Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between El Viejo and Chiang Mai

For one person, living is cheaper in El Viejo: $818 a month against $936 in Chiang Mai, rent and utilities included – about $1,400 less a year. Higher rent and utilities in Chiang Mai outweigh lower spending on other living expenses.

39

Cost of Living Index in El Viejo
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El Viejo Living Index
45

Cost of Living Index in Chiang Mai
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Chiang Mai Living Index

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El Viejo

🇳🇮 Nicaragua

$818

/mo nomad

Chiang Mai

🇹🇭 Thailand

$936

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

A single person spends $818 per month in El Viejo vs $936 in Chiang Mai, rent included.

El Viejo $818
Chiang Mai $936

A couple spends around $1,280 per month in El Viejo vs $1,457 in Chiang Mai, rent included.

El Viejo $1,280
Chiang Mai $1,457

A family of three spends $1,741 per month in El Viejo vs $1,979 in Chiang Mai, rent included.

El Viejo $1,741
Chiang Mai $1,979

El Viejo is about 13% cheaper than Chiang Mai, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in transport.

Both El Viejo and Chiang Mai are more affordable than the global median – El Viejo 40% lower, Chiang Mai 31% lower.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$10.08 NIO 369

$2.24 ฿75.7

350.00%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$35.12 NIO 1,286

$19.00 ฿642

84.84%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$7.57 NIO 277

$5.55 ฿188

36.40%

Cappuccino

$2.58 NIO 94.3

$1.67 ฿56.6

54.49%

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

$0.91 NIO 33.29

$0.64 ฿21.56

42.19%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.69 NIO 25.33

$0.31 ฿10.32

122.58%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$1.48 NIO 54.1

$2.36 ฿79.6

-37.29%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.26 NIO 82.9

$3.66 ฿124

-38.25%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.26 NIO 46.10

$1.95 ฿65.8

-35.38%

White Bread (500g)

$2.33 NIO 85.5

$1.44 ฿48.51

61.81%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.87 NIO 68.4

$1.33 ฿45.07

40.60%

Eggs

$2.39 NIO 87.6

$2.28 ฿77.1

4.82%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$11.51 NIO 422

$16.45 ฿556

-30.03%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$6.35 NIO 233

$2.78 ฿94.0

128.42%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$7.56 NIO 277

$9.31 ฿314

-18.80%

Apples (1kg)

$4.11 NIO 150

$2.35 ฿79.5

74.89%

Banana (1kg)

$0.62 NIO 22.84

$0.97 ฿32.82

-36.08%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.75 NIO 64.2

$1.60 ฿53.9

9.37%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.50 NIO 91.5

$1.50 ฿50.7

66.67%

Potato (1kg)

$3.97 NIO 145

$1.28 ฿43.15

210.16%

Onion (1kg)

$2.17 NIO 79.6

$1.10 ฿37.22

97.27%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.08 NIO 39.61

$0.71 ฿23.84

52.11%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.02 NIO 37.18

$0.49 ฿16.38

108.16%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$2.81 NIO 103

$4.14 ฿140

-32.13%

Wine (Bottle)

