Cost of living comparison

compared to

Bangkok vs. Palmerston North Cost of Living Summary

Bangkok is 7.0% cheaper than Palmerston North.

Restaurants: pay 66.4% less in Bangkok
Groceries: pay 7.2% less in Bangkok
Transportation: pay 10.4% less in Bangkok
Housing: pay 31.1% less in Bangkok
Childcare: pay 69.5% more in Bangkok
Entertainment and Sports: pay 7.5% less in Bangkok
Clothing: pay 4.4% more in Bangkok

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

Bangkok vs. Palmerston North Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Bangkok instead of Palmerston North, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 66.4% less for restaurants

	Palmerston North	Bangkok
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$14.42 NZ$24.97	$3.10 THB98.65	-78.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.91 NZ$17.16	$6.20 THB197.30	-37.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.36 NZ$4.08	$0.79 THB25.19	-66.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.01 NZ$3.48	$0.33 THB10.61	-83.4%
Average			-66.4%

Palmerston North vs. Bangkok - Cost of restaurants

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pay 7.2% less for groceries

	Palmerston North	Bangkok
Bread 1 loaf	$1.99 NZ$3.45	$1.44 THB45.81	-27.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.89 NZ$6.74	$8.50 THB270.59	+118.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.12 NZ$12.32	$7.23 THB230.01	+1.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.13 NZ$8.88	$2.28 THB72.68	-55.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.99 NZ$6.91	$1.38 THB43.91	-65.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.07 NZ$1.86	$1.59 THB50.61	+48.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.80 NZ$1.39	$0.82 THB25.98	+1.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.08 NZ$1.87	$1.02 THB32.56	-5.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.48 NZ$2.55	$0.85 THB27.13	-42.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.91 NZ$1.58	$0.72 THB22.92	-21.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.95 NZ$1.65	$0.65 THB20.65	-31.9%
Average			-7.2%

Palmerston North vs. Bangkok - Cost of groceries

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pay 10.4% less for transportation

	Palmerston North	Bangkok
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.11 NZ$10.57	$4.69 THB149.30	-23.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$70.50 NZ$122.03	$37.21 THB1,183.78	-47.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$22,211.80 NZ$38,448.69	$37,206.42 THB1,183,775.25	+67.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$18.92 NZ$32.76	$11.63 THB369.93	-38.6%
Average			-10.4%

Palmerston North vs. Bangkok - Cost of transportation

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pay 31.1% less for housing

	Palmerston North	Bangkok
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$45.43 NZ$78.65	$16.91 THB537.90	-62.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$807.70 NZ$1,398.13	$675.06 THB21,477.90	-16.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$663.47 NZ$1,148.47	$321.97 THB10,243.81	-51.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$64.71 NZ$112.00	$68.69 THB2,185.37	+6.2%
Average			-31.1%

Palmerston North vs. Bangkok - Cost of housing

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pay 69.5% more for childcare

	Palmerston North	Bangkok
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$961.55 NZ$1,664.45	$609.37 THB19,388.11	-36.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$4,843.04 NZ$8,383.31	$13,346.39 THB424,634.53	+175.6%
Average			+69.5%

Palmerston North vs. Bangkok - Cost of childcare

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pay 7.5% less for entertainment and sports

	Palmerston North	Bangkok
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$6.44 NZ$11.14	$2.79 THB88.78	-56.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.32 NZ$5.74	$2.54 THB80.83	-23.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$17.88 NZ$30.96	$4.40 THB139.83	-75.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$22.69 NZ$39.28	$51.03 THB1,623.73	+124.9%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.65 NZ$14.98	$8.06 THB256.48	-6.8%
Average			-7.5%

Palmerston North vs. Bangkok - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 4.4% more for clothing

	Palmerston North	Bangkok
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$66.35 NZ$114.85	$58.81 THB1,870.97	-11.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$36.06 NZ$62.42	$38.03 THB1,210.07	+5.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$87.26 NZ$151.05	$104.24 THB3,316.45	+19.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$87.98 NZ$152.30	$91.47 THB2,910.11	+4.0%
Average			+4.4%

Palmerston North vs. Bangkok - 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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