Medan vs Phuket - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Medan	Phuket
🚶 Cost of living one person	$466	$1014
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1207	$2500
🏠 One person rent	$186	$544
🏘️ Family rent	$296	$932
🍽️ Food expenses	$170	$335
🚐 Transport expenses	$35.1	$32.8
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$223	$944
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	27 km
🎓 Higher education	55	7
😀 Quality of life	62	57
🏙️ Population	2.11M	77.6K

The cost of living in Medan is 54% less expensive than in Phuket. Cities ranked 8825th and 5469th ($466 vs $1014) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 48th and 1st 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 0.9 months in Phuket. Medan ranked 7th best city to live in Indonesia vs Phuket ranked 5th in Thailand, while ranked 5663rd and 6129th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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

Prices in Medan vs Phuket

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

	Medan	Phuket
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$1.81	$6.11
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$10.5	$41.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$3.14	$9.29
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.51	$2.15
☕ Cappuccino	$1.73	$3.04
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.41	$0.74
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$172	$595
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$86.9	$419
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$312	$1073
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$156	$738
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$48.9	$71.6
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$75.4	$109
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$32.9	$18.7
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	9.2%	5.28%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1333	$4256
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$604	$2916
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.3	$1.45
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$9.61	$23.4
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$2.24	$10.1
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.82	$1.31
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.18	$2.11
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.12	$1.67
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.83	$1.72
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.5	$2.23
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.38	$16.9
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.74	$4
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.83	$11.6
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.23	$2.83
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.01	$1.97
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.47	$2.37
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.89	$2.13
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.7	$1.6
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.25	$1.39
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.31	$0.34
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.12	$1.52
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.66	$21.4
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.34	$1.83
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.39	$4.3
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$1.98	$3.35
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$2.35	$2.43
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$0.81	$1.34
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.76	$1.44
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$22.9	$53.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$3.44	$8.54
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$14	$29
💇 Haircut, simple	$2.72	$5.6
👖 Brand Jeans	$64.6	$65.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$114	$115
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$124	$612
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$10637	$14328

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	$460
67 km or 41 mi	Tebing Tinggi	$461
90 km or 56 mi	Pematangsiantar	$472
119 km or 74 mi	Langsa	$449
148 km or 92 mi	Tanjungbalai	$488
238 km or 148 mi	Lhokseumawe	$423
264 km or 164 mi	Teluk Intan	$654
264 km or 164 mi	Taiping	$552
264 km or 164 mi	Padangsidempuan	$563
268 km or 166 mi	George Town	$754
269 km or 167 mi	Butterworth	$701
286 km or 178 mi	Ipoh	$657
298 km or 185 mi	Sungai Petani	$653
307 km or 191 mi	Gunungsitoli	$554
317 km or 197 mi	Klang	$704
322 km or 200 mi	Ko Lipe	$756
324 km or 201 mi	Langkawi	$592
325 km or 202 mi	Shah Alam	$681
331 km or 206 mi	Alor Setar	$509
332 km or 206 mi	Subang Jaya	$789
332 km or 206 mi	Petaling Jaya	$731
341 km or 212 mi	Kuala Lumpur	$866
342 km or 212 mi	Cyberjaya	$609
345 km or 215 mi	Putrajaya	$584
352 km or 219 mi	Kangar	$570
378 km or 235 mi	Seremban	$643
381 km or 237 mi	Dumai	$519
422 km or 262 mi	Hat Yai	$592
426 km or 265 mi	Banda Aceh	$386
431 km or 268 mi	Malacca	$689
445 km or 277 mi	Ko Lanta	$807
466 km or 289 mi	Pekanbaru	$503
468 km or 291 mi	Muar	$771
470 km or 292 mi	Phuket	$1014
483 km or 300 mi	Kota Bharu	$517
487 km or 303 mi	Ao Nang	$773
489 km or 304 mi	Krabi	$854
515 km or 320 mi	Batu Pahat	$788
518 km or 322 mi	Kuantan	$552
529 km or 329 mi	Kuala Terengganu	$534

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