Cost of living comparison

El Salvador

compared to

Thailand

Bangkok vs. San Salvador Cost of Living Summary

Bangkok is 17.8% cheaper than San Salvador.

Restaurants: pay 40.1% less in Bangkok
Groceries: pay 20.2% less in Bangkok
Transportation: pay 1.6% less in Bangkok
Housing: pay 39.7% less in Bangkok
Childcare: pay 3.5 times more in Bangkok
Entertainment and Sports: pay 32.6% more in Bangkok
Clothing: pay 7.2% less in Bangkok

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

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Bangkok vs. San Salvador Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Bangkok instead of San Salvador, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 40.1% less for restaurants

	San Salvador	Bangkok
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$6.75 SVC59.06	$2.97 THB98.83	-56.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.00 SVC61.25	$6.98 THB232.24	-0.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.14 SVC10.01	$0.65 THB21.64	-43.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.83 SVC7.29	$0.35 THB11.72	-57.7%
Average			-40.1%

San Salvador vs. Bangkok - Cost of restaurants

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pay 20.2% less for groceries

	San Salvador	Bangkok
Bread 1 loaf	$2.85 SVC24.94	$1.48 THB49.16	-48.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.85 SVC33.72	$8.63 THB287.02	+123.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.95 SVC60.81	$7.27 THB241.89	+4.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.02 SVC26.39	$2.56 THB85.32	-15.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.16 SVC27.66	$1.63 THB54.28	-48.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.29 SVC20.07	$1.77 THB58.85	-22.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.63 SVC5.54	$0.81 THB26.83	+27.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.18 SVC10.35	$1.24 THB41.35	+5.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.56 SVC13.68	$0.87 THB29.09	-44.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.33 SVC11.65	$0.78 THB26.00	-41.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.49 SVC13.05	$0.69 THB23.01	-53.6%
Average			-20.2%

San Salvador vs. Bangkok - Cost of groceries

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pay 1.6% less for transportation

	San Salvador	Bangkok
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.75 SVC41.60	$5.32 THB176.90	+11.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$37.50 SVC328.13	$34.98 THB1,163.67	-6.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$25,000.00 SVC219K	$31,193.83 THB1M	+24.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$30.00 SVC262.50	$10.55 THB350.83	-64.8%
Average			-1.6%

San Salvador vs. Bangkok - Cost of transportation

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pay 39.7% less for housing

	San Salvador	Bangkok
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$42.50 SVC371.88	$17.88 THB594.63	-57.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$898.99 SVC7,866.27	$675.80 THB22,480.48	-24.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$770.00 SVC6,737.58	$346.10 THB11,513.16	-55.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$99.35 SVC869.35	$82.03 THB2,728.64	-17.4%
Average			-39.7%

San Salvador vs. Bangkok - Cost of housing

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pay 3.5 times more for childcare

	San Salvador	Bangkok
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$162.67 SVC1,423.35	$568.31 THB18,904.94	+249.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$4,720.00 SVC41,300.50	$16,500.59 THB549K	+249.6%
Average			+249.5%

San Salvador vs. Bangkok - Cost of childcare

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pay 32.6% more for entertainment and sports

	San Salvador	Bangkok
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.00 SVC17.50	$2.67 THB88.94	+33.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.55 SVC31.02	$2.79 THB92.95	-21.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.00 SVC35.00	$4.60 THB153.18	+15.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$31.60 SVC276.50	$58.43 THB1,943.57	+84.9%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.00 SVC43.75	$7.58 THB252.00	+51.5%
Average			+32.6%

San Salvador vs. Bangkok - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 7.2% less for clothing

	San Salvador	Bangkok
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$67.15 SVC587.57	$70.75 THB2,353.53	+5.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$47.00 SVC411.25	$42.94 THB1,428.36	-8.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$118.33 SVC1,035.43	$97.05 THB3,228.30	-18.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$117.00 SVC1,023.76	$109.92 THB3,656.54	-6.1%
Average			-7.2%

San Salvador 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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