Cost of living comparison

compared to

El Salvador vs. Thailand Cost of Living Summary

El Salvador is 27.4% more expensive than Thailand overall.

Restaurants: pay 63.9% more in El Salvador
Groceries: pay 32.1% more in El Salvador
Transportation: pay 23.7% more in El Salvador
Housing: pay 70.7% more in El Salvador
Childcare: pay 48.5% less in El Salvador
Entertainment and Sports: pay 6.5% less in El Salvador
Clothing: pay 56.7% more in El Salvador

The cost of housing, restaurants, clothing, groceries, and transportation in El Salvador are more expensive than in Thailand. Expenses including childcare and entertainment and sports are lower in El Salvador.

El Salvador vs. Thailand Cost Breakdown

If you lived in El Salvador instead of Thailand, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 63.9% more for restaurants

	Thailand	El Salvador
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.67 THB85.43	$5.50 SVC47.99	+105.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.99 THB223.63	$6.33 SVC55.23	-9.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.73 THB23.49	$0.99 SVC8.64	+34.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.36 THB11.51	$0.81 SVC7.05	+124.4%
Average			+63.9%

Thailand vs. El Salvador - Cost of restaurants

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pay 32.1% more for groceries

	Thailand	El Salvador
Bread 1 loaf	$1.41 THB45.03	$1.95 SVC17.01	+38.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.88 THB252.05	$3.77 SVC32.86	-52.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.17 THB229.11	$6.72 SVC58.61	-6.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.07 THB66.18	$2.78 SVC24.25	+34.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.41 THB45.15	$2.82 SVC24.64	+100.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.33 THB42.47	$1.67 SVC14.60	+25.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.59 THB18.95	$0.76 SVC6.60	+27.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.90 THB28.72	$1.17 SVC10.17	+29.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.75 THB24.08	$1.22 SVC10.61	+61.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.71 THB22.77	$0.97 SVC8.44	+35.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.62 THB19.72	$0.98 SVC8.51	+58.1%
Average			+32.1%

Thailand vs. El Salvador - Cost of groceries

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pay 23.7% more for transportation

	Thailand	El Salvador
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.83 THB154.50	$3.75 SVC32.69	-22.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$28.12 THB899.09	$15.00 SVC130.88	-46.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$30,471.21 THB974,258.89	$24,666.67 SVC215,223.23	-19.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$10.53 THB336.66	$29.78 SVC259.88	+182.9%
Average			+23.7%

Thailand vs. El Salvador - Cost of transportation

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pay 70.7% more for housing

	Thailand	El Salvador
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$18.52 THB592.20	$41.89 SVC365.49	+126.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$414.60 THB13,256.12	$666.67 SVC5,816.84	+60.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$266.86 THB8,532.32	$502.78 SVC4,386.87	+88.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$60.46 THB1,933.10	$64.97 SVC566.86	+7.5%
Average			+70.7%

Thailand vs. El Salvador - Cost of housing

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pay 48.5% less for childcare

	Thailand	El Salvador
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$359.13 THB11,482.48	$162.67 SVC1,419.31	-54.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$11,104.31 THB355,039.19	$6,420.00 SVC56,016.21	-42.2%
Average			-48.5%

Thailand vs. El Salvador - Cost of childcare

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pay 6.5% less for entertainment and sports

	Thailand	El Salvador
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.15 THB68.88	$2.00 SVC17.45	-7.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.97 THB63.01	$2.83 SVC24.69	+43.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.31 THB137.94	$4.00 SVC34.90	-7.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$53.45 THB1,709.08	$30.27 SVC264.08	-43.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.32 THB201.98	$5.17 SVC45.08	-18.2%
Average			-6.5%

Thailand vs. El Salvador - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 56.7% more for clothing

	Thailand	El Salvador
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$37.08 THB1,185.58	$62.60 SVC546.20	+68.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$29.48 THB942.56	$45.83 SVC399.91	+55.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$91.15 THB2,914.34	$131.80 SVC1,149.99	+44.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$69.13 THB2,210.16	$109.17 SVC952.51	+57.9%
Average			+56.7%

Thailand vs. El Salvador - 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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