Medan vs Pattaya - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Medan	Pattaya
🚶 Cost of living one person	$461	$874
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1179	$2115
🏠 One person rent	$185	$463
🏘️ Family rent	$299	$800
🍽️ Food expenses	$174	$296
🚐 Transport expenses	$34	$31.1
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$230	$487
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	32 km
🎓 Higher education	55	31
😀 Quality of life	48	59
🏙️ Population	2.11M	120K

The cost of living in Medan is 47% less expensive than in Pattaya. Cities ranked 8850th and 6471st ($461 vs $874) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 48th and 4th in Indonesia and Thailand, respectively. Check Indonesia vs Thailand comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.5 months in Medan compared to 0.6 months in Pattaya. Medan ranked 14th best city to live in Indonesia vs Pattaya ranked 3rd in Thailand, while ranked 6907th and 6065th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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Prices in Medan vs Pattaya

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

	Medan	Pattaya
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$1.73	$3.85
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$11.3	$32.7
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$3.13	$9.69
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.74	$2.44
☕ Cappuccino	$1.8	$2.25
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.39	$0.87
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$169	$543
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$101	$349
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$308	$1002
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$179	$618
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$43.1	$55.3
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$66.3	$85.7
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$28.1	$19.7
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	9.23%	5.41%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1205	$2865
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$591	$1743
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.3	$0.32
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$8.11	$21.2
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$2.58	$11
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.75	$1.32
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.24	$1.72
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.17	$1.49
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.95	$1.46
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.42	$2.18
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.93	$16.8
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.46	$3.11
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.63	$9.85
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.54	$3.53
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.1	$1.48
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.53	$1.88
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.9	$1.84
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.81	$1.41
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.42	$1.16
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.31	$0.35
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.09	$1.18
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$7.62	$16.1
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.56	$1.78
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.72	$4.75
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$1.92	$2.83
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$2.34	$4.7
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$0.8	$1.77
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.75	$1.38
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$19.7	$46.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$3.37	$8.36
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$14.1	$28.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$2.66	$4.13
👖 Brand Jeans	$55.4	$34.2
👟 Brand Sneakers	$102	$98.3
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$122	$340
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$9091	$12044

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Medan

Distance	City	Cost of living
21 km or 13 mi	Binjai	$458
67 km or 41 mi	Tebing Tinggi	$461
90 km or 56 mi	Pematangsiantar	$470
119 km or 74 mi	Langsa	$451
148 km or 92 mi	Tanjungbalai	$485
238 km or 148 mi	Lhokseumawe	$438
264 km or 164 mi	Teluk Intan	$701
264 km or 164 mi	Taiping	$572
264 km or 164 mi	Padangsidempuan	$558
268 km or 166 mi	George Town	$792
269 km or 167 mi	Butterworth	$740
286 km or 178 mi	Ipoh	$696
298 km or 185 mi	Sungai Petani	$663
307 km or 191 mi	Gunungsitoli	$551
317 km or 197 mi	Klang	$762
322 km or 200 mi	Ko Lipe	$790
324 km or 201 mi	Langkawi	$634
325 km or 202 mi	Shah Alam	$750
331 km or 206 mi	Alor Setar	$564
332 km or 206 mi	Subang Jaya	$831
332 km or 206 mi	Petaling Jaya	$813
341 km or 212 mi	Kuala Lumpur	$981
342 km or 212 mi	Cyberjaya	$664
345 km or 215 mi	Putrajaya	$627
352 km or 219 mi	Kangar	$628
378 km or 235 mi	Seremban	$678
381 km or 237 mi	Dumai	$513
422 km or 262 mi	Hat Yai	$622
426 km or 265 mi	Banda Aceh	$407
431 km or 268 mi	Malacca	$736
445 km or 277 mi	Ko Lanta	$846
466 km or 289 mi	Pekanbaru	$495
468 km or 291 mi	Muar	$788
470 km or 292 mi	Phuket	$1059
483 km or 300 mi	Kota Bharu	$551
487 km or 303 mi	Ao Nang	$808
489 km or 304 mi	Krabi	$891
515 km or 320 mi	Batu Pahat	$780
518 km or 322 mi	Kuantan	$588
529 km or 329 mi	Kuala Terengganu	$572

Cities near Pattaya

Distance	City	Cost of living
5.7 km or 3.5 mi	Nong Prue	$846
16 km or 9.7 mi	Laem Chabang	$838
23 km or 14 mi	Chaophraya Surasak	$823
84 km or 52 mi	Pu Chao Saming Phrai	$829
85 km or 53 mi	Klaeng	$768
85 km or 53 mi	Lat Luang	$833
98 km or 61 mi	Bangkok	$1027
110 km or 68 mi	Nonthaburi	$789
110 km or 68 mi	Hua Hin	$784
115 km or 72 mi	Pak Kret	$788
119 km or 74 mi	Rangsit	$656
130 km or 81 mi	Tha Khlong	$710
132 km or 82 mi	Nakhon Pathom	$658
184 km or 114 mi	Ko Chang	$763
237 km or 147 mi	Serei Saophoan	$629
250 km or 156 mi	Battambang	$575
255 km or 159 mi	Myeik	$562
259 km or 161 mi	Nakhon Ratchasima	$610
318 km or 198 mi	Nakhon Sawan	$730
324 km or 202 mi	Siem Reap	$679
340 km or 211 mi	Ko Tao	$845
372 km or 231 mi	Ko Pha-ngan	$805
383 km or 238 mi	Sihanoukville	$764
396 km or 246 mi	Ko Samui	$782
435 km or 270 mi	Phitsanulok	$585
440 km or 273 mi	Khon Kaen	$621
442 km or 275 mi	Kampot	$587
450 km or 280 mi	Phu Quoc	$530
457 km or 284 mi	Surat Thani	$612
464 km or 288 mi	Phnom Penh	$882
497 km or 309 mi	Ubon Ratchathani	$583
506 km or 314 mi	Kampong Cham	$501
508 km or 315 mi	Prey Veng	$760
512 km or 318 mi	Nakhon Si Thammarat	$834
527 km or 328 mi	Mawlamyine	$571
535 km or 333 mi	Udon Thani	$581
553 km or 343 mi	Stung Treng	$652
561 km or 349 mi	Hpa-an	$593
562 km or 349 mi	Rach Gia	$535
571 km or 355 mi	Long Xuyen	$514