Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Cascais and Phuket

For one person, living is cheaper in Phuket: $1,278 a month against $2,351 in Cascais, rent and utilities included – about $12,900 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

112

Cost of Living Index in Cascais
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Cascais Living Index
62

Cost of Living Index in Phuket
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Phuket Living Index

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Cascais

🇵🇹 Portugal

$2,351

/mo nomad

Phuket

🇹🇭 Thailand

$1,278

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Cascais 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 Cascais and in Phuket actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $2,351 in Cascais versus $1,278 in Phuket.

Cascais $2,351
Phuket $1,278

Estimated couple costs with rent: $3,777 in Cascais versus $2,216 in Phuket.

Cascais $3,777
Phuket $2,216

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $5,204 in Cascais versus $3,154 in Phuket.

Cascais $5,204
Phuket $3,154

Living in Cascais is roughly 84% more expensive than in Phuket, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

The two cities straddle the global median: Cascais is 73% above, Phuket is 6% below.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$15.86 €14.21

$4.47 ฿151

254.81%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$44.62 €39.99

$32.41 ฿1,092

37.67%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$9.49 €8.50

$8.81 ฿297

7.72%

Cappuccino

$2.69 €2.41

$2.83 ฿95.3

-4.95%

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

$2.16 €1.94

$0.87 ฿29.37

148.28%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.21 €1.98

$0.49 ฿16.64

351.02%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.30 €2.96

$2.56 ฿86.2

28.91%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$5.49 €4.92

$3.68 ฿124

49.18%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.31 €1.17

$1.66 ฿55.9

-21.08%

White Bread (500g)

$2.30 €2.06

$1.46 ฿49.25

57.53%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.64 €1.47

$1.50 ฿50.4

9.33%

Eggs

$3.32 €2.97

$2.09 ฿70.4

58.85%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$10.79 €9.67

$19.07 ฿642

-43.42%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$7.02 €6.29

$3.30 ฿111

112.73%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$15.08 €13.52

$10.91 ฿368

38.22%

Apples (1kg)

$2.84 €2.54

$2.93 ฿98.7

-3.07%

Banana (1kg)

$1.51 €1.35

$1.69 ฿56.9

-10.65%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.55 €2.28

$2.25 ฿75.7

13.33%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.25 €2.01

$2.08 ฿70.0

8.17%

Potato (1kg)

$1.56 €1.40

$1.51 ฿50.9

3.31%

Onion (1kg)

$2.29 €2.05

$1.38 ฿46.47

65.94%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.71 €1.53

$1.07 ฿35.91

59.81%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.06 €0.95

$0.52 ฿17.49

103.85%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$5.70 €5.11

$4.20 ฿142

35.71%

Wine (Bottle)

$7.73 €6.93

$18.79 ฿633

-58.86%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.27 €1.14

$1.82 ฿61.4

-30.22%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.42 €3.96

$2.84 ฿95.7

55.63%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$2.19 €1.96

$1.45 ฿48.93

51.03%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$45.02 €40.34

$56.7 ฿1,909

-20.54%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$2.21 €1.98

$3.02 ฿102

-26.82%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.02 ฿34.29

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$3.69 ฿124

Gasoline (1 liter)

$2.06 €1.85

$1.47 ฿49.70

40.14%

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

$34.2K €30.6K

$26.8K ฿902.4K

27.69%

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

$38.0K €34.0K

$26.7K ฿899.5K

42.35%

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

$134 €120

$96.4 ฿3,247

38.60%

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

$24.90 €22.31

$11.26 ฿380

121.14%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$56.0 €50.2

$16.85 ฿568

232.40%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$42.84 €38.39

$67.2 ฿2,266

-36.28%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$11.36 €10.18

$10.73 ฿361

5.87%

Cinema Ticket

$7.12 €6.38

$7.50 ฿253

-5.07%

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

$839 €752

$476 ฿16.0K

76.21%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$18.6K €16.7K

$11.3K ฿379.6K

65.23%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$77.5 €69.4

$62.4 ฿2,102

24.23%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$37.50 €33.60

$28.41 ฿957

32.00%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$105 €93.9

$94.3 ฿3,178

11.11%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$136 €122

$85.8 ฿2,892

58.64%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,859 €1,666

$716 ฿24.1K

159.69%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,358 €1,217

$491 ฿16.5K

176.59%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$4,213 €3,776

$1,927 ฿64.9K

118.66%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$3,032 €2,717

$1,431 ฿48.2K

111.96%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$7,644 €6,850

$4,175 ฿140.7K

83.07%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$5,128 €4,596

$3,045 ฿102.6K

68.44%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$2,246 €2,013

$502 ฿16.9K

347.25%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

3.67

5.57

-34.11%

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

Last update for Cascais: October 25, 2026

Last update for Phuket: October 26, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Cascais

$1.4K 57.8%

Phuket

$491 38.4% 63.8% $867

Groceries & Markets

Cascais

$273 11.6%

Phuket

$266 20.8% 2.4% $6.5

Eating Out

Cascais

$233 9.9%

Phuket

$122 9.5% 47.7% $111

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Cascais

$214 9.1%

Phuket

$124 9.7% 42% $90

Clothing & Footwear

Cascais

$160 6.8%

Phuket

$122 9.5% 23.9% $38

Sport & Entertainment

Cascais

$57 2.4%

Phuket

$82 6.4% 44.1% $25

Getting Around

Cascais

$56 * 2.4%

Phuket

$71 5.5% 26.1% $15

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

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $1,859 in Cascais and $716 in Phuket. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Cascais pays about 4.5 times more on average. How far that income stretches comes down to housing choices and lifestyle.

Dining out: $45 in Cascais vs $32 in Phuket for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $273 vs $266 per month, with Phuket cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇵🇹 Cascais

🇹🇭 Phuket

🕒 Local time

04:25 4:25 AM

11:25 11:25 AM

7 h ahead of Cascais

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

214,158

79,308

💱 Currency

Euro EUR €

Thai Baht THB ฿

📈 Exchange rate

1 EUR = 1.12 USD

100 THB = 2.97 USD

100 THB = 2.67 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

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Between locations

Cascais Phuket 10,970 km ≈ 14 h nonstop flight

From you

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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

Cascais vs Phuket: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Phuket is about 46% cheaper overall, especially in eating out, utilities, and clothing. That difference adds up to real monthly savings that compound significantly over time.

Average pay in Cascais is about 4.5 times higher, 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: $1,859 in Cascais versus $716 in Phuket. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

A monthly transit pass in Cascais runs roughly 21% less than in Phuket. The price difference matters if you commute daily and watch your budget.

All in, you’ll spend $2,351 per month in Cascais versus $1,278 in Phuket – Phuket is about 46% cheaper, which adds up to real savings over time.

At $1,278 in Phuket versus $2,351 in Cascais, a $1,500 budget is realistic in Phuket but tight or insufficient in Cascais. 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, Cascais and Phuket are both considered safe, so it’s unlikely to be the deciding factor between them.

It comes down to priorities – Phuket wins on affordability, Cascais on earning potential. Factor in climate, language, visa rules, and proximity to places that matter to you before deciding.