Cost of living comparison

compared to

Chiang Mai vs. Bali Cost of Living Summary

Chiang Mai is 27.0% more expensive than Bali.

Restaurants: pay 2.9% less in Chiang Mai
Groceries: pay 20.0% less in Chiang Mai
Transportation: pay 93.0% more in Chiang Mai
Housing: pay 37.6% less in Chiang Mai
Childcare: pay 2.5 times more in Chiang Mai
Entertainment and Sports: pay 8.3% more in Chiang Mai
Clothing: pay 4.6% less in Chiang Mai

The cost of childcare, transportation, and entertainment and sports in Chiang Mai are more expensive than in Bali. Expenses including housing, groceries, clothing, and restaurants are lower in Chiang Mai. Notably, childcare and transportation are significantly more expensive in Chiang Mai.

Chiang Mai vs. Bali Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Chiang Mai instead of Bali, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 2.9% less for restaurants

	Bali	Chiang Mai
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.98 IDR49,748.94	$2.02 THB64.12	-32.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.17 IDR69,648.52	$8.05 THB255.99	+92.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.18 IDR19,619.23	$0.79 THB25.23	-32.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.56 IDR9,369.38	$0.34 THB10.80	-39.5%
Average			-2.9%

Bali vs. Chiang Mai - Cost of restaurants

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pay 20.0% less for groceries

	Bali	Chiang Mai
Bread 1 loaf	$2.32 IDR38,654.12	$1.58 THB50.31	-31.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.83 IDR130,687.71	$8.36 THB266.13	+6.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.60 IDR110,118.90	$6.70 THB213.16	+1.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.18 IDR36,389.10	$2.07 THB65.77	-5.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.75 IDR29,124.84	$1.36 THB43.31	-22.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.50 IDR25,112.05	$1.33 THB42.38	-11.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.66 IDR11,095.40	$0.53 THB16.74	-20.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.16 IDR19,332.77	$0.79 THB25.22	-31.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.22 IDR20,319.62	$0.74 THB23.68	-38.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.85 IDR14,165.07	$0.64 THB20.47	-24.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.95 IDR15,833.15	$0.55 THB17.42	-42.3%
Average			-20.0%

Bali vs. Chiang Mai - Cost of groceries

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pay 93.0% more for transportation

	Bali	Chiang Mai
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.04 IDR50,671.24	$4.83 THB153.69	+59.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$8.29 IDR138,318.73	$19.14 THB609.04	+131.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$25,369.74 IDR423,409,521.05	$22,478.88 THB715,197.55	-11.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$4.07 IDR67,980.52	$11.94 THB379.79	+193.1%
Average			+93.0%

Bali vs. Chiang Mai - Cost of transportation

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pay 37.6% less for housing

	Bali	Chiang Mai
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$22.24 IDR371,125.35	$19.34 THB615.25	-13.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$941.26 IDR15,709,287.34	$440.41 THB14,012.16	-53.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$655.25 IDR10,935,810.14	$249.32 THB7,932.45	-62.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$65.74 IDR1,097,132.12	$51.23 THB1,630.04	-22.1%
Average			-37.6%

Bali vs. Chiang Mai - Cost of housing

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pay 2.5 times more for childcare

	Bali	Chiang Mai
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$264.18 IDR4,409,087.41	$644.65 THB20,510.55	+144.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$5,829.73 IDR97,295,519.17	$15,231.38 THB484,607.99	+161.3%
Average			+152.7%

Bali vs. Chiang Mai - Cost of childcare

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pay 8.3% more for entertainment and sports

	Bali	Chiang Mai
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.53 IDR42,286.60	$2.25 THB71.52	-11.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.34 IDR39,031.66	$1.90 THB60.60	-18.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.23 IDR37,287.22	$4.34 THB138.11	+94.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$78.64 IDR1,312,527.92	$35.28 THB1,122.37	-55.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.88 IDR64,673.62	$5.12 THB162.77	+32.0%
Average			+8.3%

Bali vs. Chiang Mai - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 4.6% less for clothing

	Bali	Chiang Mai
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$50.94 IDR850,120.10	$62.01 THB1,972.96	+21.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$35.42 IDR591,161.34	$19.90 THB632.99	-43.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$84.41 IDR1,408,737.47	$93.02 THB2,959.44	+10.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$71.76 IDR1,197,587.27	$67.18 THB2,137.37	-6.4%
Average			-4.6%

Bali vs. Chiang Mai - Cost of clothing

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The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: December 2025

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