Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Chiayi and Porto

For one person, living is cheaper in Chiayi: $1,067 a month against $1,905 in Porto, rent and utilities included – about $10,100 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

52

Cost of Living Index in Chiayi
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Chiayi Living Index
93

Cost of Living Index in Porto
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Porto Living Index

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Chiayi

🇹🇼 Taiwan

$1,067

/mo nomad

Porto

🇵🇹 Portugal

$1,905

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Chiayi and in Porto

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,067 in Chiayi versus $1,905 in Porto.

Chiayi $1,067
Porto $1,905

Estimated couple costs with rent: $1,503 in Chiayi versus $2,836 in Porto.

Chiayi $1,503
Porto $2,836

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $1,940 in Chiayi versus $3,766 in Porto.

Chiayi $1,940
Porto $3,766

Living in Chiayi costs roughly 44% less than in Porto, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in groceries.

The two cities straddle the global median: Chiayi is 21% below, Porto is 41% above.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$4.83 NT$157

$13.28 €11.81

-63.63%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$46.84 NT$1,519

$55.4 €49.26

-15.42%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$5.70 NT$185

$11.28 €10.03

-49.47%

Cappuccino

$3.36 NT$109

$2.71 €2.41

23.99%

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

$0.88 NT$28.58

$2.32 €2.06

-62.07%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.67 NT$21.68

$1.36 €1.21

-50.74%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$2.85 NT$92.4

$3.44 €3.06

-17.15%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.80 NT$123

$4.47 €3.98

-14.99%

Milk (1 liter)

$3.10 NT$101

$1.14 €1.01

171.93%

White Bread (500g)

$2.06 NT$66.8

$1.69 €1.50

21.89%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$3.04 NT$98.6

$1.43 €1.28

112.59%

Eggs

$2.66 NT$86.3

$4.12 €3.66

-35.44%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$19.77 NT$641

$11.82 €10.51

67.26%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$9.75 NT$316

$6.96 €6.19

40.09%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$20.98 NT$680

$16.26 €14.46

29.03%

Apples (1kg)

$4.87 NT$158

$2.19 €1.95

122.37%

Banana (1kg)

$3.22 NT$104

$1.60 €1.43

101.25%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.99 NT$97.0

$1.82 €1.62

64.29%

Tomato (1kg)

$4.55 NT$148

$2.50 €2.22

82.00%

Potato (1kg)

$2.80 NT$90.9

$1.79 €1.59

56.42%

Onion (1kg)

$2.35 NT$76.3

$1.79 €1.59

31.28%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.68 NT$54.3

$1.66 €1.48

1.20%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.14 NT$37.04

$0.78 €0.70

46.15%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$4.01 NT$130

$6.52 €5.80

-38.50%

Wine (Bottle)

