Cost of living comparison

compared to

Phnom Penh vs. North Charleston Cost of Living Summary

Phnom Penh is 43.6% cheaper than North Charleston.

Restaurants: pay 62.7% less in Phnom Penh
Groceries: pay 29.9% less in Phnom Penh
Transportation: pay 10.1% less in Phnom Penh
Housing: pay 70.9% less in Phnom Penh
Childcare: pay 64.5% less in Phnom Penh
Entertainment and Sports: pay 29.8% less in Phnom Penh
Clothing: pay 37.0% less in Phnom Penh

Expenses including housing, childcare, restaurants, clothing, groceries, and entertainment and sports are lower in Phnom Penh.

Phnom Penh vs. North Charleston Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Phnom Penh instead of North Charleston, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 62.7% less for restaurants

	North Charleston	Phnom Penh
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$21.50	$5.00 KHR20,055.00	-76.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$12.00	$7.00 KHR28,077.00	-41.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$3.00	$0.93 KHR3,727.87	-69.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.50	$0.91 KHR3,663.23	-63.5%
Average			-62.7%

North Charleston vs. Phnom Penh - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 29.9% less for groceries

	North Charleston	Phnom Penh
Bread 1 loaf	$3.67	$1.65 KHR6,620.21	-55.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.93	$6.70 KHR26,873.70	-15.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.94	$8.17 KHR32,760.87	+107.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.73	$1.82 KHR7,295.56	-61.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$6.25	$2.01 KHR8,055.73	-67.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$4.04	$1.81 KHR7,262.28	-55.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.83	$0.88 KHR3,547.75	+7.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.12	$1.91 KHR7,677.70	-9.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.47	$0.73 KHR2,947.37	-70.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.95	$0.88 KHR3,517.43	-55.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.15	$0.54 KHR2,152.91	-53.3%
Average			-29.9%

North Charleston vs. Phnom Penh - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 10.1% less for transportation

	North Charleston	Phnom Penh
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$2.99	$4.33 KHR17,367.82	+44.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$50.00	$9.60 KHR38,505.60	-80.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,699.74	$49,000.00 KHR196,539,000.00	+37.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$15.53	$9.05 KHR36,310.82	-41.7%
Average			-10.1%

North Charleston vs. Phnom Penh - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 70.9% less for housing

	North Charleston	Phnom Penh
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$83.60	$21.29 KHR85,377.78	-74.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$2,026.67	$481.60 KHR1,931,706.98	-76.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,500.00	$273.92 KHR1,098,686.18	-81.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$170.33	$82.99 KHR332,856.98	-51.3%
Average			-70.9%

North Charleston vs. Phnom Penh - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 64.5% less for childcare

	North Charleston	Phnom Penh
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,366.67	$293.33 KHR1,176,560.00	-78.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$14,400.00	$7,141.67 KHR28,645,225.00	-50.4%
Average			-64.5%

North Charleston vs. Phnom Penh - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 29.8% less for entertainment and sports

	North Charleston	Phnom Penh
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$6.00	$1.21 KHR4,846.13	-79.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$5.92	$2.53 KHR10,133.05	-57.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$8.00	$1.88 KHR7,520.62	-76.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$17.49	$41.67 KHR167,125.00	+138.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$14.00	$3.75 KHR15,041.25	-73.2%
Average			-29.8%

North Charleston vs. Phnom Penh - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 37.0% less for clothing

	North Charleston	Phnom Penh
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$55.00	$25.75 KHR103,283.25	-53.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$36.00	$23.33 KHR93,590.00	-35.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$95.80	$88.00 KHR352,968.00	-8.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$123.50	$60.20 KHR241,462.20	-51.3%
Average			-37.0%

North Charleston vs. Phnom Penh - 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

North Charleston vs.

Beijing

North Charleston vs.

Singapore

North Charleston vs.

Vienna

North Charleston vs.

Madrid

North Charleston vs.

Hanoi

North Charleston vs.

Prague

North Charleston vs.

Nairobi

North Charleston vs.

Ankara

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

See the cost of living in United States vs. Cambodia. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within United States and Cambodia.

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 North Charleston

Add prices for Phnom Penh

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

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