Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Edinburgh and Chiang Mai

For one person, living is cheaper in Chiang Mai: $936 a month against $2,645 in Edinburgh, rent and utilities included – about $20,500 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

128

Cost of Living Index in Edinburgh
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Edinburgh Living Index
45

Cost of Living Index in Chiang Mai
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Chiang Mai Living Index

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Edinburgh

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

$2,645

/mo nomad

Chiang Mai

🇹🇭 Thailand

$936

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

A single person spends $2,645 per month in Edinburgh vs $936 in Chiang Mai, rent included.

Edinburgh $2,645
Chiang Mai $936

A couple spends around $4,021 per month in Edinburgh vs $1,457 in Chiang Mai, rent included.

Edinburgh $4,021
Chiang Mai $1,457

A family of three spends $5,397 per month in Edinburgh vs $1,979 in Chiang Mai, rent included.

Edinburgh $5,397
Chiang Mai $1,979

Edinburgh costs about 183% more than Chiang Mai, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

Edinburgh sits 94% above the global median, while Chiang Mai is 31% below – they fall on opposite sides of the world average.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$24.35 £18.18

$2.24 ฿75.6

987.05%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$105 £78.6

$19.00 ฿641

454.05%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$10.47 £7.81

$5.55 ฿187

88.65%

Cappuccino

$5.02 £3.75

$1.67 ฿56.5

200.60%

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

$2.41 £1.80

$0.64 ฿21.54

276.56%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.19 £1.64

$0.31 ฿10.31

606.45%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$8.04 £6.00

$2.36 ฿79.5

240.68%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$7.91 £5.91

$3.66 ฿124

116.12%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.75 £1.31

$1.95 ฿65.7

-10.26%

White Bread (500g)

$2.33 £1.74

$1.44 ฿48.46

61.81%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$2.35 £1.75

$1.33 ฿45.03

76.69%

Eggs

$5.13 £3.83

$2.28 ฿77.1

125.00%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$9.05 £6.76

$16.45 ฿555

-44.98%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$9.26 £6.92

$2.78 ฿93.9

233.09%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$16.17 £12.08

$9.31 ฿314

73.68%

Apples (1kg)

$3.05 £2.28

$2.35 ฿79.4

29.79%

Banana (1kg)

$1.87 £1.40

$0.97 ฿32.79

92.78%

Oranges (1kg)

$3.35 £2.50

$1.60 ฿53.9

109.38%

Tomato (1kg)

$3.75 £2.80

$1.50 ฿50.6

150.00%

Potato (1kg)

$2.05 £1.53

$1.28 ฿43.11

60.16%

Onion (1kg)

$1.53 £1.14

$1.10 ฿37.18

39.09%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.33 £1.00

$0.71 ฿23.82

87.32%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.89 £1.41

$0.49 ฿16.36

285.71%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$23.87 £17.82

$4.14 ฿140

476.57%

Wine (Bottle)

$10.96 £8.18

$17.52 ฿591

-37.44%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$3.16 £2.36

$1.61 ฿54.5

96.27%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.22 £2.40

$2.78 ฿93.9

15.83%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$3.13 £2.34

$0.87 ฿29.30

259.77%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$99.8 £74.5

$54.1 ฿1,825

84.53%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$5.45 £4.07

$1.16 ฿39.04

369.83%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.90 £1.42

$0.53 ฿17.80

258.49%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$28.50 £21.28

$2.42 ฿81.7

1077.69%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$2.06 £1.54

$1.45 ฿48.88

42.07%

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

$38.2K £28.5K

$21.1K ฿710.5K

81.56%

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

$39.7K £29.7K

$26.9K ฿909.0K

47.41%

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

$329 £246

$62.2 ฿2,098

429.56%

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

$16.81 £12.55

$12.17 ฿411

38.13%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$43.13 £32.20

$20.12 ฿679

114.36%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$41.84 £31.24

$37.31 ฿1,259

12.14%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$23.33 £17.42

$3.77 ฿127

518.83%

Cinema Ticket

$14.67 £10.95

$6.49 ฿219

126.04%

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

$1,901 £1,419

$736 ฿24.8K

158.17%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$25.8K £19.2K

$14.8K ฿498.2K

74.57%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$82.2 £61.4

$53.4 ฿1,801

53.96%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$50.0 £37.34

$24.64 ฿831

102.92%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$106 £78.9

$91.5 ฿3,087

15.54%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$115 £86.0

$71.9 ฿2,427

60.16%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,691 £1,263

$482 ฿16.3K

250.62%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,205 £900

$309 ฿10.4K

290.08%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$2,959 £2,209

$1,006 ฿33.9K

194.16%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$2,184 £1,631

$633 ฿21.4K

244.85%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$6,388 £4,769

$2,363 ฿79.7K

170.30%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$4,514 £3,370

$1,589 ฿53.6K

184.05%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$3,632 £2,712

$590 ฿19.9K

515.87%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

4.77

5.57

-14.36%

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

Last update for Edinburgh: October 26, 2026

Last update for Chiang Mai: October 26, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Edinburgh

$1.2K 45.6%

Chiang Mai

$309 33% 74.4% $896

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Edinburgh

$389 14.7%

Chiang Mai

$94 10.1% 75.7% $295

Eating Out

Edinburgh

$361 13.6%

Chiang Mai

$78 8.3% 78.5% $283

Groceries & Markets

Edinburgh

$333 12.6%

Chiang Mai

$234 25.1% 29.6% $98

Clothing & Footwear

Edinburgh

$159 6%

Chiang Mai

$109 11.6% 31.6% $50

Getting Around

Edinburgh

$127 4.8%

Chiang Mai

$61 6.6% 51.8% $66

Sport & Entertainment

Edinburgh

$71 2.7%

Chiang Mai

$50 5.4% 29.4% $21

Cost Breakdown

A central one-bedroom costs $1,691 in Edinburgh 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 Edinburgh are about 6.2 times higher. Purchasing power depends on which expenses matter most to you.

A mid-range dinner for two costs $105 in Edinburgh versus $19 in Chiang Mai. Monthly groceries follow the same trend: $333 vs $234 – making Chiang Mai the more affordable choice for daily food spending.

Good to know

🇬🇧 Edinburgh

🇹🇭 Chiang Mai

🕒 Local time

03:07 3:07 AM

10:07 10:07 AM

7 h ahead of Edinburgh

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

488,050

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 = 2.65 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 1, 2026: 1 USD = 0.747 GBP (1 GBP = 1.34 USD). 1 EUR = 0.834 GBP (1 GBP = 1.2 EUR).

Thai Baht exchange rates as of November 1, 2026: 1 USD = 33.74 THB (100 THB = 2.96 USD). 1 EUR = 37.67 THB (100 THB = 2.65 EUR).

USD to GBP in detail →

On the map

Lowest

Highest

Between locations

Edinburgh Chiang Mai 9,020 km ≈ 12 h nonstop flight

From you

Edinburgh
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

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

Edinburgh costs about 183% 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 $3,968 per month in Edinburgh 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 $1,691 in Edinburgh.

Kindergarten costs $1,901 per month in Edinburgh and $736 in Chiang Mai. For families with young kids, this one expense can tip the scales when choosing between the two cities.

Groceries cost about 42% more in Edinburgh, though the gap depends on what you buy.

$800 is a stretch for both – monthly costs hit $2,645 in Edinburgh 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 $2,645 in Edinburgh. 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, Edinburgh makes more sense. Both are solid long-term options with distinct trade-offs.