Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Chiang Mai and Aurillac

For one person, living is cheaper in Chiang Mai: $936 a month against $1,912 in Aurillac, rent and utilities included – about $11,700 less a year. Rent and utilities account for about half of the difference.

45

Cost of Living Index in Chiang Mai
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Chiang Mai Living Index
93

Cost of Living Index in Aurillac
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Aurillac Living Index

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Chiang Mai

🇹🇭 Thailand

$936

/mo nomad

Aurillac

🇫🇷 France

$1,912

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Chiang Mai and in Aurillac

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $936 in Chiang Mai versus $1,912 in Aurillac.

Chiang Mai $936
Aurillac $1,912

Estimated couple costs with rent: $1,457 in Chiang Mai versus $2,948 in Aurillac.

Chiang Mai $1,457
Aurillac $2,948

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $1,979 in Chiang Mai versus $3,983 in Aurillac.

Chiang Mai $1,979
Aurillac $3,983

Living in Chiang Mai costs roughly 51% less than in Aurillac, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

The two cities straddle the global median: Chiang Mai is 31% below, Aurillac is 40% above.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$2.24 ฿75.5

$16.88 €15.07

-86.73%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$19.00 ฿640

$68.1 €60.8

-72.11%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$5.55 ฿187

$13.59 €12.14

-59.16%

Cappuccino

$1.67 ฿56.4

$3.94 €3.52

-57.61%

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

$0.64 ฿21.51

$2.78 €2.48

-76.98%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.31 ฿10.29

$1.68 €1.50

-81.55%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$2.36 ฿79.4

$7.79 €6.95

-69.70%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.66 ฿123

$6.26 €5.59

-41.53%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.95 ฿65.6

$1.52 €1.35

28.29%

White Bread (500g)

$1.44 ฿48.39

$1.76 €1.57

-18.18%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.33 ฿44.96

$2.50 €2.23

-46.80%

Eggs

$2.28 ฿76.9

$4.60 €4.11

-50.43%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$16.45 ฿554

$22.54 €20.12

-27.02%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$2.78 ฿93.7

$12.16 €10.86

-77.14%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$9.31 ฿314

$22.84 €20.39

-59.24%

Apples (1kg)

$2.35 ฿79.3

$2.42 €2.16

-2.89%

Banana (1kg)

$0.97 ฿32.75

$2.54 €2.27

-61.81%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.60 ฿53.8

$3.40 €3.04

-52.94%

Tomato (1kg)

$1.50 ฿50.6

$3.07 €2.74

-51.14%

Potato (1kg)

$1.28 ฿43.05

$2.55 €2.28

-49.80%

Onion (1kg)

$1.10 ฿37.13

$3.07 €2.74

-64.17%

Lettuce (1 head)

$0.71 ฿23.78

$1.36 €1.22

-47.79%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.49 ฿16.34

$1.12 €1.00

-56.25%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$4.14 ฿140

$14.07 €12.57

-70.58%

Wine (Bottle)

