Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Dorchester and Phuket

For one person, living is cheaper in Phuket: $1,208 a month against $2,240 in Dorchester, rent and utilities included – about $12,400 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

107

Cost of Living Index in Dorchester
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Dorchester Living Index
59

Cost of Living Index in Phuket
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Phuket Living Index

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Dorchester

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

$2,240

/mo nomad

Phuket

🇹🇭 Thailand

$1,208

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $2,240 in Dorchester versus $1,208 in Phuket.

Dorchester $2,240
Phuket $1,208

Estimated couple costs with rent: $3,370 in Dorchester versus $2,027 in Phuket.

Dorchester $3,370
Phuket $2,027

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $4,500 in Dorchester versus $2,845 in Phuket.

Dorchester $4,500
Phuket $2,845

Living in Dorchester is roughly 85% more expensive than in Phuket, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

The two cities straddle the global median: Dorchester is 65% above, Phuket is 11% below.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$16.10 £12.08

$4.40 ฿147

265.91%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$79.0 £59.3

$32.26 ฿1,078

144.92%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$5.20 £3.90

$8.76 ฿293

-40.64%

Cappuccino

$4.67 £3.51

$2.83 ฿94.5

65.02%

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

$2.58 £1.93

$0.90 ฿30.14

186.67%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.85 £1.39

$0.47 ฿15.56

293.62%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$7.80 £5.85

$2.55 ฿85.2

205.88%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$6.55 £4.91

$3.83 ฿128

71.02%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.51 £1.13

$1.73 ฿57.7

-12.72%

White Bread (500g)

$1.30 £0.97

$1.47 ฿49.11

-11.56%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$2.07 £1.56

$1.51 ฿50.6

37.09%

Eggs

$4.39 £3.30

$2.17 ฿72.7

102.30%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$8.11 £6.08

$19.70 ฿658

-58.83%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$8.77 £6.58

$3.34 ฿112

162.57%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$11.56 £8.67

$11.16 ฿373

3.58%

Apples (1kg)

$2.99 £2.25

$2.85 ฿95.1

4.91%

Banana (1kg)

$1.73 £1.30

$1.70 ฿56.9

1.76%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.71 £2.04

$2.19 ฿73.3

23.74%

Tomato (1kg)

$4.05 £3.04

$2.05 ฿68.4

97.56%

Potato (1kg)

$2.05 £1.53

$1.45 ฿48.57

41.38%

Onion (1kg)

$1.46 £1.09

$1.38 ฿46.16

5.80%

Lettuce (1 head)

$0.76 £0.57

$1.07 ฿35.69

-28.97%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$2.09 £1.57

$0.51 ฿16.91

309.80%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$22.94 £17.21

$4.26 ฿142

438.50%

Wine (Bottle)

