Last update: Nov 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Charleroi and Chiang Mai

For one person, living is cheaper in Chiang Mai: $935 a month against $2,023 in Charleroi, rent and utilities included – about $13,100 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

97

Cost of Living Index in Charleroi
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Charleroi Living Index
45

Cost of Living Index in Chiang Mai
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Chiang Mai Living Index

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Charleroi

🇧🇪 Belgium

$2,023

/mo nomad

Chiang Mai

🇹🇭 Thailand

$935

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Charleroi 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 Charleroi and in Chiang Mai actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $2,023 in Charleroi versus $935 in Chiang Mai.

Charleroi $2,023
Chiang Mai $935

Estimated couple costs with rent: $2,929 in Charleroi versus $1,467 in Chiang Mai.

Charleroi $2,929
Chiang Mai $1,467

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $3,835 in Charleroi versus $1,999 in Chiang Mai.

Charleroi $3,835
Chiang Mai $1,999

Living in Charleroi is roughly 116% more expensive than in Chiang Mai, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

The two cities straddle the global median: Charleroi is 50% above, Chiang Mai is 31% below.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$22.59 €20.11

$2.13 ฿71.4

960.56%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$83.3 €74.1

$18.62 ฿623

347.10%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$13.53 €12.05

$5.60 ฿187

141.61%

Cappuccino

$2.92 €2.60

$1.66 ฿55.6

75.90%

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

$2.13 €1.89

$0.65 ฿21.63

227.69%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.07 €1.84

$0.30 ฿10.20

590.00%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.22 €2.87

$2.32 ฿77.7

38.79%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.98 €3.54

$3.67 ฿123

8.45%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.14 €1.02

$2.02 ฿67.4

-43.56%

White Bread (500g)

$2.54 €2.27

$1.41 ฿47.08

80.14%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$2.30 €2.05

$1.39 ฿46.54

65.47%

Eggs

$3.87 €3.44

$2.37 ฿79.2

63.29%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$16.33 €14.54

$16.52 ฿552

-1.15%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$11.96 €10.65

$2.67 ฿89.3

347.94%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$21.56 €19.20

$9.02 ฿302

139.02%

Apples (1kg)

$2.52 €2.24

$2.40 ฿80.2

5.00%

Banana (1kg)

$2.23 €1.99

$1.04 ฿34.82

114.42%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.69 €2.39

$1.66 ฿55.5

62.05%

Tomato (1kg)

$3.38 €3.01

$1.56 ฿52.1

116.67%

Potato (1kg)

$2.10 €1.87

$1.24 ฿41.39

69.35%

Onion (1kg)

$1.10 €0.98

$1.09 ฿36.34

0.92%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.30 €1.16

$0.76 ฿25.47

71.05%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.66 €0.59

$0.51 ฿17.19

29.41%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$12.42 €11.06

$4.12 ฿138

201.46%

Wine (Bottle)

$8.94 €7.96

$17.93 ฿600

-50.14%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.73 €1.54

$1.62 ฿54.3

6.79%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.02 €1.80

$2.82 ฿94.4

-28.37%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$2.93 €2.61

$0.93 ฿31.25

215.05%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$41.68 €37.11

$52.9 ฿1,769

-21.19%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$5.47 €4.87

$1.18 ฿39.35

363.56%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$2.73 €2.43

$0.17 ฿5.73

1505.88%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$44.79 €39.88

$1.81 ฿60.6

2374.59%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.80 €1.61

$1.47 ฿49.25

22.45%

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

$29.7K €26.4K

$21.0K ฿702.6K

41.20%

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

$32.4K €28.8K

$26.5K ฿886.7K

22.01%

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

$214 €190

$62.6 ฿2,092

241.53%

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

$22.62 €20.14

$11.60 ฿388

95.00%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$48.36 €43.06

$20.30 ฿679

138.23%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$31.81 €28.32

$37.88 ฿1,267

-16.02%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$28.32 €25.21

$3.70 ฿124

665.41%

Cinema Ticket

$15.35 €13.67

$6.51 ฿218

135.79%

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

$1,651 €1,470

$727 ฿24.3K

127.04%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$16.7K €14.9K

$16.6K ฿554.2K

0.63%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$115 €103

$53.5 ฿1,790

115.13%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$52.6 €46.82

$24.80 ฿829

112.06%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$90.1 €80.3

$90.4 ฿3,023

-0.28%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$89.5 €79.7

$72.0 ฿2,407

24.40%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$810 €722

$481 ฿16.1K

68.43%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$809 €720

$310 ฿10.4K

161.05%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,050 €935

$1,058 ฿35.4K

-0.79%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,044 €930

$659 ฿22.0K

58.52%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$2,945 €2,622

$2,418 ฿80.8K

21.81%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$2,871 €2,557

$1,609 ฿53.8K

78.47%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$2,294 €2,042

$595 ฿19.9K

285.62%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

3.53

5.57

-36.62%

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

Last update for Charleroi: November 3, 2026

Last update for Chiang Mai: November 1, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Charleroi

$809 40%

Chiang Mai

$310 33.1% 61.7% $499

Groceries & Markets

Charleroi

$341 16.9%

Chiang Mai

$237 25.3% 30.6% $104

Eating Out

Charleroi

$297 14.7%

Chiang Mai

$77 8.2% 74.2% $221

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Charleroi

$285 14.1%

Chiang Mai

$94 10.1% 66.8% $190

Clothing & Footwear

Charleroi

$156 7.7%

Chiang Mai

$108 11.6% 30.7% $48

Getting Around

Charleroi

$73 3.6%

Chiang Mai

$59 6.3% 19.1% $14

Sport & Entertainment

Charleroi

$63 3.1%

Chiang Mai

$51 5.4% 18.6% $12

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $810 in Charleroi and $481 in Chiang Mai. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Charleroi pays about 3.9 times more on average. How far that income stretches comes down to housing choices and lifestyle.

Dining out: $83 in Charleroi vs $19 in Chiang Mai for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $341 vs $237 per month, with Chiang Mai cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇧🇪 Charleroi

🇹🇭 Chiang Mai

🕒 Local time

19:38 7:38 PM

01:38 1:38 AM

6 h ahead of Charleroi

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

202,730

127,240

💱 Currency

Euro EUR €

Thai Baht THB ฿

📈 Exchange rate

1 EUR = 1.12 USD

100 THB = 2.99 USD

100 THB = 2.66 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

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Between locations

Charleroi Chiang Mai 8,720 km ≈ 11 h nonstop flight

From you

Charleroi
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

Charleroi vs Chiang Mai: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Total monthly costs including rent come to $2,023 in Charleroi and $935 in Chiang Mai, so Chiang Mai is about 54% cheaper – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

Average pay in Charleroi is about 3.9 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: $810 in Charleroi versus $481 in Chiang Mai. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

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

Childcare runs $1,651 in Charleroi versus $727 in Chiang Mai. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Both cities are expensive relative to $800. Chiang Mai is the more realistic option, but even there you’ll need to be disciplined with housing, food, and fun money.

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.

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