$17.52 ฿590

$7.90 €7.05

121.77%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.61 ฿54.4

$2.65 €2.37

-39.25%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.78 ฿93.8

$3.32 €2.96

-16.27%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.87 ฿29.26

$1.93 €1.72

-54.92%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$54.1 ฿1,822

$42.99 €38.39

25.82%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$1.16 ฿38.99

$8.04 €7.18

-85.57%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$0.53 ฿17.77

$2.14 €1.91

-75.23%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$2.42 ฿81.6

$42.25 €37.73

-94.27%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.45 ฿48.81

$2.29 €2.04

-36.68%

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

$21.1K ฿709.5K

$34.1K €30.5K

-38.26%

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

$26.9K ฿907.7K

$37.4K €33.4K

-27.92%

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

$62.2 ฿2,095

$261 €233

-76.15%

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

$12.17 ฿410

$14.02 €12.52

-13.20%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$20.12 ฿678

$29.39 €26.24

-31.54%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$37.31 ฿1,257

$33.89 €30.26

10.09%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$3.77 ฿127

Cinema Ticket

$6.49 ฿219

$14.85 €13.26

-56.30%

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

$736 ฿24.8K

$628 €561

17.18%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$14.8K ฿497.4K

$11.4K €10.2K

29.82%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$53.4 ฿1,798

$108 €96.2

-50.46%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$24.64 ฿830

$43.69 €39.01

-43.60%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$91.5 ฿3,082

$121 €108

-24.33%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$71.9 ฿2,424

$123 €110

-41.74%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$482 ฿16.2K

$760 €678

-36.51%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$309 ฿10.4K

$622 €555

-50.31%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,006 ฿33.9K

$1,452 €1,297

-30.73%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$633 ฿21.3K

$1,173 €1,048

-46.02%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$2,363 ฿79.6K

$4,144 €3,700

-42.97%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$1,589 ฿53.5K

$2,802 €2,502

-43.28%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$590 ฿19.9K

$3,947 €3,525

-85.06%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

5.57

3.68

51.36%

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

Last update for Chiang Mai: October 26, 2026

Last update for Aurillac: October 26, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Chiang Mai

$309 33%

Aurillac

$622 32.5% 101% $313

Groceries & Markets

Chiang Mai

$234 25.1%

Aurillac

$383 20% 63.3% $148

Clothing & Footwear

Chiang Mai

$109 11.6%

Aurillac

$178 9.3% 63.9% $69

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Chiang Mai

$94 10.1%

Aurillac

$304 15.9% 222% $210

Eating Out

Chiang Mai

$78 8.3%

Aurillac

$292 15.3% 277% $215

Getting Around

Chiang Mai

$61 6.6%

Aurillac

$69 3.6% 13.2% $8.1

Sport & Entertainment

Chiang Mai

$50 5.4%

Aurillac

$64 3.3% 26.5% $13

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $482 in Chiang Mai and $760 in Aurillac. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Aurillac pays about 6.7 times more on average. How far that income stretches comes down to housing choices and lifestyle.

Dining out: $19 in Chiang Mai vs $68 in Aurillac for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $234 vs $383 per month, with Chiang Mai cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇹🇭 Chiang Mai

🇫🇷 Aurillac

🕒 Local time

01:53 1:53 AM

19:53 7:53 PM

6 h behind Chiang Mai

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

127,240

25,815

💱 Currency

Thai Baht THB ฿

Euro EUR €

📈 Exchange rate

100 THB = 2.97 USD

100 THB = 2.65 EUR

1 EUR = 1.12 USD

Exchange rates and currency converter

EUR, USD to THB – Thai Baht Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇹🇭 Thai Baht (฿)

Thai Baht exchange rates as of October 30, 2026: 1 USD = 33.69 THB (100 THB = 2.97 USD). 1 EUR = 37.68 THB (100 THB = 2.65 EUR).

Euro exchange rates as of October 30, 2026: 1 USD = 0.893 EUR (1 EUR = 1.12 USD).

USD to THB in detail →

On the map

Lowest

Highest

Between locations

Chiang Mai Aurillac 9,040 km ≈ 12 h nonstop flight

From you

Chiang Mai
Aurillac

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

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

Chiang Mai is about 51% cheaper overall, especially in eating out, groceries, and clothing. That difference adds up to real monthly savings that compound significantly over time.

On paper, salaries run 85% lower in Chiang Mai. That’s worth factoring in alongside costs, though remote workers earning in a stronger currency may not notice the difference at all.

Rent for a central apartment: $482 in Chiang Mai versus $760 in Aurillac. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $736 in Chiang Mai versus $628 in Aurillac. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Supermarket bills run roughly 63% higher in Aurillac. For households that cook at home regularly, that difference adds up over a month.

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.

Safety-wise, Chiang Mai and Aurillac are both considered safe, so it’s unlikely to be the deciding factor between them.

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