Cost of living comparison
compared to
Thailand vs. United States Cost of Living Summary
Thailand is 59.4% cheaper than United States overall.
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
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.05
|
$0.37
THB12.28
|
|
United States vs. Thailand - Cost of restaurants
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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
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$4.30
|
$2.06
THB69.07
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$5.46
|
$1.37
THB45.86
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$2.34
|
$1.35
THB45.32
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.80
|
$0.57
THB19.13
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$2.02
|
$0.93
THB31.30
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$2.19
|
$0.82
THB27.59
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.34
|
$0.72
THB24.19
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.39
|
$0.57
THB19.02
|
|
United States vs. Thailand - Cost of groceries
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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
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$18.02
|
$10.77
THB361.14
|
|
United States vs. Thailand - Cost of transportation
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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
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$157.64
|
$60.86
THB2,040.02
|
|
United States vs. Thailand - Cost of housing
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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
|
|
United States vs. Thailand - Cost of childcare
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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
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$50.68
|
$50.07
THB1,678.21
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$13.95
|
$6.05
THB202.84
|
|
United States vs. Thailand - Cost of entertainment and sports
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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
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$114.01
|
$77.91
THB2,611.30
|
|
United States vs. Thailand - Cost of clothing
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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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Compare further: United States vs. Thailand
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Make 91.1% less money in Thailand
→
Size Comparison · See true size
United States is about 19 times bigger than Thailand.
→
Moving from United States to Thailand · UN DESA 2020
4,211 people born in United States live in Thailand.
→
City Size Comparison · See true size
Compare the size of New York City vs Bangkok
→
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