Cost of living comparison

Nicaragua

compared to

Thailand

Bangkok vs. Managua Cost of Living Summary

Bangkok is 29.9% more expensive than Managua.

Restaurants: pay 49.2% less in Bangkok
Groceries: pay 0.8% less in Bangkok
Transportation: pay 67.6% more in Bangkok
Housing: pay 76.0% more in Bangkok
Childcare: pay 2.6 times more in Bangkok
Entertainment and Sports: pay 30.9% more in Bangkok
Clothing: pay 17.3% less in Bangkok

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

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Bangkok vs. Managua Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Bangkok instead of Managua, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 49.2% less for restaurants

	Managua	Bangkok
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$10.00 NIO368.55	$2.97 THB98.83	-70.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.61 NIO280.46	$6.98 THB232.24	-8.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.88 NIO32.54	$0.65 THB21.64	-26.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.71 NIO26.22	$0.35 THB11.72	-50.5%
Average			-49.2%

Managua vs. Bangkok - Cost of restaurants

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pay 0.8% less for groceries

	Managua	Bangkok
Bread 1 loaf	$2.37 NIO87.46	$1.48 THB49.16	-37.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.80 NIO213.64	$8.63 THB287.02	+48.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.68 NIO172.61	$7.27 THB241.89	+55.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.37 NIO87.18	$2.56 THB85.32	+8.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.87 NIO105.79	$1.63 THB54.28	-43.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.82 NIO67.08	$1.77 THB58.85	-2.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.27 NIO10.03	$0.81 THB26.83	+196.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.82 NIO30.09	$1.24 THB41.35	+52.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.11 NIO41.05	$0.87 THB29.09	-21.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.79 NIO65.90	$0.78 THB26.00	-56.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.01 NIO37.13	$0.69 THB23.01	-31.3%
Average			-0.8%

Managua vs. Bangkok - Cost of groceries

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pay 67.6% more for transportation

	Managua	Bangkok
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.06 NIO186.38	$5.32 THB176.90	+5.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$6.01 NIO221.41	$34.98 THB1,163.67	+482.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$22,973.64 NIO847K	$31,193.83 THB1M	+35.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$14.69 NIO541.39	$10.55 THB350.83	-28.2%
Average			+67.6%

Managua vs. Bangkok - Cost of transportation

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pay 76.0% more for housing

	Managua	Bangkok
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$32.47 NIO1,196.57	$17.88 THB594.63	-44.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$256.40 NIO9,449.50	$675.80 THB22,480.48	+163.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$181.00 NIO6,670.67	$346.10 THB11,513.16	+91.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$115.83 NIO4,268.74	$82.03 THB2,728.64	-29.2%
Average			+76.0%

Managua vs. Bangkok - Cost of housing

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pay 2.6 times more for childcare

	Managua	Bangkok
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$235.82 NIO8,690.94	$568.31 THB18,904.94	+141.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$6,060.00 NIO223K	$16,500.59 THB549K	+172.3%
Average			+156.2%

Managua vs. Bangkok - Cost of childcare

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pay 30.9% more for entertainment and sports

	Managua	Bangkok
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.50 NIO55.28	$2.67 THB88.94	+78.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.60 NIO95.82	$2.79 THB92.95	+7.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.73 NIO100.51	$4.60 THB153.18	+68.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$34.79 NIO1,282.16	$58.43 THB1,943.57	+67.9%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$9.00 NIO331.69	$7.58 THB252.00	-15.8%
Average			+30.9%

Managua vs. Bangkok - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 17.3% less for clothing

	Managua	Bangkok
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$59.88 NIO2,206.90	$70.75 THB2,353.53	+18.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$65.00 NIO2,395.54	$42.94 THB1,428.36	-33.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$122.64 NIO4,519.99	$97.05 THB3,228.30	-20.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$144.83 NIO5,337.49	$109.92 THB3,656.54	-24.1%
Average			-17.3%

Managua vs. Bangkok - 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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