Cost of living comparison
compared to
Taipei vs. Taichung Cost of Living Summary
Taipei is 22.9% more expensive than Taichung.
- Restaurants
-
pay 9.7% more in Taipei
- Groceries
-
pay 25.8% more in Taipei
- Transportation
-
pay 6.1% more in Taipei
- Housing
-
pay 53.7% more in Taipei
- Childcare
-
pay 33.0% more in Taipei
- Entertainment and Sports
-
pay 36.7% more in Taipei
- Clothing
-
pay 4.6% less in Taipei
The cost of housing, entertainment and sports, childcare, groceries, restaurants, and transportation in Taipei are more expensive than in Taichung.
Taipei vs. Taichung Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Taipei instead of Taichung, you would:
pay 9.7% more for restaurants
|
Taichung
|
Taipei
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$4.92
NT$153.80
|
$6.55
NT$205.07
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$5.23
NT$163.55
|
$5.55
NT$173.80
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$1.08
NT$33.84
|
$1.14
NT$35.81
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$0.79
NT$24.69
|
$0.74
NT$23.04
|
|
Taichung vs. Taipei - Cost of restaurants
pay 25.8% more for groceries
|
Taichung
|
Taipei
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$1.69
NT$52.98
|
$1.87
NT$58.66
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$15.02
NT$469.96
|
$9.47
NT$296.22
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$13.37
NT$418.22
|
$11.91
NT$372.63
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$2.82
NT$88.18
|
$2.64
NT$82.73
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$3.63
NT$113.67
|
$4.42
NT$138.17
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$2.03
NT$63.56
|
$2.29
NT$71.76
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.78
NT$24.47
|
$1.37
NT$43.00
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$0.98
NT$30.70
|
$1.37
NT$42.86
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$1.51
NT$47.36
|
$1.92
NT$60.22
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$0.58
NT$18.02
|
$1.29
NT$40.27
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$0.84
NT$26.32
|
$1.07
NT$33.51
|
|
Taichung vs. Taipei - Cost of groceries
pay 6.1% more for transportation
|
Taichung
|
Taipei
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$3.78
NT$118.32
|
$3.83
NT$119.85
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$27.84
NT$871.05
|
$39.32
NT$1,230.44
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$34,999.18
NT$1,095,089.33
|
$36,375.55
NT$1,138,154.64
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$11.96
NT$374.26
|
$9.34
NT$292.23
|
|
Taichung vs. Taipei - Cost of transportation
pay 53.7% more for housing
|
Taichung
|
Taipei
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$22.70
NT$710.28
|
$25.93
NT$811.20
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$344.30
NT$10,772.74
|
$792.21
NT$24,787.44
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$301.96
NT$9,448.00
|
$568.06
NT$17,774.14
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$75.27
NT$2,355.03
|
$62.05
NT$1,941.37
|
|
Taichung vs. Taipei - Cost of housing
pay 33.0% more for childcare
|
Taichung
|
Taipei
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$355.02
NT$11,108.12
|
$628.11
NT$19,652.82
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$20,072.09
NT$628,035.78
|
$17,860.07
NT$558,823.67
|
|
Taichung vs. Taipei - Cost of childcare
pay 36.7% more for entertainment and sports
|
Taichung
|
Taipei
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$1.67
NT$52.29
|
$3.24
NT$101.51
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$3.02
NT$94.42
|
$3.80
NT$118.78
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$3.93
NT$123.04
|
$3.93
NT$123.04
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$34.17
NT$1,069.16
|
$42.01
NT$1,314.30
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$10.57
NT$330.68
|
$10.98
NT$343.50
|
|
Taichung vs. Taipei - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 4.6% less for clothing
|
Taichung
|
Taipei
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$81.88
NT$2,561.95
|
$66.48
NT$2,080.07
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$36.00
NT$1,126.44
|
$36.29
NT$1,135.48
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$83.84
NT$2,623.22
|
$88.45
NT$2,767.55
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$122.89
NT$3,845.12
|
$115.72
NT$3,620.77
|
|
Taichung vs. Taipei - 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: December 2025
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