$14.95 NIO 548

$17.52 ฿592

-14.67%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.41 NIO 51.6

$1.61 ฿54.5

-12.42%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.23 NIO 81.8

$2.78 ฿94.0

-19.78%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.87 ฿29.33

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$54.1 ฿1,827

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$1.65 NIO 60.5

$1.16 ฿39.08

42.24%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.60 NIO 58.6

$0.53 ฿17.82

201.89%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$6.74 NIO 247

$2.42 ฿81.8

178.51%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.36 NIO 49.65

$1.45 ฿48.93

-6.21%

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

$23.4K NIO 856.6K

$21.1K ฿711.2K

11.06%

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

$26.8K NIO 981.2K

$26.9K ฿909.8K

-0.56%

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

$151 NIO 5,540

$62.2 ฿2,100

143.32%

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

$19.54 NIO 716

$12.17 ฿411

60.56%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$31.99 NIO 1,172

$20.12 ฿680

59.00%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$37.31 ฿1,260

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$3.77 ฿127

Cinema Ticket

$8.93 NIO 327

$6.49 ฿219

37.60%

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

$234 NIO 8,571

$736 ฿24.9K

-68.21%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$5,960 NIO 218.3K

$14.8K ฿498.6K

-59.63%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$59.0 NIO 2,162

$53.4 ฿1,802

10.62%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$65.7 NIO 2,407

$24.64 ฿832

166.68%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$122 NIO 4,467

$91.5 ฿3,089

33.32%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$142 NIO 5,212

$71.9 ฿2,429

97.83%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$482 ฿16.3K

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$309 ฿10.4K

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,006 ฿34.0K

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$633 ฿21.4K

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$2,363 ฿79.8K

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$1,589 ฿53.7K

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$590 ฿19.9K

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

11.92

5.57

114.00%

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

Last update for El Viejo: October 27, 2026

Last update for Chiang Mai: October 26, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Groceries & Markets

El Viejo

$260 31.8%

Chiang Mai

$234 25.1% 9.8% $26

Monthly Utilities & Internet

El Viejo

$203 24.8%

Chiang Mai

$94 10.1% 53.4% $108

Clothing & Footwear

El Viejo

$175 21.4%

Chiang Mai

$109 11.6% 37.9% $66

Eating Out

El Viejo

$153 18.7%

Chiang Mai

$78 8.3% 49.1% $75

Sport & Entertainment

El Viejo

$18 * 2.2%

Chiang Mai

$50 5.4% 182% $32

Getting Around

El Viejo

$9.7 * 1.2%

Chiang Mai

$61 6.6% 536% $52

Accommodation & Living

El Viejo

- * 0%

Chiang Mai

$309 33%

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

Cost Breakdown

A mid-range dinner for two costs $35 in El Viejo versus $19 in Chiang Mai. Monthly groceries follow the same trend: $260 vs $234 – making Chiang Mai the more affordable choice for daily food spending.

Good to know

🇳🇮 El Viejo

🇹🇭 Chiang Mai

🕒 Local time

16:29 4:29 PM

05:29 5:29 AM

13 h ahead of El Viejo

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

33,607

127,240

💱 Currency

Nicaraguan Córdoba NIO C$

Thai Baht THB ฿

📈 Exchange rate

100 NIO = 2.73 USD

100 NIO = 2.45 EUR

100 THB = 2.96 USD

100 THB = 2.66 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

THB, USD, EUR to NIO – Nicaraguan Córdoba Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇳🇮 Nicaraguan Córdoba (C$)

Nicaraguan Córdoba exchange rates as of October 28, 2026: 1 USD = 36.62 NIO (100 NIO = 2.73 USD). 1 EUR = 40.77 NIO (100 NIO = 2.45 EUR).

Thai Baht exchange rates as of October 28, 2026: 1 USD = 33.77 THB (100 THB = 2.96 USD). 1 EUR = 37.59 THB (100 THB = 2.66 EUR).

USD to NIO in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

El Viejo Chiang Mai 16,450 km ≈ 21 h nonstop flight

From you

El Viejo
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

El Viejo vs Chiang Mai: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Chiang Mai costs about 14% more than El Viejo, and outside of rent the gap comes mainly from transport. That’s enough to noticeably affect everyday spending and lifestyle for anyone choosing between the two.

For a comfortable life, plan on about $1,227 per month in El Viejo and $1,403 in Chiang Mai. That covers rent, food, utilities, transport, and enough left over to feel settled – not just surviving.

A mid-range dinner for two costs $35 in El Viejo and $19 in Chiang Mai. That’s a good indicator of the overall restaurant and café pricing gap between the two cities.

Interestingly, groceries are about 10% cheaper in Chiang Mai – one category where the pricier city actually offers better value.

It depends on your priorities. Chiang Mai has an edge in some lifestyle areas, with costs from $818 in El Viejo to $936 in Chiang Mai. Climate, culture, job market, and personal taste all factor in.

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