Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Cape Coast and Chiang Mai

For one person, living is cheaper in Chiang Mai: $938 a month against $1,261 in Cape Coast, rent and utilities included – about $3,900 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

61

Cost of Living Index in Cape Coast
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Cape Coast Living Index
45

Cost of Living Index in Chiang Mai
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Chiang Mai Living Index

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Cape Coast

🇬🇭 Ghana

$1,261

/mo nomad

Chiang Mai

🇹🇭 Thailand

$938

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Cape Coast and in Chiang Mai

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

A single person spends $1,261 per month in Cape Coast vs $938 in Chiang Mai, rent included.

Cape Coast $1,261
Chiang Mai $938

A couple spends around $1,989 per month in Cape Coast vs $1,426 in Chiang Mai, rent included.

Cape Coast $1,989
Chiang Mai $1,426

A family of three spends $2,716 per month in Cape Coast vs $1,914 in Chiang Mai, rent included.

Cape Coast $2,716
Chiang Mai $1,914

Cape Coast costs about 34% more than Chiang Mai, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

Both Cape Coast and Chiang Mai are more affordable than the global median – Cape Coast 7% lower, Chiang Mai 30% lower.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$8.15 GHS 94.8

$2.26 ฿75.4

260.62%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$51.9 GHS 603

$19.18 ฿641

170.49%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$10.18 GHS 118

$5.59 ฿187

82.11%

Cappuccino

$4.45 GHS 51.7

$1.72 ฿57.6

158.72%

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

$1.57 GHS 18.27

$0.64 ฿21.54

145.31%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.45 GHS 5.19

$0.33 ฿11.18

36.36%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$1.84 GHS 21.40

$2.36 ฿78.7

-22.03%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.20 GHS 25.56

$3.90 ฿130

-43.59%

Milk (1 liter)

$3.64 GHS 42.35

$2.05 ฿68.6

77.56%

White Bread (500g)

$1.67 GHS 19.47

$1.40 ฿46.70

19.29%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$3.07 GHS 35.70

$1.28 ฿42.89

139.84%

Eggs

$2.55 GHS 29.68

$2.25 ฿75.3

13.33%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$12.01 GHS 140

$16.94 ฿566

-29.10%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$7.04 GHS 81.8

$2.74 ฿91.6

156.93%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$9.76 GHS 114

$9.36 ฿313

4.27%

Apples (1kg)

$3.57 GHS 41.48

$2.40 ฿80.3

48.75%

Banana (1kg)

$1.38 GHS 16.10

$1.01 ฿33.92

36.63%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.76 GHS 20.53

$1.61 ฿53.9

9.32%

Tomato (1kg)

$3.63 GHS 42.26

$1.52 ฿50.7

138.82%

Potato (1kg)

$2.77 GHS 32.22

$1.28 ฿42.90

116.41%

Onion (1kg)

$2.74 GHS 31.82

$1.11 ฿37.22

146.85%

Lettuce (1 head)

$0.69 GHS 8.06

$0.72 ฿24.09

-4.17%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.60 GHS 7.00

$0.52 ฿17.54

15.38%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$2.50 GHS 29.13

$4.33 ฿145

-42.26%

Wine (Bottle)

$7.32 GHS 85.1

$17.73 ฿593

-58.71%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.28 GHS 14.86

$1.63 ฿54.4

-21.47%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.38 GHS 27.71

$2.85 ฿95.3

-16.49%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.85 ฿28.31

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$53.9 ฿1,801

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$1.73 GHS 20.07

$1.17 ฿39.18

47.86%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.25 GHS 14.50

$0.57 ฿19.00

119.30%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$4.26 GHS 49.55

$2.37 ฿79.2

79.75%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.29 GHS 14.98

$1.45 ฿48.32

-11.03%

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

$7,862 GHS 91.4K

$20.5K ฿684.3K

-61.60%

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

$9,880 GHS 114.9K

$26.5K ฿886.1K

-62.74%

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

$73.2 GHS 851

$62.3 ฿2,083

17.38%

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

$19.55 GHS 227

$12.27 ฿410

59.33%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$43.07 GHS 501

$19.97 ฿668

115.67%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$37.91 ฿1,267

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$3.76 ฿126

Cinema Ticket

$12.92 GHS 150

$6.71 ฿224

92.55%

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

$466 GHS 5,421

$797 ฿26.6K

-41.53%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$18.7K GHS 217.7K

$14.8K ฿495.7K

26.20%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$14.04 GHS 163

$53.3 ฿1,780

-73.63%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$18.28 GHS 213

$25.05 ฿837

-27.03%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$36.79 GHS 428

$91.6 ฿3,062

-59.85%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$53.0 GHS 616

$73.5 ฿2,455

-27.88%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$608 GHS 7,076

$464 ฿15.5K

31.12%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$589 GHS 6,848

$305 ฿10.2K

93.28%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,230 GHS 14.3K

$915 ฿30.6K

34.34%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,119 GHS 13.0K

$552 ฿18.5K

102.66%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$1,912 ฿63.9K

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$1,438 ฿48.1K

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$595 ฿19.9K

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

26.75

5.57

380.25%

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

Last update for Cape Coast: October 10, 2026

Last update for Chiang Mai: October 13, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Cape Coast

