Cost of living comparison

Thailand

compared to

United States

Des Moines vs. Bangkok Cost of Living Summary

Des Moines is 66.8% more expensive than Bangkok.

Restaurants: pay 4.0 times more in Des Moines
Groceries: pay 29.5% more in Des Moines
Transportation: pay 4.9% more in Des Moines
Housing: pay 2.1 times more in Des Moines
Childcare: pay 22.1% more in Des Moines
Entertainment and Sports: pay 69.3% more in Des Moines
Clothing: pay 5.1% more in Des Moines

The cost of restaurants, housing, entertainment and sports, groceries, childcare, and clothing in Des Moines are more expensive than in Bangkok. Notably, restaurants and housing are significantly more expensive in Des Moines.

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Des Moines vs. Bangkok Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Des Moines instead of Bangkok, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 4.0 times more for restaurants

	Bangkok	Des Moines
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.97 THB99.93	$20.00	+573.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.98 THB234.83	$12.00	+71.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.65 THB21.88	$3.00	+361.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.35 THB11.85	$2.49	+606.3%
Average			+303.9%

Bangkok vs. Des Moines - Cost of restaurants

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pay 29.5% more for groceries

	Bangkok	Des Moines
Bread 1 loaf	$1.48 THB49.71	$2.95	+99.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.63 THB290.22	$4.77	-44.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.27 THB244.58	$3.38	-53.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.56 THB86.28	$3.93	+53.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.63 THB54.88	$4.39	+168.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.77 THB59.51	$2.01	+13.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.81 THB27.13	$0.70	-13.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.24 THB41.81	$2.01	+61.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.87 THB29.41	$1.70	+94.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.78 THB26.29	$1.43	+82.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.69 THB23.27	$1.00	+43.8%
Average			+29.5%

Bangkok vs. Des Moines - Cost of groceries

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pay 4.9% more for transportation

	Bangkok	Des Moines
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.32 THB178.88	$3.71	-30.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$34.98 THB1,176.64	$58.00	+65.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$31,193.83 THB1M	$35,052.00	+12.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$10.55 THB354.74	$11.94	+13.2%
Average			+4.9%

Bangkok vs. Des Moines - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.1 times more for housing

	Bangkok	Des Moines
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$17.88 THB601.26	$71.15	+298.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$675.80 THB22,731.05	$1,161.80	+71.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$346.10 THB11,641.49	$864.75	+149.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$82.03 THB2,759.05	$143.28	+74.7%
Average			+108.7%

Bangkok vs. Des Moines - Cost of housing

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pay 22.1% more for childcare

	Bangkok	Des Moines
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$568.31 THB19,115.66	$1,183.50	+108.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$16,500.59 THB555K	$11,812.00	-28.4%
Average			+22.1%

Bangkok vs. Des Moines - Cost of childcare

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pay 69.3% more for entertainment and sports

	Bangkok	Des Moines
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.67 THB89.93	$5.00	+87.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.79 THB93.99	$6.00	+114.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.60 THB154.89	$8.03	+74.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$58.43 THB1,965.23	$63.75	+9.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.58 THB254.81	$15.00	+98.0%
Average			+69.3%

Bangkok vs. Des Moines - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 5.1% more for clothing

	Bangkok	Des Moines
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$70.75 THB2,379.76	$60.68	-14.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$42.94 THB1,444.28	$43.33	+0.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$97.05 THB3,264.28	$103.00	+6.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$109.92 THB3,697.30	$145.78	+32.6%
Average			+5.1%

Bangkok vs. Des Moines - Cost of clothing

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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 October 2026). How we calculate this

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Size Comparison · See true size

Bangkok is about 7 times bigger than Des Moines.

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