Cost of living comparison

compared to

Manila vs. Chiang Mai Cost of Living Summary

Manila is 11.9% more expensive than Chiang Mai.

Restaurants: pay 55.8% more in Manila
Groceries: pay 42.4% more in Manila
Transportation: pay 26.1% less in Manila
Housing: pay 38.5% more in Manila
Childcare: pay 33.4% less in Manila
Entertainment and Sports: pay 8.4% more in Manila
Clothing: pay 2.6% less in Manila

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

Manila vs. Chiang Mai Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 55.8% more for restaurants

	Chiang Mai	Manila
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.02 THB64.12	$6.02 ₱355.03	+198.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.05 THB255.99	$4.30 ₱253.60	-46.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.79 THB25.23	$0.97 ₱57.27	+22.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.34 THB10.80	$0.50 ₱29.69	+48.3%
Average			+55.8%

Chiang Mai vs. Manila - Cost of restaurants

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pay 42.4% more for groceries

	Chiang Mai	Manila
Bread 1 loaf	$1.58 THB50.31	$1.33 ₱78.64	-15.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.36 THB266.13	$4.28 ₱252.12	-48.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.70 THB213.16	$7.32 ₱431.63	+9.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.07 THB65.77	$2.21 ₱130.51	+7.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.36 THB43.31	$2.28 ₱134.63	+67.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.33 THB42.38	$1.52 ₱89.37	+13.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.53 THB16.74	$0.82 ₱48.49	+56.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.79 THB25.22	$1.64 ₱96.51	+106.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.74 THB23.68	$1.02 ₱60.36	+37.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.64 THB20.47	$1.17 ₱68.98	+81.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.55 THB17.42	$1.37 ₱81.04	+151.1%
Average			+42.4%

Chiang Mai vs. Manila - Cost of groceries

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pay 26.1% less for transportation

	Chiang Mai	Manila
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.83 THB153.69	$4.18 ₱246.46	-13.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$19.14 THB609.04	$13.76 ₱811.51	-28.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$22,478.88 THB715,197.55	$25,288.58 ₱1,491,141.28	+12.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$11.94 THB379.79	$2.92 ₱172.44	-75.5%
Average			-26.1%

Chiang Mai vs. Manila - Cost of transportation

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pay 38.5% more for housing

	Chiang Mai	Manila
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$19.34 THB615.25	$27.10 ₱1,598.07	+40.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$440.41 THB14,012.16	$512.96 ₱30,246.98	+16.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$249.32 THB7,932.45	$251.74 ₱14,843.72	+1.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$51.23 THB1,630.04	$100.49 ₱5,925.44	+96.1%
Average			+38.5%

Chiang Mai vs. Manila - Cost of housing

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pay 33.4% less for childcare

	Chiang Mai	Manila
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$644.65 THB20,510.55	$138.58 ₱8,171.41	-78.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$15,231.38 THB484,607.99	$17,035.39 ₱1,004,491.60	+11.8%
Average			-33.4%

Chiang Mai vs. Manila - Cost of childcare

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pay 8.4% more for entertainment and sports

	Chiang Mai	Manila
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.25 THB71.52	$1.46 ₱86.22	-34.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.90 THB60.60	$2.59 ₱152.56	+35.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.34 THB138.11	$3.27 ₱192.73	-24.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$35.28 THB1,122.37	$42.13 ₱2,484.39	+19.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.12 THB162.77	$7.48 ₱441.26	+46.3%
Average			+8.4%

Chiang Mai vs. Manila - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 2.6% less for clothing

	Chiang Mai	Manila
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$62.01 THB1,972.96	$49.23 ₱2,902.69	-20.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$19.90 THB632.99	$29.70 ₱1,751.10	+49.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$93.02 THB2,959.44	$80.85 ₱4,767.52	-13.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$67.18 THB2,137.37	$49.70 ₱2,930.32	-26.0%
Average			-2.6%

Chiang Mai vs. Manila - 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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