Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Brighton and Phuket

For one person, living is cheaper in Phuket: $1,208 a month against $2,950 in Brighton, rent and utilities included – about $20,900 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

143

Cost of Living Index in Brighton
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Brighton Living Index
59

Cost of Living Index in Phuket
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Phuket Living Index

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Brighton

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

$2,950

/mo nomad

Phuket

🇹🇭 Thailand

$1,208

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Brighton and in Phuket

Real prices from locals and on-the-ground checks – rent, groceries, transit and the daily extras. Here's what a month in Brighton and in Phuket actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $2,950 in Brighton versus $1,208 in Phuket.

Brighton $2,950
Phuket $1,208

Estimated couple costs with rent: $4,214 in Brighton versus $2,027 in Phuket.

Brighton $4,214
Phuket $2,027

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $5,479 in Brighton versus $2,845 in Phuket.

Brighton $5,479
Phuket $2,845

Living in Brighton is roughly 144% more expensive than in Phuket, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

The two cities straddle the global median: Brighton is 118% above, Phuket is 11% below.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$25.54 £19.16

$4.40 ฿147

480.45%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$92.8 £69.6

$32.26 ฿1,078

187.63%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$9.77 £7.33

$8.76 ฿293

11.53%

Cappuccino

$5.33 £4.00

$2.83 ฿94.5

88.34%

Coke/Pepsi/Fanta/Sprite (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.93 £2.95

$0.90 ฿30.14

336.67%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.33 £2.50

$0.47 ฿15.56

608.51%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$8.96 £6.72

$2.55 ฿85.2

251.37%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$9.49 £7.12

$3.83 ฿128

147.78%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.95 £1.47

$1.73 ฿57.7

12.72%

White Bread (500g)

$2.06 £1.54

$1.47 ฿49.11

40.14%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$2.12 £1.59

$1.51 ฿50.6

40.40%

Eggs

$4.53 £3.40

$2.17 ฿72.7

108.76%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$12.10 £9.08

$19.70 ฿658

-38.58%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$9.40 £7.05

$3.34 ฿112

181.44%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$15.08 £11.31

$11.16 ฿373

35.13%

Apples (1kg)

$2.95 £2.22

$2.85 ฿95.1

3.51%

Banana (1kg)

$1.91 £1.43

$1.70 ฿56.9

12.35%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.90 £2.17

$2.19 ฿73.3

32.42%

Tomato (1kg)

$3.76 £2.82

$2.05 ฿68.4

83.41%

Potato (1kg)

$2.24 £1.68

$1.45 ฿48.57

54.48%

Onion (1kg)

$1.80 £1.35

$1.38 ฿46.16

30.43%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.20 £0.90

$1.07 ฿35.69

12.15%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.65 £1.24

$0.51 ฿16.91

223.53%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$23.98 £17.99

$4.26 ฿142

462.91%

Wine (Bottle)

$11.11 £8.33

$18.58 ฿621

-40.20%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$3.08 £2.31

$1.78 ฿59.7

73.03%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.24 £2.43

$2.85 ฿95.2

13.68%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$3.94 £2.96

$2.26 ฿75.6

74.34%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$128 £96.4

$22.10 ฿738

481.31%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$5.07 £3.81

$3.01 ฿101

68.44%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$2.62 £1.96

$1.06 ฿35.34

147.17%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$39.62 £29.72

$3.86 ฿129

926.42%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$2.09 £1.57

$1.45 ฿48.45

44.14%

Midsize Hatchback 1.4l (Volkswagen Golf, Toyota Prius, Honda Civic, etc)

$38.4K £28.8K

$26.3K ฿879.9K

45.87%

Compact Sedan 1.6l (Toyota Corolla, Mazda3, Kia K4, Hyundai Elantra, etc)

$41.1K £30.9K

$26.9K ฿900.4K

52.69%

Utilities for 2 People in 2-bedroom Apartment (Heating, Electricity, Gas, Water, Garbage) (85m2)

$291 £218

$96.4 ฿3,221

202.00%

SIM Card Monthly Plan (Calls and 10GB+ Data)

$16.90 £12.68

$11.04 ฿369

53.08%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$44.87 £33.66

$17.14 ฿573

161.79%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$51.2 £38.38

$52.2 ฿1,744

-1.97%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$26.89 £20.17

$11.16 ฿373

140.95%

Cinema Ticket

$17.32 £12.99

$7.81 ฿261

121.77%

Preschool or Kindergarten, Full Day, Private, 1 Child (Monthly)

