Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Hamamatsu and Phuket

For one person, living is cheaper in Hamamatsu: $783 a month against $1,278 in Phuket, rent and utilities included – about $5,900 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

38

Cost of Living Index in Hamamatsu
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Hamamatsu Living Index
62

Cost of Living Index in Phuket
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Phuket Living Index

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Hamamatsu

🇯🇵 Japan

$783

/mo nomad

Phuket

🇹🇭 Thailand

$1,278

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $783 in Hamamatsu versus $1,278 in Phuket.

Hamamatsu $783
Phuket $1,278

Estimated couple costs with rent: $1,266 in Hamamatsu versus $2,216 in Phuket.

Hamamatsu $1,266
Phuket $2,216

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $1,750 in Hamamatsu versus $3,154 in Phuket.

Hamamatsu $1,750
Phuket $3,154

Living in Hamamatsu costs roughly 39% less than in Phuket, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in leisure.

Both cities sit below the global median: Hamamatsu 42% lower, Phuket 6% lower.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$3.90 ¥614

$4.47 ฿151

-12.75%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$41.78 ¥6,581

$32.41 ฿1,093

28.91%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$5.19 ¥818

$8.81 ฿297

-41.09%

Cappuccino

$3.41 ¥538

$2.83 ฿95.4

20.49%

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

$1.10 ¥173

$0.87 ฿29.41

26.44%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.75 ¥118

$0.49 ฿16.65

53.06%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$2.61 ¥411

$2.56 ฿86.3

1.95%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.11 ¥489

$3.68 ฿124

-15.49%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.08 ¥170

$1.66 ฿55.9

-34.94%

White Bread (500g)

$1.70 ¥267

$1.46 ฿49.31

16.44%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$3.67 ¥578

$1.50 ฿50.5

144.67%

Eggs

$1.68 ¥265

$2.09 ฿70.5

-19.62%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$10.25 ¥1,615

$19.07 ฿643

-46.25%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$6.17 ¥971

$3.30 ฿111

86.97%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$14.24 ¥2,242

$10.91 ฿368

30.52%

Apples (1kg)

$5.80 ¥914

$2.93 ฿98.9

97.95%

Banana (1kg)

$2.84 ¥447

$1.69 ฿57.0

68.05%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.95 ¥465

$2.25 ฿75.8

31.11%

Tomato (1kg)

$4.30 ¥678

$2.08 ฿70.0

106.73%

Potato (1kg)

$2.61 ¥412

$1.51 ฿51.0

72.85%

Onion (1kg)

$2.59 ¥407

$1.38 ฿46.52

87.68%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.29 ¥204

$1.07 ฿35.96

20.56%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.66 ¥104

$0.52 ฿17.51

26.92%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$3.89 ¥612

$4.20 ฿142

-7.38%

Wine (Bottle)

