Phuket vs Seoul - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Phuket	Seoul
🚶 Cost of living one person	$940	$1334
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$3111	$3862
🏠 One person rent	$519	$608
🏘️ Family rent	$1664	$1634
🍽️ Food expenses	$300	$488
🚐 Transport expenses	$29.5	$144
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$718	$2911
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	27 km	18 km
🎓 Higher education	7	100
😀 Quality of life	53	95
🏙️ Population	77.6K	9.67M

The cost of living in Phuket is 30% less expensive than in Seoul. Cities ranked 5827th and 4104th ($940 vs $1334) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 2nd and 3rd in Thailand and South Korea, respectively. Check Thailand vs South Korea comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.8 months in Phuket compared to 2.2 months in Seoul. Phuket ranked 7th best city to live in Thailand vs Seoul ranked 1st in South Korea, while ranked 6063rd and 30th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Phuket vs Seoul infographic

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

Prices in Phuket vs Seoul

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

	Phuket	Seoul
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$5.23	$7.53
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$36	$40.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$7.38	$5.87
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.68	$3.5
☕ Cappuccino	$2.39	$3.57
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.73	$1.58
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$504	$754
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$403	$422
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1891	$2293
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1436	$1250
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$79.6	$99.6
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$120	$155
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$16.4	$20.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.17%	4.85%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4059	$19682
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2821	$11168
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.34	$1.05
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$10.5	$44.5
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$11.3	$8.29
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.25	$1.17
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.87	$2.06
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.77	$3.08
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.5	$3.06
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.19	$3.38
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$20.1	$12.7
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.15	$8.56
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.6	$32
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.05	$7.25
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.33	$3.37
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.06	$5.31
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.76	$5.9
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.44	$3.54
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.31	$2.82
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.33	$0.81
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.25	$2.18
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$18	$20.3
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.71	$2.46
🚬 Cigarette pack	$4.02	$3.17
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$3.23	$4.67
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$2.36	$5.75
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.28	$2.16
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.4	$2.86
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$56.9	$48.3
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$8.94	$10.5
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$28.2	$22.9
💇 Haircut, simple	$5.56	$9.53
👖 Brand Jeans	$45.4	$58.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$98.1	$82.4
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$723	$420
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$13013	$20197

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Phuket

Distance	City	Cost of living
48 km or 30 mi	Ao Nang	$792
60 km or 38 mi	Krabi	$782
76 km or 47 mi	Ko Lanta	$772
173 km or 107 mi	Surat Thani	$563
183 km or 114 mi	Nakhon Si Thammarat	$763
185 km or 115 mi	Ko Lipe	$719
231 km or 143 mi	Langkawi	$560
248 km or 154 mi	Hat Yai	$570
248 km or 154 mi	Ko Samui	$705
256 km or 159 mi	Kangar	$536
269 km or 167 mi	Ko Pha-ngan	$730
289 km or 180 mi	Ko Tao	$777
293 km or 182 mi	Alor Setar	$490
331 km or 206 mi	Lhokseumawe	$435
339 km or 211 mi	Sungai Petani	$605
348 km or 216 mi	George Town	$620
352 km or 219 mi	Butterworth	$619
384 km or 238 mi	Langsa	$461
425 km or 264 mi	Taiping	$695
428 km or 266 mi	Banda Aceh	$398
468 km or 291 mi	Kota Bharu	$485
470 km or 292 mi	Ipoh	$628
470 km or 292 mi	Medan	$481
477 km or 296 mi	Binjai	$470
507 km or 315 mi	Myeik	$576
514 km or 319 mi	Tebing Tinggi	$474
517 km or 321 mi	Teluk Intan	$631
548 km or 340 mi	Hua Hin	$656
553 km or 344 mi	Pematangsiantar	$486
569 km or 353 mi	Tanjungbalai	$503
596 km or 370 mi	Kuala Terengganu	$501
625 km or 388 mi	Nong Prue	$752
625 km or 389 mi	Pattaya	$781
637 km or 396 mi	Klang	$670
637 km or 396 mi	Shah Alam	$645
638 km or 396 mi	Sihanoukville	$755
638 km or 396 mi	Ko Chang	$677
639 km or 397 mi	Petaling Jaya	$701
641 km or 398 mi	Laem Chabang	$743
641 km or 398 mi	Kuala Lumpur	$810

Cities near Seoul

Distance	City	Cost of living
13 km or 7.9 mi	Guri	$1122
17 km or 10 mi	Goyang	$1171
17 km or 10 mi	Gwangmyeong	$1089
17 km or 11 mi	Gwacheon	$1070
19 km or 12 mi	Uijeongbu	$955
20 km or 12 mi	Hanam	$1161
20 km or 12 mi	Namyangju	$1129
20 km or 13 mi	Seongnam	$1400
21 km or 13 mi	Siheung	$1283
21 km or 13 mi	Bucheon	$1163
22 km or 14 mi	Anyang	$1022
23 km or 14 mi	Yangju	$974
24 km or 15 mi	Gunpo	$1098
26 km or 16 mi	Gimpo	$1099
27 km or 17 mi	Uiwang	$1063
30 km or 19 mi	Gwangju	$1165
32 km or 20 mi	Paju	$1075
33 km or 20 mi	Ansan	$1070
33 km or 21 mi	Suwon	$1022
34 km or 21 mi	Incheon	$1092
37 km or 23 mi	Dongducheon	$1055
39 km or 24 mi	Pocheon	$1040
42 km or 26 mi	Yongin	$1127
47 km or 29 mi	Hwaseong	$1089
49 km or 31 mi	Osan	$1042
52 km or 32 mi	Icheon	$1020
58 km or 36 mi	Kaesong	$1565
65 km or 40 mi	Yeoju	$1026
66 km or 41 mi	Pyeongtaek	$984
69 km or 43 mi	Anseong	$1026
72 km or 45 mi	Chuncheon	$865
83 km or 52 mi	Dangjin	$1033
86 km or 53 mi	Wonju	$1074
87 km or 54 mi	Cheonan	$1151
101 km or 63 mi	Seosan	$1036
107 km or 66 mi	Chungju	$900
114 km or 71 mi	Cheongju	$936
118 km or 73 mi	Jecheon	$1016
123 km or 77 mi	Haeju	$1550
124 km or 77 mi	Sejong	$1019