Thailand vs. United States Cost of Living Summary

Thailand vs. United States Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Thailand instead of United States, you would:

pay 73.8% less for restaurants

 
United States
Thailand
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $19.86
 
$2.89
THB96.78
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$11.42
 
$6.99
THB234.19
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $2.67
 
$0.75
THB24.99

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pay 44.5% less for groceries

 
United States
Thailand
Bread
1 loaf
$3.63
 
$1.34
THB44.77
Local cheese (8 oz) $6.52
 
$7.95
THB266.38
Milk (1 gallon) $3.98
 
$7.12
THB238.54

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pay 17.6% less for transportation

 
United States
Thailand
Gasoline (1 gallon) $4.01
 
$5.07
THB169.78
Monthly public transit pass $66.70
 
$32.87
THB1,101.86
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $34,164.82
 
$29,201.01
THB979K

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pay 76.2% less for housing

 
United States
Thailand
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
$70.22
 
$19.17
THB642.57
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $1,681.01
 
$407.64
THB13,663.69
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $1,404.28
 
$268.13
THB8,987.37

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pay 59.0% less for childcare

 
United States
Thailand
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $1,450.99
 
$515.68
THB17,285.02
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $24,361.50
 
$11,528.28
THB386K

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pay 50.8% less for entertainment and sports

 
United States
Thailand
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $6.00
 
$2.10
THB70.39
Cappuccino in mid-range area $5.31
 
$2.00
THB66.97
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$10.42
 
$4.15
THB139.12

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pay 19.7% less for clothing

 
United States
Thailand
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
$53.15
 
$44.30
THB1,484.96
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
$41.88
 
$32.84
THB1,100.90
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
$89.76
 
$83.65
THB2,803.78

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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 November 2026). How we calculate this

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