$589 46.7%

Chiang Mai

$305 32.5% 48.3% $284

Groceries & Markets

Cape Coast

$277 22%

Chiang Mai

$238 25.4% 14.1% $39

Eating Out

Cape Coast

$171 13.5%

Chiang Mai

$79 8.4% 53.7% $92

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Cape Coast

$136 10.8%

Chiang Mai

$95 10.1% 30.3% $41

Clothing & Footwear

Cape Coast

$55 4.4%

Chiang Mai

$110 11.7% 99.3% $55

Sport & Entertainment

Cape Coast

$26 * 2.1%

Chiang Mai

$51 5.5% 98.7% $26

Getting Around

Cape Coast

$8 * 0.6%

Chiang Mai

$61 6.5% 670% $53

Categories marked with * are only partly priced – their share counts the items that do have prices.

Cost Breakdown

A central one-bedroom costs $608 in Cape Coast versus $464 in Chiang Mai. Rent is usually the largest line item in a monthly budget, so the gap here sets the tone for the overall comparison.

A mid-range dinner for two costs $52.0 in Cape Coast versus $19.00 in Chiang Mai. Monthly groceries follow the same trend: $277 vs $238 – making Chiang Mai the more affordable choice for daily food spending.

Good to know

🇬🇭 Cape Coast

🇹🇭 Chiang Mai

🕒 Local time

09:34 9:34 AM

16:34 4:34 PM

7 h ahead of Cape Coast

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

155,000

127,240

💱 Currency

Ghanaian Cedi GHS ₵

Thai Baht THB ฿

📈 Exchange rate

100 GHS = 8.6 USD

100 GHS = 7.65 EUR

100 THB = 2.99 USD

100 THB = 2.66 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

THB, USD, EUR to GHS – Ghanaian Cedi Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇬🇭 Ghanaian Cedi (₵)

Ghanaian Cedi exchange rates as of October 19, 2026: 1 USD = 11.63 GHS (100 GHS = 8.6 USD). 1 EUR = 13.07 GHS (100 GHS = 7.65 EUR).

Thai Baht exchange rates as of October 19, 2026: 1 USD = 33.42 THB (100 THB = 2.99 USD). 1 EUR = 37.57 THB (100 THB = 2.66 EUR).

USD to GHS in detail →

On the map

Lowest

Highest

Between locations

Cape Coast Chiang Mai 10,890 km ≈ 14 h nonstop flight

From you

Cape Coast
Chiang Mai

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

Cape Coast vs Chiang Mai: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Yes – Cape Coast is pricier by about 34%, and outside of rent the gap shows up most in eating out.

For a comfortable life, plan on about $1,892 per month in Cape Coast and $1,408 in Chiang Mai. That covers rent, food, utilities, transport, and enough left over to feel settled – not just surviving.

Rent is clearly cheaper in Chiang Mai, especially for central apartments. Housing is actually the single biggest factor behind the overall cost gap between these two cities.

Monthly expenses with rent come to $1,261 in Cape Coast and $938 in Chiang Mai. That's a gap of about 34%.

Kindergarten costs $466 per month in Cape Coast and $797 in Chiang Mai. For families with young kids, this one expense can tip the scales when choosing between the two cities.

A $1,000 monthly budget goes further in Chiang Mai, where all-in costs run around $938, than in Cape Coast at $1,261. In Chiang Mai it covers expenses comfortably, while in Cape Coast it requires careful planning or may not stretch far enough.

Families tend to lean toward Chiang Mai – lower housing and cheaper childcare make a real difference, especially on a single income or when paying for private education.

Both have safer and rougher neighborhoods, but overall safety is comparable to other large cities. Neighborhood choice matters more than the city-level comparison – central, well-trafficked areas feel secure in both.

If budget matters most, go with Chiang Mai. If higher salaries, better infrastructure, or specific career opportunities are the priority, Cape Coast makes more sense. Both are solid long-term options with distinct trade-offs.