Cost of living comparison

compared to

Bangkok vs. Medan Cost of Living Summary

Bangkok is 2.1 times more expensive than Medan.

Restaurants: pay 74.7% more in Bangkok
Groceries: pay 60.0% more in Bangkok
Transportation: pay 3.0 times more in Bangkok
Housing: pay 2.1 times more in Bangkok
Childcare: pay 3.1 times more in Bangkok
Entertainment and Sports: pay 95.4% more in Bangkok
Clothing: pay 12.0% less in Bangkok

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

Bangkok vs. Medan Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 74.7% more for restaurants

	Medan	Bangkok
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$1.79 IDR29,811.16	$3.10 THB99.13	+73.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$3.13 IDR52,169.52	$6.20 THB198.27	+97.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.40 IDR6,707.51	$0.79 THB25.31	+96.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.25 IDR4,223.25	$0.33 THB10.66	+31.4%
Average			+74.7%

Medan vs. Bangkok - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 60.0% more for groceries

	Medan	Bangkok
Bread 1 loaf	$1.12 IDR18,631.97	$1.44 THB46.04	+28.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.66 IDR77,509.01	$8.50 THB271.92	+82.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.43 IDR73,821.09	$7.23 THB231.14	+63.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.49 IDR24,842.63	$2.28 THB73.03	+53.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.68 IDR27,945.73	$1.38 THB44.12	-17.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.00 IDR16,677.29	$1.59 THB50.86	+58.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.45 IDR7,512.29	$0.82 THB26.11	+81.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.66 IDR10,967.95	$1.02 THB32.72	+55.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.40 IDR6,685.94	$0.85 THB27.27	+112.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.32 IDR5,258.61	$0.72 THB23.03	+128.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.56 IDR9,390.37	$0.65 THB20.76	+15.1%
Average			+60.0%

Medan vs. Bangkok - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 3.0 times more for transportation

	Medan	Bangkok
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.10 IDR51,558.78	$4.69 THB150.03	+51.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$9.55 IDR158,992.83	$37.21 THB1,189.60	+289.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$26,860.37 IDR447,167,346.37	$37,206.42 THB1,189,604.53	+38.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$2.21 IDR36,767.09	$11.63 THB371.75	+426.5%
Average			+201.5%

Medan vs. Bangkok - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 2.1 times more for housing

	Medan	Bangkok
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$32.81 IDR546,289.44	$16.91 THB540.54	-48.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$189.02 IDR3,146,733.51	$675.06 THB21,583.67	+257.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$95.50 IDR1,589,928.34	$321.97 THB10,294.25	+237.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$61.15 IDR1,018,014.34	$68.69 THB2,196.14	+12.3%
Average			+114.5%

Medan vs. Bangkok - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 3.1 times more for childcare

	Medan	Bangkok
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$121.37 IDR2,020,533.94	$609.37 THB19,483.59	+402.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$10,445.70 IDR173,898,412.48	$13,346.39 THB426,725.56	+27.8%
Average			+215.0%

Medan vs. Bangkok - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 95.4% more for entertainment and sports

	Medan	Bangkok
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.49 IDR24,842.63	$2.79 THB89.22	+87.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.72 IDR28,569.02	$2.54 THB81.22	+48.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.39 IDR39,748.21	$4.40 THB140.52	+84.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$22.88 IDR380,920.33	$51.03 THB1,631.73	+123.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.43 IDR57,138.05	$8.06 THB257.75	+134.9%
Average			+95.4%

Medan vs. Bangkok - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 12.0% less for clothing

	Medan	Bangkok
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$63.65 IDR1,059,620.99	$58.81 THB1,880.18	-7.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$41.78 IDR695,593.65	$38.03 THB1,216.03	-9.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$113.41 IDR1,888,039.91	$104.24 THB3,332.78	-8.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$119.38 IDR1,987,410.43	$91.47 THB2,924.44	-23.4%
Average			-12.0%

Medan vs. Bangkok - 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

Medan vs.

Kiev

Medan vs.

Hanoi

Medan vs.

Madrid

Medan vs.

Berlin

Medan vs.

Vienna

Medan vs.

Wellington

Medan vs.

Washington

Medan vs.

Mexico City

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

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

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 Medan

Add prices for Bangkok

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

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