Phuket vs Shanghai - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 01, 2024

	Phuket	Shanghai
🚶 Cost of living one person	$870	$1190
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2965	$3757
🏠 One person rent	$484	$635
🏘️ Family rent	$1625	$1613
🍽️ Food expenses	$270	$308
🚐 Transport expenses	$28.4	$117
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$545	$1455
😷 Air quality	Good	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	27 km	13 km
🎓 Higher education	7	100
😀 Quality of life	55	78
🏙️ Population	77.6K	24.9M

The cost of living in Phuket is 27% less expensive than in Shanghai. Cities ranked 6130th and 4461st ($870 vs $1190) 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 0.6 months in Phuket compared to 1.2 months in Shanghai. Phuket ranked 6th best city to live in Thailand vs Shanghai ranked 4th in China, while ranked 5986th and 558th 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	$4.16	$4.9
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$33.7	$40.7
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$6.95	$5.69
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.74	$1.7
☕ Cappuccino	$2.3	$3.83
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.76	$0.55
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$461	$901
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$388	$497
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1732	$2595
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1452	$1269
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$66.5	$39.1
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$102	$60.5
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$14.5	$17.9
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.84%	4.77%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3141	$17366
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2078	$9346
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.11	$0.56
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$10.7	$37.3
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$10.9	$6
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.2	$1.19
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.5	$2.55
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.5	$2.02
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.35	$1.47
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.03	$2.21
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$19.5	$18.3
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.75	$4.12
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.48	$12.8
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3	$2.27
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1	$1.65
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.69	$1.97
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.47	$1.52
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.22	$0.96
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.04	$1.04
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.3	$0.39
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.16	$1.25
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$16.8	$14.7
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.58	$0.9
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.98	$3.45
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$3	$6.43
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$2.21	$7.06
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.22	$1.68
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.31	$2
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$57.8	$69.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$8.42	$8.16
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$16	$89.7
💇 Haircut, simple	$4.59	$12
👖 Brand Jeans	$47.9	$66.7
👟 Brand Sneakers	$110	$78.5
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$672	$1283
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$13219	$28143

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	$653
60 km or 38 mi	Krabi	$739
76 km or 47 mi	Ko Lanta	$697
173 km or 107 mi	Surat Thani	$554
183 km or 114 mi	Nakhon Si Thammarat	$642
185 km or 115 mi	Ko Lipe	$650
231 km or 143 mi	Langkawi	$496
248 km or 154 mi	Hat Yai	$520
248 km or 154 mi	Ko Samui	$642
256 km or 159 mi	Kangar	$487
269 km or 167 mi	Ko Pha-ngan	$661
289 km or 180 mi	Ko Tao	$702
293 km or 182 mi	Alor Setar	$453
331 km or 206 mi	Lhokseumawe	$443
339 km or 211 mi	Sungai Petani	$544
348 km or 216 mi	George Town	$566
352 km or 219 mi	Butterworth	$578
384 km or 238 mi	Langsa	$472
425 km or 264 mi	Taiping	$638
428 km or 266 mi	Banda Aceh	$403
468 km or 291 mi	Kota Bharu	$455
470 km or 292 mi	Ipoh	$550
470 km or 292 mi	Medan	$500
477 km or 296 mi	Binjai	$483
507 km or 315 mi	Myeik	$571
514 km or 319 mi	Tebing Tinggi	$485
517 km or 321 mi	Teluk Intan	$565
548 km or 340 mi	Hua Hin	$614
553 km or 344 mi	Pematangsiantar	$499
569 km or 353 mi	Tanjungbalai	$515
596 km or 370 mi	Kuala Terengganu	$465
625 km or 388 mi	Nong Prue	$653
625 km or 389 mi	Pattaya	$665
637 km or 396 mi	Klang	$553
637 km or 396 mi	Shah Alam	$582
638 km or 396 mi	Sihanoukville	$755
638 km or 396 mi	Ko Chang	$614
639 km or 397 mi	Petaling Jaya	$645
641 km or 398 mi	Laem Chabang	$648
641 km or 398 mi	Kuala Lumpur	$743

Cities near Shanghai

Distance	City	Cost of living
9.4 km or 5.8 mi	Pudong	$1074
47 km or 29 mi	Taicang	$731
53 km or 33 mi	Kunshan	$771
74 km or 46 mi	Qidong	$763
82 km or 51 mi	Suzhou	$1020
82 km or 51 mi	Jiaxing	$596
85 km or 53 mi	Haimen	$682
88 km or 55 mi	Changshu	$731
106 km or 66 mi	Nantong	$651
117 km or 73 mi	Zhangjiagang	$678
121 km or 75 mi	Wuxi	$687
135 km or 84 mi	Huzhou	$699
141 km or 87 mi	Jiangyin	$688
142 km or 88 mi	Zhoushan	$690
144 km or 89 mi	Ningbo	$677
148 km or 92 mi	Jingjiang	$675
155 km or 96 mi	Shaoxing	$755
158 km or 98 mi	Yixing	$707
159 km or 99 mi	Changzhou	$713
160 km or 100 mi	Rugao	$682
161 km or 100 mi	Hangzhou	$831
177 km or 110 mi	Taixing	$665
179 km or 111 mi	Hai'an	$679
191 km or 119 mi	Liyang	$694
197 km or 122 mi	Yangzhong	$625
198 km or 123 mi	Guangde	$707
201 km or 125 mi	Danyang	$625
208 km or 129 mi	Taizhou	$651
217 km or 135 mi	Dongtai	$703
223 km or 139 mi	Zhenjiang	$524
235 km or 146 mi	Yangzhou	$631
236 km or 146 mi	Jurong	$645
244 km or 152 mi	Ningguo	$720
246 km or 153 mi	Yiwu	$725
250 km or 155 mi	Xinghua	$696
250 km or 156 mi	Yizheng	$617
259 km or 161 mi	Linhai	$719
260 km or 161 mi	Xuancheng	$789
262 km or 163 mi	Gaoyou	$652
274 km or 170 mi	Nanjing	$740