Cost of living comparison

compared to

Virginia vs. Thailand Cost of Living Summary

South Africa is 13.4% more expensive than Thailand overall.

Restaurants: pay 96.5% more in Virginia
Groceries: pay 12.7% less in Virginia
Transportation: pay 15.1% more in Virginia
Housing: pay 47.8% more in Virginia
Childcare: pay 58.0% less in Virginia
Entertainment and Sports: pay 12.2% less in Virginia
Clothing: pay 17.4% more in Virginia

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

Virginia vs. Thailand Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Virginia instead of Thailand, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 96.5% more for restaurants

	Thailand	Virginia
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.67 THB84.03	$9.33 ZAR149.76	+249.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.99 THB219.96	$5.11 ZAR82.03	-26.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.73 THB23.11	$1.03 ZAR16.55	+40.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.36 THB11.32	$0.80 ZAR12.89	+123.2%
Average			+96.5%

Thailand vs. Virginia - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 12.7% less for groceries

	Thailand	Virginia
Bread 1 loaf	$1.41 THB44.29	$1.00 ZAR16.09	-28.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.88 THB247.91	$3.88 ZAR62.32	-50.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.17 THB225.35	$4.37 ZAR70.12	-39.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.07 THB65.10	$2.33 ZAR37.44	+12.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.41 THB44.41	$2.13 ZAR34.24	+51.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.33 THB41.77	$0.73 ZAR11.68	-45.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.59 THB18.64	$0.65 ZAR10.46	+10.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.90 THB28.25	$0.68 ZAR10.97	-23.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.75 THB23.69	$0.71 ZAR11.38	-5.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.71 THB22.40	$0.59 ZAR9.39	-17.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.62 THB19.40	$0.60 ZAR9.63	-2.7%
Average			-12.7%

Thailand vs. Virginia - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 15.1% more for transportation

	Thailand	Virginia
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.83 THB151.96	$4.92 ZAR78.99	+1.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$28.12 THB884.33	$56.18 ZAR901.33	+99.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$30,471.21 THB958K	$21,394.82 ZAR343K	-29.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$10.53 THB331.13	$9.34 ZAR149.82	-11.3%
Average			+15.1%

Thailand vs. Virginia - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 47.8% more for housing

	Thailand	Virginia
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$18.52 THB582.48	$39.36 ZAR631.47	+112.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$414.60 THB13,038.52	$404.16 ZAR6,484.56	-2.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$266.86 THB8,392.26	$361.59 ZAR5,801.56	+35.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$60.46 THB1,901.37	$88.13 ZAR1,413.98	+45.8%
Average			+47.8%

Thailand vs. Virginia - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 58.0% less for childcare

	Thailand	Virginia
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$359.13 THB11,293.99	$173.48 ZAR2,783.34	-51.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$11,104.31 THB349K	$3,962.11 ZAR63,570.32	-64.3%
Average			-58.0%

Thailand vs. Virginia - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 12.2% less for entertainment and sports

	Thailand	Virginia
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.15 THB67.75	$2.18 ZAR34.94	+1.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.97 THB61.98	$2.05 ZAR32.88	+4.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.31 THB135.68	$2.96 ZAR47.55	-31.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$53.45 THB1,681.02	$30.26 ZAR485.53	-43.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.32 THB198.66	$6.85 ZAR109.88	+8.4%
Average			-12.2%

Thailand vs. Virginia - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 17.4% more for clothing

	Thailand	Virginia
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$37.08 THB1,166.12	$50.74 ZAR814.15	+36.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$29.48 THB927.09	$32.75 ZAR525.50	+11.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$91.15 THB2,866.51	$94.19 ZAR1,511.26	+3.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$69.13 THB2,173.88	$81.80 ZAR1,312.37	+18.3%
Average			+17.4%

Thailand vs. Virginia - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

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

More cost comparisons

Thailand vs.

California

Thailand vs.

Florida

Thailand vs.

New Jersey

Thailand vs.

Oklahoma

Thailand vs.

Vietnam

Thailand vs.

United Kingdom

Thailand vs.

France

Thailand vs.

Greece

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

See the cost of living in Thailand vs. United States. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Thailand and United States.

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Add prices for Thailand

Add prices for Virginia

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Virginia or Thailand. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.