$2,062 £1,547

$556 ฿18.6K

270.91%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$30.8K £23.1K

$11.6K ฿387.0K

165.58%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$89.9 £67.5

$64.2 ฿2,146

40.08%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$45.51 £34.14

$28.69 ฿959

58.63%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$102 £76.8

$95.4 ฿3,187

7.36%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$90.7 £68.1

$88.0 ฿2,940

3.13%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,887 £1,416

$737 ฿24.6K

155.99%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,480 £1,110

$462 ฿15.5K

220.03%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$2,833 £2,125

$2,095 ฿70.0K

35.23%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$2,233 £1,675

$1,201 ฿40.1K

85.96%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$8,467 £6,352

$3,488 ฿116.6K

142.77%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$6,148 £4,612

$2,523 ฿84.3K

143.68%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$3,380 £2,536

$501 ฿16.7K

575.16%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

5.12

5.57

-8.08%

CityCost data is based on AI and user input – minor inaccuracies may occur.

Last update for Brighton: October 18, 2026

Last update for Phuket: October 19, 2026

Monthly budget structure

Share of the monthly basket for one person, rent included.

Accommodation & Living

Brighton

$1.5K 50.2%

Phuket

$462 38.3% 68.8% $1K

Eating Out

Brighton

$390 13.2%

Phuket

$121 10% 69% $269

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Brighton

$353 12%

Phuket

$125 10.3% 64.7% $228

Groceries & Markets

Brighton

$331 11.2%

Phuket

$269 22.2% 18.8% $62

Getting Around

Brighton

$162 5.5%

Phuket

$39 3.3% 75.7% $123

Clothing & Footwear

Brighton

$148 5%

Phuket

$124 10.3% 15.9% $24

Sport & Entertainment

Brighton

$86 2.9%

Phuket

$68 5.6% 21% $18

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $1,887 in Brighton and $737 in Phuket. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Brighton pays 575% more on average. The extra income cushions the higher costs, though housing choices and lifestyle decide how much of the gap is truly closed.

Dining out: $93.0 in Brighton vs $32.00 in Phuket for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $331 vs $269 per month, with Phuket cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇬🇧 Brighton

🇹🇭 Phuket

🕒 Local time

13:29 1:29 PM

19:29 7:29 PM

6 h ahead of Brighton

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

256,000

79,308

💱 Currency

British Pound GBP £

Thai Baht THB ฿

📈 Exchange rate

1 GBP = 1.33 USD

1 GBP = 1.19 EUR

100 THB = 2.99 USD

100 THB = 2.66 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

THB, USD, EUR to GBP – British Pound Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇬🇧 British Pound (£)

British Pound exchange rates as of October 20, 2026: 1 USD = 0.75 GBP (1 GBP = 1.33 USD). 1 EUR = 0.843 GBP (1 GBP = 1.19 EUR).

Thai Baht exchange rates as of October 20, 2026: 1 USD = 33.42 THB (100 THB = 2.99 USD). 1 EUR = 37.57 THB (100 THB = 2.66 EUR).

USD to GBP in detail →

On the map

Lowest

Highest

Between locations

Brighton Phuket 9,920 km ≈ 13 h nonstop flight

From you

Brighton
Phuket

Distances are measured in a straight line. Your location is detected approximately.

City Median Internet Speeds Comparison (Updated April 2026)

The chart highlights the Precision Threshold for mobile and fixed broadband internet speeds, updated quarterly.

Digital Nomad Cost of Living Index

Brighton vs Phuket: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Brighton and Phuket differ by about 144% in total monthly costs ($2,950 vs $1,208 including rent). Phuket is meaningfully more affordable – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

Average pay runs 575% higher in Brighton, which matters when comparing affordability. Whether that higher income actually nets you more depends on your spending habits and housing choices.

Rent for a central apartment: $1,887 in Brighton versus $737 in Phuket. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $2,062 in Brighton versus $556 in Phuket. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Supermarket bills run roughly 23% higher in Brighton. For households that cook at home regularly, that difference adds up over a month.

At $1,208 in Phuket versus $2,950 in Brighton, a $1,500 budget is realistic in Phuket but tight or insufficient in Brighton. The gap between the two cities makes Phuket the clear choice for anyone on this budget.

Both cities offer a good standard of living with different trade-offs. Neither is objectively better – the right pick depends on what matters most: affordability, career, cultural scene, or climate.

Safety-wise, Brighton and Phuket are on par. Petty crime is typical for cities this size, and most residents feel comfortable going about their daily routines in either place.

Expats usually find Phuket gentler on the wallet – expenses run 144% less than in Brighton. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.