$4.66 NT$151

$5.64 €5.01

-17.38%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.65 NT$53.7

$1.34 €1.19

23.13%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.18 NT$70.8

$2.62 €2.33

-16.79%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$1.60 €1.43

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$12.43 NT$403

$45.43 €40.41

-72.64%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$2.64 NT$85.5

$4.00 €3.56

-34.00%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$0.46 NT$14.94

$0.80 €0.72

-42.50%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$9.66 NT$313

$16.50 €14.68

-41.45%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.06 NT$34.43

$2.15 €1.91

-50.70%

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

$32.9K NT$1.1M

$33.0K €29.3K

-0.32%

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

$24.5K NT$795.8K

$34.7K €30.8K

-29.24%

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

$66.7 NT$2,164

$161 €144

-58.64%

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

$17.52 NT$568

$14.94 €13.29

17.27%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$26.93 NT$873

$36.70 €32.64

-26.62%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$31.82 NT$1,032

$45.16 €40.17

-29.54%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$15.23 €13.55

Cinema Ticket

$9.84 NT$319

$9.20 €8.18

6.96%

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

$660 NT$21.4K

$566 €504

16.57%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$16.8K NT$543.4K

$10.3K €9,161

62.70%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$62.3 NT$2,020

$102 €90.5

-38.80%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$39.44 NT$1,279

$33.14 €29.48

19.01%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$85.2 NT$2,763

$92.2 €82.0

-7.64%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$104 NT$3,383

$102 €90.9

2.13%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$369 NT$12.0K

$1,279 €1,137

-71.11%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$253 NT$8,194

$949 €844

-73.38%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$2,224 €1,978

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,626 €1,446

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$3,179 NT$103.1K

$5,124 €4,558

-37.95%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$1,910 NT$61.9K

$3,771 €3,354

-49.35%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$2,110 NT$68.4K

$1,578 €1,404

33.69%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

2.4

3.67

-34.60%

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

Last update for Chiayi: October 12, 2026

Last update for Porto: October 10, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Groceries & Markets

Chiayi

$379 35.5%

Porto

$258 13.5% 32% $121

Accommodation & Living

Chiayi

$253 23.7%

Porto

$949 49.8% 276% $697

Clothing & Footwear

Chiayi

$131 12.3%

Porto

$148 7.8% 13.1% $17

Eating Out

Chiayi

$124 11.6%

Porto

$213 11.2% 71.9% $89

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Chiayi

$111 10.4%

Porto

$213 11.2% 91.6% $102

Sport & Entertainment

Chiayi

$51 4.8%

Porto

$64 3.3% 23.4% $12

Getting Around

Chiayi

$17 * 1.6%

Porto

$60 3.1% 245% $43

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 $369 in Chiayi and $1,279 in Porto. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Chiayi pays 34% more on average while also being the cheaper of the two. The combined effect is a noticeably stronger local purchasing power.

Dining out: $47.00 in Chiayi vs $55.0 in Porto. Groceries flip the comparison at $379 vs $258, with Porto cheaper for home cooking.

Good to know

🇹🇼 Chiayi

🇵🇹 Porto

🕒 Local time

07:24 7:24 AM

00:24 12:24 AM

7 h behind Chiayi

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

269,874

231,828

💱 Currency

New Taiwan Dollar TWD NT$

Euro EUR €

📈 Exchange rate

100 TWD = 3.08 USD

100 TWD = 2.74 EUR

1 EUR = 1.12 USD

Exchange rates and currency converter

EUR, USD to TWD – New Taiwan Dollar Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇹🇼 New Taiwan Dollar (NT$)

New Taiwan Dollar exchange rates as of October 18, 2026: 1 USD = 32.43 TWD (100 TWD = 3.08 USD). 1 EUR = 36.46 TWD (100 TWD = 2.74 EUR).

Euro exchange rates as of October 18, 2026: 1 USD = 0.889 EUR (1 EUR = 1.12 USD).

USD to TWD in detail →

On the map

Lowest

Highest

Between locations

Chiayi Porto 11,120 km ≈ 14 h nonstop flight

From you

Chiayi
Porto

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

Chiayi vs Porto: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Chiayi wins on cost – living expenses run 79% lower than in Porto. Housing and daily spending are where you'll feel the difference most, making Chiayi the obvious pick if budget is a priority.

Average pay runs 34% higher in Chiayi, 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: $369 in Chiayi versus $1,279 in Porto. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

All in, you'll spend $1,067 per month in Chiayi versus $1,905 in Porto – a 79% gap that adds up to real savings over time for anyone picking the cheaper option.

A monthly transit pass in Chiayi runs roughly 265% less than in Porto. Both cities have functional networks, but the price difference matters if you're watching your budget.

At $1,067 in Chiayi versus $1,905 in Porto, a $1,000 budget is realistic in Chiayi but tight or insufficient in Porto. The gap between the two cities makes Chiayi the clear choice for anyone on this budget.

Both work as nomad bases, but Chiayi delivers better value – similar infrastructure at $1,067 monthly. If stretching your runway or maximizing savings is the goal, the price difference makes Chiayi hard to pass up.

Safety-wise, Chiayi and Porto 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 Chiayi gentler on the wallet – expenses run 79% less than in Porto. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.