Cost of living comparison

compared to

Costa Mesa vs. Bangkok Cost of Living Summary

Costa Mesa is 2.5 times more expensive than Bangkok.

Restaurants
pay 4.4 times more in Costa Mesa
Groceries
pay 73.0% more in Costa Mesa
Transportation
pay 30.9% more in Costa Mesa
Housing
pay 4.6 times more in Costa Mesa
Childcare
pay 2.1 times more in Costa Mesa
Entertainment and Sports
pay 71.1% more in Costa Mesa
Clothing
pay 0.8% more in Costa Mesa

The cost of housing, restaurants, childcare, groceries, entertainment and sports, and transportation in Costa Mesa are more expensive than in Bangkok. Notably, housing, restaurants, and childcare are significantly more expensive in Costa Mesa.

Costa Mesa vs. Bangkok Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Costa Mesa instead of Bangkok, you would:

pay 4.4 times more for restaurants

 
Bangkok
Costa Mesa
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $2.97
THB99.58
$20.00
 
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$6.98
THB234.01
$15.00
 
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $0.65
THB21.81
$3.33
 

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pay 73.0% more for groceries

 
Bangkok
Costa Mesa
Bread
1 loaf
$1.48
THB49.54
$4.05
 
Local cheese (8 oz) $8.63
THB289.21
$6.48
 
Milk (1 gallon) $7.27
THB243.73
$4.22
 

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pay 30.9% more for transportation

 
Bangkok
Costa Mesa
Gasoline (1 gallon) $5.32
THB178.25
$5.65
 
Monthly public transit pass $34.98
THB1,172.54
$69.00
 
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $31,193.83
THB1M
$36,998.00
 

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pay 4.6 times more for housing

 
Bangkok
Costa Mesa
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
$17.88
THB599.16
$71.25
 
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $675.80
THB22,651.82
$2,733.33
 
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $346.10
THB11,600.91
$2,466.67
 

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pay 2.1 times more for childcare

 
Bangkok
Costa Mesa
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $568.31
THB19,049.03
$1,180.00
 
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $16,500.59
THB553K
??

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pay 71.1% more for entertainment and sports

 
Bangkok
Costa Mesa
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $2.67
THB89.62
$7.25
 
Cappuccino in mid-range area $2.79
THB93.66
$5.75
 
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$4.60
THB154.35
$11.71
 

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pay 0.8% more for clothing

 
Bangkok
Costa Mesa
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
$70.75
THB2,371.47
$57.50
 
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
$42.94
THB1,439.24
$48.00
 
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
$97.05
THB3,252.90
$93.33
 

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We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated November 2026). How we calculate this

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