Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Dartford and Chiang Mai

For one person, living is cheaper in Chiang Mai: $936 a month against $2,939 in Dartford, rent and utilities included – about $24,000 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

143

Cost of Living Index in Dartford
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Dartford Living Index
45

Cost of Living Index in Chiang Mai
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Chiang Mai Living Index

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Dartford

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

$2,939

/mo nomad

Chiang Mai

🇹🇭 Thailand

$936

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

A single person spends $2,939 per month in Dartford vs $936 in Chiang Mai, rent included.

Dartford $2,939
Chiang Mai $936

A couple spends around $4,203 per month in Dartford vs $1,457 in Chiang Mai, rent included.

Dartford $4,203
Chiang Mai $1,457

A family of three spends $5,467 per month in Dartford vs $1,979 in Chiang Mai, rent included.

Dartford $5,467
Chiang Mai $1,979

Dartford costs about 214% more than Chiang Mai, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

Dartford sits 116% above the global median, while Chiang Mai is 31% below – they fall on opposite sides of the world average.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$23.91 £17.83

$2.24 ฿75.6

967.41%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$107 £80.1

$19.00 ฿641

465.47%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$10.54 £7.86

$5.55 ฿187

89.91%

Cappuccino

$4.82 £3.60

$1.67 ฿56.5

188.62%

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

$2.96 £2.21

$0.64 ฿21.53

362.50%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.75 £1.30

$0.31 ฿10.30

464.52%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$7.17 £5.35

$2.36 ฿79.5

203.81%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$6.81 £5.08

$3.66 ฿124

86.07%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.58 £1.18

$1.95 ฿65.7

-18.97%

White Bread (500g)

$1.99 £1.49

$1.44 ฿48.45

38.19%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$2.44 £1.82

$1.33 ฿45.01

83.46%

Eggs

$4.15 £3.09

$2.28 ฿77.0

82.02%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$8.64 £6.44

$16.45 ฿555

-47.48%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$10.04 £7.48

$2.78 ฿93.8

261.15%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$16.28 £12.14

$9.31 ฿314

74.87%

Apples (1kg)

$3.05 £2.28

$2.35 ฿79.4

29.79%

Banana (1kg)

$1.48 £1.10

$0.97 ฿32.78

52.58%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.71 £2.02

$1.60 ฿53.9

69.37%

Tomato (1kg)

$3.35 £2.50

$1.50 ฿50.6

123.33%

Potato (1kg)

$1.46 £1.09

$1.28 ฿43.10

14.06%

Onion (1kg)

$1.83 £1.36

$1.10 ฿37.17

66.36%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.44 £1.07

$0.71 ฿23.81

102.82%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.98 £0.73

$0.49 ฿16.36

100.00%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$23.28 £17.36

$4.14 ฿140

462.32%

Wine (Bottle)