$10.68 £8.01

$18.58 ฿621

-42.52%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$2.80 £2.10

$1.78 ฿59.7

57.30%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.48 £2.61

$2.85 ฿95.2

22.11%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$3.87 £2.90

$2.26 ฿75.6

71.24%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$83.0 £62.3

$22.10 ฿738

275.61%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$3.51 £2.63

$3.01 ฿101

16.61%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.61 £1.21

$1.06 ฿35.34

51.89%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$26.25 £19.69

$3.86 ฿129

580.05%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$2.13 £1.60

$1.45 ฿48.45

46.90%

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

$39.2K £29.4K

$26.3K ฿879.9K

48.73%

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

$40.4K £30.3K

$26.9K ฿900.4K

50.00%

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

$229 £172

$96.4 ฿3,221

137.92%

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

$17.12 £12.84

$11.04 ฿369

55.07%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$39.14 £29.36

$17.14 ฿573

128.35%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$46.50 £34.89

$52.2 ฿1,744

-10.89%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$11.16 ฿373

Cinema Ticket

$13.73 £10.30

$7.81 ฿261

75.80%

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

$2,244 £1,683

$556 ฿18.6K

303.59%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$25.4K £19.0K

$11.6K ฿387.0K

119.18%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$60.1 £45.12

$64.2 ฿2,146

-6.32%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$48.42 £36.33

$28.69 ฿959

68.77%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$109 £81.8

$95.4 ฿3,187

14.36%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$96.4 £72.4

$88.0 ฿2,940

9.62%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,171 £879

$737 ฿24.6K

58.91%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,066 £800

$462 ฿15.5K

130.58%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$2,330 £1,748

$2,095 ฿70.0K

11.21%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,900 £1,426

$1,201 ฿40.1K

58.26%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$4,565 £3,425

$3,488 ฿116.6K

30.90%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$3,984 £2,989

$2,523 ฿84.3K

57.91%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$1,803 £1,353

$501 ฿16.7K

260.14%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

4.87

5.57

-12.57%

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

Last update for Dorchester: October 18, 2026

Last update for Phuket: October 19, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Dorchester

$1.1K 47.6%

Phuket

$462 38.3% 56.6% $604

Groceries & Markets

Dorchester

$293 13.1%

Phuket

$269 22.2% 8.2% $24

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Dorchester

$286 12.8%

Phuket

$125 10.3% 56.4% $161

Eating Out

Dorchester

$270 12.1%

Phuket

$121 10% 55.1% $149

Clothing & Footwear

Dorchester

$141 6.3%

Phuket

$124 10.3% 12% $17

Getting Around

Dorchester

$110 4.9%

Phuket

$39 3.3% 64.2% $71

Sport & Entertainment

Dorchester

$74 3.3%

Phuket

$68 5.6% 8.4% $6.2

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $1,171 in Dorchester and $737 in Phuket. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Dorchester pays 260% more on average. The extra income cushions the higher costs, though housing choices and lifestyle decide how much of the gap is truly closed.

Dining out: $79.0 in Dorchester vs $32.00 in Phuket for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $293 vs $269 per month, with Phuket cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇬🇧 Dorchester

🇹🇭 Phuket

🕒 Local time

00:50 12:50 AM

06:50 6:50 AM

6 h ahead of Dorchester

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

19,500

79,308

💱 Currency

British Pound GBP £

Thai Baht THB ฿

📈 Exchange rate

1 GBP = 1.33 USD

1 GBP = 1.19 EUR

100 THB = 2.99 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 October 21, 2026: 1 USD = 0.75 GBP (1 GBP = 1.33 USD). 1 EUR = 0.843 GBP (1 GBP = 1.19 EUR).

Thai Baht exchange rates as of October 21, 2026: 1 USD = 33.42 THB (100 THB = 2.99 USD). 1 EUR = 37.57 THB (100 THB = 2.66 EUR).

USD to GBP in detail →

On the map

Lowest

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Between locations

Dorchester Phuket 10,080 km ≈ 13 h nonstop flight

From you

Dorchester
Phuket

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

Dorchester vs Phuket: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Phuket wins on cost – living expenses run 85% lower than in Dorchester. Housing and daily spending are where you'll feel the difference most, making Phuket the obvious pick if budget is a priority.

Average pay runs 260% higher in Dorchester, 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: $1,171 in Dorchester versus $737 in Phuket. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Supermarket bills run roughly 9% higher in Dorchester. For households that cook at home regularly, that difference adds up over a month.

Dining out is cheaper in Phuket – a meal for two runs $32.00 versus $79.0 in Dorchester. If you eat out regularly, this makes a real dent in your monthly spending.

At $1,208 in Phuket versus $2,240 in Dorchester, a $1,500 budget is realistic in Phuket but tight or insufficient in Dorchester. The gap between the two cities makes Phuket the clear choice for anyone on this budget.

Both work as nomad bases, but Phuket delivers better value – similar infrastructure at $1,208 monthly. If stretching your runway or maximizing savings is the goal, the price difference makes Phuket hard to pass up.

Safety-wise, Dorchester and Phuket 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 Phuket gentler on the wallet – expenses run 85% less than in Dorchester. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.