Phuket vs Ulaanbaatar - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Phuket	Ulaanbaatar
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1059	$927
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2644	$2221
🏠 One person rent	$573	$481
🏘️ Family rent	$1004	$858
🍽️ Food expenses	$352	$311
🚐 Transport expenses	$34.3	$44.2
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$801	$436
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	27 km	14 km
🎓 Higher education	8	44
😀 Quality of life	56	62
🏙️ Population	77.6K	1.4M

The cost of living in Phuket is 14% more expensive than in Ulaanbaatar. Cities ranked 5233rd and 6169th ($1059 vs $927) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 1st in Thailand and Mongolia, respectively. Check Thailand vs Mongolia comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.8 months in Phuket compared to 0.5 months in Ulaanbaatar. Phuket ranked 8th best city to live in Thailand vs Ulaanbaatar ranked 1st in Mongolia, while ranked 6325th and 5662nd among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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

Prices in Phuket vs Ulaanbaatar

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

	Phuket	Ulaanbaatar
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$6.74	$5.46
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$47.4	$29.9
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.77	$5.6
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.26	$2.24
☕ Cappuccino	$3.26	$2.37
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.78	$0.8
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$632	$482
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$446	$411
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1154	$888
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$805	$755
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$70.1	$40.4
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$109	$62
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$19.5	$14.8
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	5.58%	7%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4350	$1825
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3066	$946
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.55	$0.28
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$23.7	$9.43
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$10.8	$4.97
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.35	$0.97
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$2.04	$1.44
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.8	$0.9
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.77	$2.17
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.27	$2.19
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$18.5	$10
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.44	$5.86
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.6	$5.41
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.19	$3.07
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.11	$2.19
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.4	$4.14
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.36	$2.76
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.56	$0.75
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.48	$1.16
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.39	$0.51
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.41	$1.19
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$20.8	$9.74
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.9	$1.45
🚬 Cigarette pack	$4.71	$1.53
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$3.45	$9.36
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$2.5	$3.66
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.38	$2.5
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.51	$1.8
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$62.5	$67.5
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$8.3	$4.16
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$30.1	$19.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$5.55	$4.76
👖 Brand Jeans	$68	$73.1
👟 Brand Sneakers	$99.9	$112
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$652	$191
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$16566	$7641

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	$808
60 km or 38 mi	Krabi	$891
76 km or 47 mi	Ko Lanta	$846
173 km or 107 mi	Surat Thani	$612
183 km or 114 mi	Nakhon Si Thammarat	$834
185 km or 115 mi	Ko Lipe	$790
231 km or 143 mi	Langkawi	$634
248 km or 154 mi	Hat Yai	$622
248 km or 154 mi	Ko Samui	$782
256 km or 159 mi	Kangar	$628
269 km or 167 mi	Ko Pha-ngan	$805
289 km or 180 mi	Ko Tao	$845
293 km or 182 mi	Alor Setar	$564
331 km or 206 mi	Lhokseumawe	$438
339 km or 211 mi	Sungai Petani	$663
348 km or 216 mi	George Town	$792
352 km or 219 mi	Butterworth	$740
384 km or 238 mi	Langsa	$451
425 km or 264 mi	Taiping	$572
428 km or 266 mi	Banda Aceh	$407
468 km or 291 mi	Kota Bharu	$551
470 km or 292 mi	Ipoh	$696
470 km or 292 mi	Medan	$461
477 km or 296 mi	Binjai	$458
507 km or 315 mi	Myeik	$562
514 km or 319 mi	Tebing Tinggi	$461
517 km or 321 mi	Teluk Intan	$701
548 km or 340 mi	Hua Hin	$784
553 km or 344 mi	Pematangsiantar	$470
569 km or 353 mi	Tanjungbalai	$485
596 km or 370 mi	Kuala Terengganu	$572
625 km or 388 mi	Nong Prue	$846
625 km or 389 mi	Pattaya	$874
637 km or 396 mi	Klang	$762
637 km or 396 mi	Shah Alam	$750
638 km or 396 mi	Sihanoukville	$764
638 km or 396 mi	Ko Chang	$763
639 km or 397 mi	Petaling Jaya	$813
641 km or 398 mi	Laem Chabang	$838
641 km or 398 mi	Kuala Lumpur	$981

Cities near Ulaanbaatar

Distance	City	Cost of living
268 km or 167 mi	Bulgan	$903
437 km or 272 mi	Ulan-Ude	$722
520 km or 323 mi	Irkutsk	$771
559 km or 347 mi	Angarsk	$767
656 km or 408 mi	Chita	$970
794 km or 493 mi	Manzhouli	$650
798 km or 496 mi	Bayannur	$1010
835 km or 519 mi	Xilinhot	$691
840 km or 522 mi	Baotou	$679
875 km or 544 mi	Hohhot	$555
914 km or 568 mi	Ulanqab	$640
917 km or 570 mi	Wuhai	$1392
934 km or 581 mi	Ordos	$667
954 km or 593 mi	Hulunbuir	$651
969 km or 602 mi	Fengzhen	$655
985 km or 612 mi	Bratsk	$543
992 km or 616 mi	Shizuishan	$804
1008 km or 626 mi	Datong	$770
1012 km or 629 mi	Zhangjiakou	$657
1025 km or 637 mi	Yakeshi	$636
1028 km or 639 mi	Huairen	$666
1050 km or 652 mi	Shenmu	$590
1051 km or 653 mi	Yinchuan	$566
1051 km or 653 mi	Shuozhou	$610
1094 km or 680 mi	Lingwu	$582
1103 km or 685 mi	Qingtongxia	$581
1106 km or 687 mi	Wuzhong	$605
1113 km or 692 mi	Jinchang	$495
1124 km or 698 mi	Yuanping	$555
1126 km or 700 mi	Zhangye	$500
1131 km or 703 mi	Chifeng	$633
1131 km or 703 mi	Jiuquan	$484
1156 km or 718 mi	Xinzhou	$567
1164 km or 723 mi	Wuwei	$426
1165 km or 724 mi	Chengde	$709
1166 km or 724 mi	Ulanhot	$566
1166 km or 724 mi	Zhongwei	$613
1169 km or 726 mi	Beijing	$1044
1169 km or 727 mi	Yumen	$454
1176 km or 731 mi	Zalantun	$635