$10.73 £8.00

$17.52 ฿591

-38.76%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$2.28 £1.70

$1.61 ฿54.5

41.61%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.44 £1.82

$2.78 ฿93.9

-12.23%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$2.80 £2.08

$0.87 ฿29.29

221.84%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$54.1 ฿1,825

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$5.43 £4.05

$1.16 ฿39.03

368.10%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$3.39 £2.53

$0.53 ฿17.79

539.62%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$57.1 £42.56

$2.42 ฿81.7

2259.09%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$2.00 £1.49

$1.45 ฿48.87

37.93%

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

$38.1K £28.4K

$21.1K ฿710.3K

81.08%

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

$40.8K £30.4K

$26.9K ฿908.7K

51.48%

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

$285 £212

$62.2 ฿2,097

358.13%

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

$16.52 £12.32

$12.17 ฿410

35.74%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$39.69 £29.59

$20.12 ฿679

97.27%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$44.44 £33.14

$37.31 ฿1,259

19.11%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$3.77 ฿127

Cinema Ticket

$19.41 £14.47

$6.49 ฿219

199.08%

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

$2,229 £1,662

$736 ฿24.8K

202.79%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$29.8K £22.2K

$14.8K ฿498.0K

102.11%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$54.1 £40.30

$53.4 ฿1,800

1.27%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$24.07 £17.95

$24.64 ฿831

-2.31%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$90.1 £67.1

$91.5 ฿3,086

-1.56%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$95.2 £71.0

$71.9 ฿2,426

32.32%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$2,235 £1,666

$482 ฿16.3K

363.40%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,711 £1,276

$309 ฿10.4K

453.91%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$2,951 £2,200

$1,006 ฿33.9K

193.35%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$2,655 £1,980

$633 ฿21.4K

319.16%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$5,354 £3,991

$2,363 ฿79.7K

126.54%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$4,479 £3,339

$1,589 ฿53.6K

181.86%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$4,472 £3,334

$590 ฿19.9K

658.36%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

4.79

5.57

-14.00%

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

Last update for Dartford: October 25, 2026

Last update for Chiang Mai: October 26, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Dartford

$1.7K 58.2%

Chiang Mai

$309 33% 81.9% $1.4K

Eating Out

Dartford

$349 11.9%

Chiang Mai

$78 8.3% 77.8% $272

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Dartford

$341 11.6%

Chiang Mai

$94 10.1% 72.3% $247

Groceries & Markets

Dartford

$302 10.3%

Chiang Mai

$234 25.1% 22.4% $68

Clothing & Footwear

Dartford

$119 4%

Chiang Mai

$109 11.6% 8.3% $9.9

Sport & Entertainment

Dartford

$83 2.8%

Chiang Mai

$50 5.4% 39.6% $33

Getting Around

Dartford

$34 * 1.1%

Chiang Mai

$61 6.6% 82.8% $28

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

Cost Breakdown

A central one-bedroom costs $2,235 in Dartford versus $482 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.

Salaries in Dartford are about 7.6 times higher. Purchasing power depends on which expenses matter most to you.

A mid-range dinner for two costs $107 in Dartford versus $19 in Chiang Mai. Monthly groceries follow the same trend: $302 vs $234 – making Chiang Mai the more affordable choice for daily food spending.

Good to know

🇬🇧 Dartford

🇹🇭 Chiang Mai

🕒 Local time

13:56 1:56 PM

20:56 8:56 PM

7 h ahead of Dartford

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

51,240

127,240

💱 Currency

British Pound GBP £

Thai Baht THB ฿

📈 Exchange rate

1 GBP = 1.34 USD

1 GBP = 1.2 EUR

100 THB = 2.96 USD

100 THB = 2.66 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

THB, USD, EUR to GBP – British Pound Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇬🇧 British Pound (£)

British Pound exchange rates as of November 2, 2026: 1 USD = 0.746 GBP (1 GBP = 1.34 USD). 1 EUR = 0.832 GBP (1 GBP = 1.2 EUR).

Thai Baht exchange rates as of November 2, 2026: 1 USD = 33.73 THB (100 THB = 2.96 USD). 1 EUR = 37.64 THB (100 THB = 2.66 EUR).

USD to GBP in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Dartford Chiang Mai 8,970 km ≈ 12 h nonstop flight

From you

Dartford
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

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

Dartford costs about 214% more than Chiang Mai, and outside of rent the gap comes mainly from eating out. That’s enough to noticeably affect everyday spending and lifestyle for anyone choosing between the two.

For a comfortable life, plan on about $4,408 per month in Dartford and $1,403 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: a one-bedroom in the center costs $482 there versus $2,235 in Dartford.

A mid-range dinner for two costs $107 in Dartford and $19 in Chiang Mai. That’s a good indicator of the overall restaurant and café pricing gap between the two cities.

Groceries cost about 29% more in Dartford, though the gap depends on what you buy.

$800 is a stretch for both – monthly costs hit $2,939 in Dartford and $936 in Chiang Mai. You’ll need shared housing and careful budgeting no matter which city you pick.

For digital nomads, it depends on budget. Chiang Mai costs $936 versus $2,939 in Dartford. Both appeal to remote workers, and the cost gap matters when income varies month to month.

Both cities have a reputation for safety. In either place, the choice of neighborhood matters more than the choice between the two cities.

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