
24 km or 15 mi	Naju	$1001
45 km or 28 mi	Jeongeup	$981
50 km or 31 mi	Namwon	$980
57 km or 36 mi	Suncheon	$1016
64 km or 39 mi	Mokpo	$1005
71 km or 44 mi	Gimje	$982
76 km or 47 mi	Gwangyang	$991
76 km or 47 mi	Jeonju	$831
82 km or 51 mi	Yeosu	$994
86 km or 54 mi	Iksan	$998
92 km or 57 mi	Gunsan	$1020
106 km or 66 mi	Jinju	$1064
116 km or 72 mi	Nonsan	$1046
127 km or 79 mi	Gyeryong	$976
131 km or 81 mi	Sacheon	$984
132 km or 82 mi	Asan	$1050
133 km or 82 mi	Boryeong	$1085
138 km or 86 mi	Daejeon	$959
142 km or 88 mi	Tongyeong	$934
145 km or 90 mi	Gongju	$1063
148 km or 92 mi	Masan	$1008
150 km or 93 mi	Sejong	$1020
151 km or 94 mi	Gimcheon	$934
156 km or 97 mi	Geoje	$913
158 km or 98 mi	Changwon	$1084
170 km or 106 mi	Miryang	$1038
171 km or 106 mi	Daegu	$1062
171 km or 107 mi	Cheongju	$924
174 km or 108 mi	Gumi	$949
179 km or 111 mi	Sangju	$957
179 km or 111 mi	Gimhae	$975
180 km or 112 mi	Gyeongsan	$1001
184 km or 114 mi	Cheonan	$1153
184 km or 115 mi	Seosan	$1068
188 km or 117 mi	Jeju	$1069
193 km or 120 mi	Busan	$1108
194 km or 120 mi	Yangsan	$1039
194 km or 120 mi	Dangjin	$1059
196 km or 122 mi	Mungyeong	$973
203 km or 126 mi	Jeju Island	$1100

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