Cost of living comparison

Thailand

compared to

Mexico

Puerto Vallarta vs. Chiang Mai Cost of Living Summary

Puerto Vallarta is 65.0% more expensive than Chiang Mai.

Restaurants: pay 3.8 times more in Puerto Vallarta
Groceries: pay 52.9% more in Puerto Vallarta
Transportation: pay 3.2% less in Puerto Vallarta
Housing: pay 2.3 times more in Puerto Vallarta
Childcare: pay 57.1% less in Puerto Vallarta
Entertainment and Sports: pay 35.0% more in Puerto Vallarta
Clothing: pay 22.5% more in Puerto Vallarta

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

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Puerto Vallarta vs. Chiang Mai Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Puerto Vallarta instead of Chiang Mai, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 3.8 times more for restaurants

	Chiang Mai	Puerto Vallarta
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.23 THB74.12	$13.91 MX$257.20	+524.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.50 THB182.83	$11.13 MX$205.76	+102.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.67 THB22.37	$1.94 MX$35.86	+188.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.32 THB10.62	$1.42 MX$26.22	+344.0%
Average			+276.6%

Chiang Mai vs. Puerto Vallarta - Cost of restaurants

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pay 52.9% more for groceries

	Chiang Mai	Puerto Vallarta
Bread 1 loaf	$1.42 THB47.35	$3.55 MX$65.67	+149.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.32 THB276.85	$5.06 MX$93.52	-39.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.60 THB252.83	$7.13 MX$131.83	-6.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.24 THB74.42	$2.26 MX$41.74	+0.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.26 THB41.84	$5.08 MX$93.87	+303.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.10 THB36.71	$1.32 MX$24.34	+19.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.45 THB15.10	$0.71 MX$13.21	+57.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.72 THB23.82	$0.90 MX$16.70	+26.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.67 THB22.30	$0.96 MX$17.69	+42.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.57 THB19.10	$1.08 MX$19.94	+87.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.49 THB16.38	$1.43 MX$26.48	+190.7%
Average			+52.9%

Chiang Mai vs. Puerto Vallarta - Cost of groceries

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pay 3.2% less for transportation

	Chiang Mai	Puerto Vallarta
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.55 THB184.64	$5.81 MX$107.37	+4.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$53.48 THB1,778.86	$21.81 MX$403.29	-59.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$20,795.89 THB692K	$21,528.95 MX$398K	+3.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.59 THB185.79	$29.21 MX$540.12	+422.9%
Average			-3.2%

Chiang Mai vs. Puerto Vallarta - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.3 times more for housing

	Chiang Mai	Puerto Vallarta
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$20.03 THB666.41	$32.68 MX$604.29	+63.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$462.86 THB15,397.00	$1,324.04 MX$24,485.27	+186.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$302.57 THB10,064.99	$706.52 MX$13,065.67	+133.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$47.59 THB1,583.05	$67.00 MX$1,239.09	+40.8%
Average			+130.6%

Chiang Mai vs. Puerto Vallarta - Cost of housing

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pay 57.1% less for childcare

	Chiang Mai	Puerto Vallarta
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$781.39 THB25,993.20	$333.79 MX$6,172.76	-57.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$14,653.84 THB487K	$6,316.08 MX$117K	-56.9%
Average			-57.1%

Chiang Mai vs. Puerto Vallarta - Cost of childcare

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pay 35.0% more for entertainment and sports

	Chiang Mai	Puerto Vallarta
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.38 THB79.06	$3.06 MX$56.58	+28.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.70 THB56.63	$4.17 MX$77.16	+145.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.24 THB141.12	$4.42 MX$81.79	+4.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$37.50 THB1,247.55	$37.09 MX$685.86	-1.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.54 THB217.42	$8.62 MX$159.46	+31.9%
Average			+35.0%

Chiang Mai vs. Puerto Vallarta - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 22.5% more for clothing

	Chiang Mai	Puerto Vallarta
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$54.22 THB1,803.53	$55.63 MX$1,028.79	+2.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$24.82 THB825.63	$35.23 MX$651.57	+42.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$91.16 THB3,032.29	$104.31 MX$1,928.99	+14.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$72.04 THB2,396.33	$97.36 MX$1,800.39	+35.1%
Average			+22.5%

Chiang Mai vs. Puerto Vallarta - 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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