$6.39 ¥1,006

$18.79 ฿634

-65.99%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.82 ¥287

$1.82 ฿61.5

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.10 ¥331

$2.84 ฿95.8

-26.06%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$1.45 ฿48.98

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$50.1 ¥7,896

$56.7 ฿1,912

-11.52%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$3.11 ¥489

$3.02 ฿102

2.98%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$2.63 ¥414

$1.02 ฿34.33

157.84%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$20.62 ¥3,248

$3.69 ฿125

458.81%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.06 ¥167

$1.47 ฿49.76

-27.89%

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

$21.6K ¥3.4M

$26.8K ฿903.4K

-19.35%

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

$15.8K ¥2.5M

$26.7K ฿900.5K

-40.69%

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

$130 ¥20.5K

$96.4 ฿3,251

35.36%

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

$8.59 ¥1,353

$11.26 ฿380

-23.71%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$32.78 ¥5,164

$16.85 ฿568

94.54%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$67.2 ฿2,268

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$17.40 ¥2,741

$10.73 ฿362

62.16%

Cinema Ticket

$13.08 ¥2,060

$7.50 ฿253

74.40%

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

$819 ¥129.0K

$476 ฿16.1K

72.14%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$14.8K ¥2.3M

$11.3K ฿380.0K

31.74%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$63.6 ¥10.0K

$62.4 ฿2,104

2.04%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$37.10 ¥5,844

$28.41 ฿958

30.59%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$61.3 ¥9,655

$94.3 ฿3,181

-35.00%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$103 ¥16.2K

$85.8 ฿2,895

20.22%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$716 ฿24.2K

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$491 ฿16.6K

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,927 ฿65.0K

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,431 ฿48.3K

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$7,787 ¥1.2M

$4,175 ฿140.9K

86.50%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$5,298 ¥834.5K

$3,045 ฿102.7K

74.02%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$1,602 ¥252.4K

$502 ฿16.9K

219.04%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

2.64

5.57

-52.60%

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

Last update for Hamamatsu: October 24, 2026

Last update for Phuket: October 26, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Groceries & Markets

Hamamatsu

$285 36.4%

Phuket

$266 20.8% 6.6% $19

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Hamamatsu

$172 21.9%

Phuket

$124 9.7% 27.5% $47

Clothing & Footwear

Hamamatsu

$119 15.2%

Phuket

$122 9.5% 2.2% $2.6

Eating Out

Hamamatsu

$114 14.6%

Phuket

$122 9.5% 6.4% $7.3

Getting Around

Hamamatsu

$66 * 8.5%

Phuket

$71 5.5% 6.3% $4.2

Sport & Entertainment

Hamamatsu

$26 * 3.3%

Phuket

$82 6.4% 214% $56

Accommodation & Living

Hamamatsu

- * 0%

Phuket

$491 38.4%

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

Cost Breakdown

Hamamatsu pays about 3.2 times more on average while also being the cheaper of the two. The combined effect is a noticeably stronger local purchasing power.

Dining out: $42 in Hamamatsu vs $32 in Phuket for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $285 vs $266 per month, with Phuket cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇯🇵 Hamamatsu

🇹🇭 Phuket

🕒 Local time

02:26 2:26 AM

00:26 12:26 AM

2 h behind Hamamatsu

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

797,033

79,308

💱 Currency

Japanese Yen JPY ¥

Thai Baht THB ฿

📈 Exchange rate

1,000 JPY = 6.35 USD

1,000 JPY = 5.69 EUR

100 THB = 2.96 USD

100 THB = 2.65 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

THB, USD, EUR to JPY – Japanese Yen Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇯🇵 Japanese Yen (¥)

Japanese Yen exchange rates as of November 1, 2026: 1 USD = 158 JPY (1,000 JPY = 6.35 USD). 1 EUR = 176 JPY (1,000 JPY = 5.69 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 JPY in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Hamamatsu Phuket 5,000 km ≈ 7 h nonstop flight

From you

Hamamatsu
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

Hamamatsu vs Phuket: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Total monthly costs including rent come to $783 in Hamamatsu and $1,278 in Phuket, so Hamamatsu is about 39% cheaper – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

Average pay in Hamamatsu is about 3.2 times higher, which matters when comparing affordability. Whether that higher income actually nets you more depends on your spending habits and housing choices.

Shoppers in Phuket pay roughly 7% less for everyday groceries. It’s an unusual reversal that partly offsets higher costs elsewhere.

Dining out is cheaper in Phuket – a meal for two runs $32 versus $42 in Hamamatsu. If you eat out regularly, this makes a real dent in your monthly spending.

At $783 in Hamamatsu versus $1,278 in Phuket, a $1,200 budget is realistic in Hamamatsu but tight or insufficient in Phuket. The gap between the two cities makes Hamamatsu the clear choice for anyone on this budget.

Both cities offer a good standard of living with different trade-offs. Neither is objectively better – the right pick depends on what matters most: affordability, career, cultural scene, or climate.

Safety-wise, Hamamatsu and Phuket are both considered safe, so it’s unlikely to be the deciding factor between them.