Cost of living comparison

compared to

Palmerston North vs. Bangkok Cost of Living Summary

Palmerston North is 72.1% more expensive than Bangkok.

Restaurants: pay 3.8 times more in Palmerston North
Groceries: pay 37.7% more in Palmerston North
Transportation: pay 35.5% more in Palmerston North
Housing: pay 72.1% more in Palmerston North
Childcare: pay 3.0% less in Palmerston North
Entertainment and Sports: pay 84.0% more in Palmerston North
Clothing: pay 3.1% less in Palmerston North

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

Palmerston North vs. Bangkok Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Palmerston North instead of Bangkok, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 3.8 times more for restaurants

	Bangkok	Palmerston North
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.10 THB98.65	$14.42 NZ$24.97	+365.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.20 THB197.30	$9.91 NZ$17.16	+59.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.79 THB25.19	$2.36 NZ$4.08	+197.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.33 THB10.61	$2.01 NZ$3.48	+503.6%
Average			+281.6%

Bangkok vs. Palmerston North - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 37.7% more for groceries

	Bangkok	Palmerston North
Bread 1 loaf	$1.44 THB45.81	$1.99 NZ$3.45	+38.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.50 THB270.59	$3.89 NZ$6.74	-54.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.23 THB230.01	$7.12 NZ$12.32	-1.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.28 THB72.68	$5.13 NZ$8.88	+124.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.38 THB43.91	$3.99 NZ$6.91	+189.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.59 THB50.61	$1.07 NZ$1.86	-32.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.82 THB25.98	$0.80 NZ$1.39	-1.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.02 THB32.56	$1.08 NZ$1.87	+5.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.85 THB27.13	$1.48 NZ$2.55	+73.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.72 THB22.92	$0.91 NZ$1.58	+27.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.65 THB20.65	$0.95 NZ$1.65	+46.9%
Average			+37.7%

Bangkok vs. Palmerston North - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 35.5% more for transportation

	Bangkok	Palmerston North
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.69 THB149.30	$6.11 NZ$10.57	+30.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$37.21 THB1,183.78	$70.50 NZ$122.03	+89.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$37,206.42 THB1,183,775.25	$22,211.80 NZ$38,448.69	-40.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$11.63 THB369.93	$18.92 NZ$32.76	+62.8%
Average			+35.5%

Bangkok vs. Palmerston North - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 72.1% more for housing

	Bangkok	Palmerston North
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$16.91 THB537.90	$45.43 NZ$78.65	+168.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$675.06 THB21,477.90	$807.70 NZ$1,398.13	+19.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$321.97 THB10,243.81	$663.47 NZ$1,148.47	+106.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$68.69 THB2,185.37	$64.71 NZ$112.00	-5.8%
Average			+72.1%

Bangkok vs. Palmerston North - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 3.0% less for childcare

	Bangkok	Palmerston North
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$609.37 THB19,388.11	$961.55 NZ$1,664.45	+57.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$13,346.39 THB424,634.53	$4,843.04 NZ$8,383.31	-63.7%
Average			-3.0%

Bangkok vs. Palmerston North - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 84.0% more for entertainment and sports

	Bangkok	Palmerston North
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.79 THB88.78	$6.44 NZ$11.14	+130.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.54 THB80.83	$3.32 NZ$5.74	+30.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.40 THB139.83	$17.88 NZ$30.96	+306.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$51.03 THB1,623.73	$22.69 NZ$39.28	-55.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.06 THB256.48	$8.65 NZ$14.98	+7.4%
Average			+84.0%

Bangkok vs. Palmerston North - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 3.1% less for clothing

	Bangkok	Palmerston North
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$58.81 THB1,870.97	$66.35 NZ$114.85	+12.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$38.03 THB1,210.07	$36.06 NZ$62.42	-5.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$104.24 THB3,316.45	$87.26 NZ$151.05	-16.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$91.47 THB2,910.11	$87.98 NZ$152.30	-3.8%
Average			-3.1%

Bangkok vs. Palmerston North - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

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

More cost comparisons

Bangkok vs.

Hong Kong

Bangkok vs.

Nairobi

Bangkok vs.

Delhi

Bangkok vs.

Reykjavik

Bangkok vs.

Washington

Bangkok vs.

Warsaw

Bangkok vs.

Prague

Bangkok vs.

Moscow

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

See the cost of living in Thailand vs. New Zealand. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Thailand and New Zealand.

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Add prices for Bangkok

Add prices for Palmerston North

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Palmerston North or Bangkok. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.