Kathmandu vs Thimphu - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 10, 2024

	Kathmandu	Thimphu
🚶 Cost of living one person	$443	$387
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1153	$1009
🏠 One person rent	$147	$122
🏘️ Family rent	$283	$227
🍽️ Food expenses	$188	$177
🚐 Transport expenses	$62.3	$32.7
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$231	$570
😷 Air quality	Bad	Bad
✈️ Airport proximity	2 km	22 km
🎓 Higher education	28	5
😀 Quality of life	45	50
🏙️ Population	846K	115K

The cost of living in Kathmandu is 14% more expensive than in Thimphu. Cities ranked 8885th and 9013th ($443 vs $387) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 2nd in Nepal and Bhutan, respectively. Check Nepal vs Bhutan comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.5 months in Kathmandu compared to 1.5 months in Thimphu. Kathmandu ranked 1st best city to live in Nepal vs Thimphu ranked 1st in Bhutan, while ranked 6524th and 6232nd among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Kathmandu vs Thimphu infographic

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Prices in Kathmandu vs Thimphu

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

	Kathmandu	Thimphu
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$1.48	$2.99
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$22.2	$16.2
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$6.71	$3
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.63	$6.45
☕ Cappuccino	$1.71	$1.54
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.48	$0.56
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$180	$119
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$97.7	$65.3
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$359	$222
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$208	$161
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$22.3	$13.9
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$34.1	$21.3
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$10.6	$32.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	12.76%	9.56%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2306	$625
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1201	$869
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.22	$1.52
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$8.86	$4
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$11.3	$15.4
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.28	$1.04
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.85	$0.85
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.57	$0.97
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.9	$0.74
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.6	$2.25
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.7	$3.43
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.29	$3.93
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.35	$4.33
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.41	$2.39
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.04	$1.47
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.22	$1.82
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.72	$0.82
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.49	$0.51
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.66	$0.57
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.17	$0.22
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.82	$1.07
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$5.99	$3.55
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.21	$0.73
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.96	$3.92
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$1.3	$1.64
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$2.65	$3.7
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$0.95	$1.27
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.73	$0.66
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$23.5	$49.6
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$3.33	$3.6
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$15.9	$29.9
💇 Haircut, simple	$2.84	$3.33
👖 Brand Jeans	$25.5	$33.2
👟 Brand Sneakers	$53.3	$32.8
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$87.7	$251
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$4063	$691

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Kathmandu

Distance	City	Cost of living
5 km or 3.1 mi	Lalitpur	$350
47 km or 29 mi	Hetauda	$311
94 km or 58 mi	Birgunj	$335
124 km or 77 mi	Janakpur	$321
146 km or 91 mi	Pokhara	$377
183 km or 114 mi	Muzaffarpur	$294
222 km or 138 mi	Gorakhpur	$306
234 km or 145 mi	Biratnagar	$339
235 km or 146 mi	Patna	$356
238 km or 148 mi	Saharsa	$297
261 km or 162 mi	Damak	$331
300 km or 186 mi	Purnia	$303
320 km or 199 mi	Bhagalpur	$268
322 km or 200 mi	Siliguri	$314
332 km or 206 mi	Gaya	$337
346 km or 215 mi	Jaunpur	$331
355 km or 220 mi	Varanasi	$316
359 km or 223 mi	Raiganj	$312
384 km or 239 mi	Shigatse	$930
398 km or 247 mi	Mirzapur	$365
400 km or 249 mi	Paro	$455
410 km or 255 mi	Malda	$311
411 km or 256 mi	Saidpur	$293
421 km or 262 mi	Thimphu	$387
431 km or 268 mi	Allahabad	$461
438 km or 272 mi	Balurghat	$311
443 km or 275 mi	Rangpur	$298
447 km or 278 mi	Lucknow	$393
449 km or 279 mi	Dhanbad	$285
468 km or 291 mi	Kulti	$284
476 km or 296 mi	Asansol	$273
479 km or 298 mi	Dhangadhi	$396
485 km or 301 mi	Ranchi	$396
493 km or 306 mi	Rajshahi	$279
495 km or 307 mi	Berhampore	$309
503 km or 313 mi	Durgapur	$288
510 km or 317 mi	Bheemdatta	$379
510 km or 317 mi	Bogra	$282
517 km or 321 mi	Kanpur	$329
553 km or 344 mi	Jamshedpur	$330

Cities near Thimphu

Distance	City	Cost of living
22 km or 14 mi	Paro	$455
147 km or 91 mi	Siliguri	$314
196 km or 122 mi	Rangpur	$298
203 km or 126 mi	Saidpur	$293
211 km or 131 mi	Shigatse	$930
214 km or 133 mi	Damak	$331
257 km or 159 mi	Raiganj	$312
257 km or 160 mi	Guwahati	$370
258 km or 160 mi	Biratnagar	$339
259 km or 161 mi	Dispur	$359
266 km or 166 mi	Balurghat	$311
280 km or 174 mi	Lhasa	$997
287 km or 178 mi	Purnia	$303
294 km or 183 mi	Bogra	$282
308 km or 191 mi	Shillong	$390
313 km or 195 mi	Malda	$311
313 km or 195 mi	Mymensingh	$256
350 km or 217 mi	Saharsa	$297
360 km or 224 mi	Bhagalpur	$268
362 km or 225 mi	Rajshahi	$279
364 km or 226 mi	Sylhet	$296
377 km or 234 mi	Janakpur	$321
401 km or 249 mi	Berhampore	$309
413 km or 257 mi	Narsingdi	$271
418 km or 260 mi	Brahmanbaria	$290
421 km or 262 mi	Kathmandu	$443
424 km or 264 mi	Lalitpur	$350
426 km or 265 mi	Dhaka	$428
438 km or 272 mi	Agartala	$380
439 km or 273 mi	Narayanganj	$301
444 km or 276 mi	Muzaffarpur	$294
454 km or 282 mi	Hetauda	$311
468 km or 291 mi	Krishnanagar	$294
474 km or 295 mi	Birgunj	$335
482 km or 299 mi	Jessore	$290
486 km or 302 mi	Shantipur	$307
493 km or 306 mi	Patna	$356
495 km or 308 mi	Durgapur	$288
500 km or 311 mi	Asansol	$273
502 km or 312 mi	Kulti	$284