Phuket vs Shanghai - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 10, 2024

	Phuket	Shanghai
🚶 Cost of living one person	$985	$1136
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$3235	$3654
🏠 One person rent	$544	$602
🏘️ Family rent	$1720	$1527
🍽️ Food expenses	$308	$293
🚐 Transport expenses	$30.3	$116
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$742	$1905
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	27 km	13 km
🎓 Higher education	7	100
😀 Quality of life	53	79
🏙️ Population	77.6K	24.9M

The cost of living in Phuket is 13% less expensive than in Shanghai. Cities ranked 5798th and 4780th ($985 vs $1136) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 2nd and 6th in Thailand and China, respectively. Check Thailand vs China comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.8 months in Phuket compared to 1.7 months in Shanghai. Phuket ranked 6th best city to live in Thailand vs Shanghai ranked 4th in China, while ranked 6033rd and 571st among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Phuket vs Shanghai infographic

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Prices in Phuket vs Shanghai

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

	Phuket	Shanghai
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$4.63	$3.99
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$36.6	$42.8
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$7.72	$5.51
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.94	$1.43
☕ Cappuccino	$2.47	$3.61
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.78	$0.53
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$498	$897
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$439	$461
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1825	$2549
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1525	$1181
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$76.3	$36.3
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$118	$56.1
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$16.6	$16.9
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	4.8%	4.28%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4213	$16156
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2936	$8893
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.37	$0.57
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$11	$36.1
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$11.6	$6.13
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.28	$1.19
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.93	$2.41
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.73	$1.99
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.58	$1.41
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.25	$2.11
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$26	$15.8
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.23	$3.46
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.5	$11.4
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.19	$2.33
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.18	$1.64
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.8	$2.05
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.51	$1.7
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.57	$0.98
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.2	$1.07
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.34	$0.37
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.3	$1.32
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$21.3	$11.2
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.74	$0.86
🚬 Cigarette pack	$4.48	$3.51
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$3.38	$6.62
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$2.46	$7.04
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.35	$1.72
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.46	$2.03
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$58.9	$55
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$9.26	$8.47
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$29.2	$90.7
💇 Haircut, simple	$5.56	$11.9
👖 Brand Jeans	$69.3	$58.2
👟 Brand Sneakers	$107	$78.6
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$748	$1263
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$13132	$31401

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	$822
60 km or 38 mi	Krabi	$807
76 km or 47 mi	Ko Lanta	$799
173 km or 107 mi	Surat Thani	$635
183 km or 114 mi	Nakhon Si Thammarat	$795
185 km or 115 mi	Ko Lipe	$742
231 km or 143 mi	Langkawi	$594
248 km or 154 mi	Hat Yai	$561
248 km or 154 mi	Ko Samui	$745
256 km or 159 mi	Kangar	$563
269 km or 167 mi	Ko Pha-ngan	$763
289 km or 180 mi	Ko Tao	$806
293 km or 182 mi	Alor Setar	$523
331 km or 206 mi	Lhokseumawe	$461
339 km or 211 mi	Sungai Petani	$637
348 km or 216 mi	George Town	$669
352 km or 219 mi	Butterworth	$671
384 km or 238 mi	Langsa	$490
425 km or 264 mi	Taiping	$759
428 km or 266 mi	Banda Aceh	$421
468 km or 291 mi	Kota Bharu	$517
470 km or 292 mi	Ipoh	$670
470 km or 292 mi	Medan	$519
477 km or 296 mi	Binjai	$503
507 km or 315 mi	Myeik	$570
514 km or 319 mi	Tebing Tinggi	$504
517 km or 321 mi	Teluk Intan	$673
548 km or 340 mi	Hua Hin	$676
553 km or 344 mi	Pematangsiantar	$518
569 km or 353 mi	Tanjungbalai	$538
596 km or 370 mi	Kuala Terengganu	$544
625 km or 388 mi	Nong Prue	$773
625 km or 389 mi	Pattaya	$800
637 km or 396 mi	Klang	$729
637 km or 396 mi	Shah Alam	$687
638 km or 396 mi	Sihanoukville	$754
638 km or 396 mi	Ko Chang	$697
639 km or 397 mi	Petaling Jaya	$738
641 km or 398 mi	Laem Chabang	$769
641 km or 398 mi	Kuala Lumpur	$892

Cities near Shanghai

Distance	City	Cost of living
9.4 km or 5.8 mi	Pudong	$1028
47 km or 29 mi	Taicang	$706
53 km or 33 mi	Kunshan	$749
74 km or 46 mi	Qidong	$738
82 km or 51 mi	Suzhou	$1020
82 km or 51 mi	Jiaxing	$585
85 km or 53 mi	Haimen	$661
88 km or 55 mi	Changshu	$718
106 km or 66 mi	Nantong	$620
117 km or 73 mi	Zhangjiagang	$676
121 km or 75 mi	Wuxi	$686
135 km or 84 mi	Huzhou	$706
141 km or 87 mi	Jiangyin	$685
142 km or 88 mi	Zhoushan	$612
144 km or 89 mi	Ningbo	$733
148 km or 92 mi	Jingjiang	$674
155 km or 96 mi	Shaoxing	$742
158 km or 98 mi	Yixing	$702
159 km or 99 mi	Changzhou	$729
160 km or 100 mi	Rugao	$674
161 km or 100 mi	Hangzhou	$843
177 km or 110 mi	Taixing	$665
179 km or 111 mi	Hai'an	$676
191 km or 119 mi	Liyang	$690
197 km or 122 mi	Yangzhong	$629
198 km or 123 mi	Guangde	$698
201 km or 125 mi	Danyang	$630
208 km or 129 mi	Taizhou	$673
217 km or 135 mi	Dongtai	$698
223 km or 139 mi	Zhenjiang	$538
235 km or 146 mi	Yangzhou	$650
236 km or 146 mi	Jurong	$651
244 km or 152 mi	Ningguo	$703
246 km or 153 mi	Yiwu	$708
250 km or 155 mi	Xinghua	$699
250 km or 156 mi	Yizheng	$617
259 km or 161 mi	Linhai	$702
260 km or 161 mi	Xuancheng	$771
262 km or 163 mi	Gaoyou	$648
274 km or 170 mi	Nanjing	$774