Cost of living comparison
compared to
Bangkok vs. Santa Cruz Cost of Living Summary
Bangkok is 47.7% cheaper than Santa Cruz.
- Restaurants
-
pay 76.7% less in Bangkok
- Groceries
-
pay 47.9% less in Bangkok
- Transportation
-
pay 9.5% less in Bangkok
- Housing
-
pay 78.7% less in Bangkok
- Childcare
-
pay 71.2% less in Bangkok
- Entertainment and Sports
-
pay 46.3% less in Bangkok
- Clothing
-
pay 3.9% less in Bangkok
Expenses including housing, restaurants, childcare, groceries, entertainment and sports, and transportation are lower in Bangkok.
Bangkok vs. Santa Cruz Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Bangkok instead of Santa Cruz, you would:
pay 76.7% less for restaurants
|
Santa Cruz
|
Bangkok
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$25.00
|
$3.10
THB97.51
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$15.00
|
$6.20
THB195.01
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.93
|
$0.79
THB24.90
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.67
|
$0.33
THB10.48
|
|
Santa Cruz vs. Bangkok - Cost of restaurants
pay 47.9% less for groceries
|
Santa Cruz
|
Bangkok
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$5.27
|
$1.44
THB45.28
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$10.35
|
$8.50
THB267.46
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$5.25
|
$7.23
THB227.34
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$6.50
|
$2.28
THB71.84
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$6.75
|
$1.38
THB43.40
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$3.53
|
$1.59
THB50.02
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$1.00
|
$0.82
THB25.68
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$2.90
|
$1.02
THB32.19
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$2.80
|
$0.85
THB26.82
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$2.04
|
$0.72
THB22.66
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.55
|
$0.65
THB20.42
|
|
Santa Cruz vs. Bangkok - Cost of groceries
pay 9.5% less for transportation
|
Santa Cruz
|
Bangkok
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$4.79
|
$4.69
THB147.57
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$65.00
|
$37.21
THB1,170.08
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$23,894.01
|
$37,206.42
THB1M
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$22.70
|
$11.63
THB365.65
|
|
Santa Cruz vs. Bangkok - Cost of transportation
pay 78.7% less for housing
|
Santa Cruz
|
Bangkok
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$76.17
|
$16.91
THB531.67
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$2,989.17
|
$675.06
THB21,229.37
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$2,639.80
|
$321.97
THB10,125.27
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$244.30
|
$68.69
THB2,160.09
|
|
Santa Cruz vs. Bangkok - Cost of housing
pay 71.2% less for childcare
|
Santa Cruz
|
Bangkok
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$2,738.89
|
$609.37
THB19,163.77
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$37,770.00
|
$13,346.39
THB420K
|
|
Santa Cruz vs. Bangkok - Cost of childcare
pay 46.3% less for entertainment and sports
|
Santa Cruz
|
Bangkok
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$7.00
|
$2.79
THB87.76
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$5.33
|
$2.54
THB79.89
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$11.00
|
$4.40
THB138.22
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$60.00
|
$51.03
THB1,604.94
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$14.50
|
$8.06
THB253.52
|
|
Santa Cruz vs. Bangkok - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 3.9% less for clothing
|
Santa Cruz
|
Bangkok
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$55.00
|
$58.81
THB1,849.32
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$56.00
|
$38.03
THB1,196.07
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$80.00
|
$104.24
THB3,278.07
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$115.00
|
$91.47
THB2,876.44
|
|
Santa Cruz vs. Bangkok - Cost of clothing
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: February 2026
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