Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Inverness and Phuket

For one person, living is cheaper in Phuket: $1,208 a month against $2,360 in Inverness, rent and utilities included – about $13,800 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

114

Cost of Living Index in Inverness
Learn more

Inverness Living Index
59

Cost of Living Index in Phuket
Learn more

Phuket Living Index

Jump to prices

Inverness

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

$2,360

/mo nomad

Phuket

🇹🇭 Thailand

$1,208

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $2,360 in Inverness versus $1,208 in Phuket.

Inverness $2,360
Phuket $1,208

Estimated couple costs with rent: $3,292 in Inverness versus $2,027 in Phuket.

Inverness $3,292
Phuket $2,027

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $4,224 in Inverness versus $2,845 in Phuket.

Inverness $4,224
Phuket $2,845

Living in Inverness is roughly 95% more expensive than in Phuket, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

The two cities straddle the global median: Inverness is 74% above, Phuket is 11% below.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$21.44 £16.08

$4.40 ฿147

387.27%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$67.4 £50.6

$32.26 ฿1,078

108.90%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$10.76 £8.07

$8.76 ฿293

22.83%

Cappuccino

$4.12 £3.09

$2.83 ฿94.5

45.58%

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

$1.97 £1.48

$0.90 ฿30.14

118.89%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.30 £0.98

$0.47 ฿15.56

176.60%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$5.34 £4.01

$2.55 ฿85.2

109.41%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$6.78 £5.09

$3.83 ฿128

77.02%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.65 £1.24

$1.73 ฿57.7

-4.62%

White Bread (500g)

$1.66 £1.24

$1.47 ฿49.11

12.93%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$2.02 £1.52

$1.51 ฿50.6

33.77%

Eggs

$3.93 £2.95

$2.17 ฿72.7

81.11%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$9.27 £6.95

$19.70 ฿658

-52.94%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$8.75 £6.57

$3.34 ฿112

161.98%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$16.21 £12.16

$11.16 ฿373

45.25%

Apples (1kg)

$2.19 £1.64

$2.85 ฿95.1

-23.16%

Banana (1kg)

$1.54 £1.16

$1.70 ฿56.9

-9.41%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.57 £1.18

$2.19 ฿73.3

-28.31%

Tomato (1kg)

$1.31 £0.98

$2.05 ฿68.4

-36.10%

Potato (1kg)

$1.15 £0.87

$1.45 ฿48.57

-20.69%

Onion (1kg)

$1.04 £0.78

$1.38 ฿46.16

-24.64%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.14 £0.86

$1.07 ฿35.69

6.54%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.56 £1.17

$0.51 ฿16.91

205.88%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$22.12 £16.59

$4.26 ฿142

419.25%

Wine (Bottle)

$11.18 £8.39

$18.58 ฿621

-39.83%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$3.29 £2.47

$1.78 ฿59.7

84.83%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.82 £2.12

$2.85 ฿95.2

-1.05%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$3.38 £2.54

$2.26 ฿75.6

49.56%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$60.7 £45.56

$22.10 ฿738

174.80%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$5.19 £3.90

$3.01 ฿101

72.43%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.20 £0.90

$1.06 ฿35.34

13.21%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$24.11 £18.09

$3.86 ฿129

524.61%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.97 £1.48

$1.45 ฿48.45

35.86%

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

$39.0K £29.3K

$26.3K ฿879.9K

48.11%

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

$40.3K £30.2K

$26.9K ฿900.4K

49.54%

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

$316 £237

$96.4 ฿3,221

227.88%

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

$20.20 £15.16

$11.04 ฿369

82.97%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$42.51 £31.89

$17.14 ฿573

148.02%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$42.98 £32.25

$52.2 ฿1,744

-17.63%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$7.99 £6.00

$11.16 ฿373

-28.41%

Cinema Ticket

$14.72 £11.04

$7.81 ฿261

88.48%

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

$919 £690

$556 ฿18.6K

65.37%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$21.4K £16.1K

$11.6K ฿387.0K

85.07%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$92.5 £69.4

$64.2 ฿2,146

44.11%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$43.77 £32.84

$28.69 ฿959

52.56%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$91.7 £68.8

$95.4 ฿3,187

-3.83%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$90.9 £68.2

$88.0 ฿2,940

3.36%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,300 £975

$737 ฿24.6K

76.33%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,089 £817

$462 ฿15.5K

135.63%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$2,272 £1,704

$2,095 ฿70.0K

8.45%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,565 £1,174

$1,201 ฿40.1K

30.34%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$3,488 ฿116.6K

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$2,523 ฿84.3K

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$3,191 £2,394

$501 ฿16.7K

537.30%

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 Inverness: 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

Inverness

$1.1K 46.2%

Phuket

$462 38.3% 57.6% $627

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Inverness

$379 16.1%

Phuket

$125 10.3% 67.1% $254

Eating Out

Inverness

$307 13%

Phuket

$121 10% 60.5% $185

Groceries & Markets

Inverness

$284 12%

Phuket

$269 22.2% 5.2% $15

Clothing & Footwear

Inverness

$144 6.1%

Phuket

$124 10.3% 13.4% $19

Getting Around

Inverness

$85 3.6%

Phuket

$39 3.3% 53.9% $46

Sport & Entertainment

Inverness

$72 3.1%

Phuket

$68 5.6% 6.4% $4.6

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $1,300 in Inverness and $737 in Phuket. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Inverness pays 537% 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: $67.0 in Inverness vs $32.00 in Phuket for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $284 vs $269 per month, with Phuket cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇬🇧 Inverness

🇹🇭 Phuket

🕒 Local time

13:53 1:53 PM

19:53 7:53 PM

6 h ahead of Inverness

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

47,060

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 24, 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 24, 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

Highest

Between locations

Inverness Phuket 10,010 km ≈ 13 h nonstop flight

From you

Inverness
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

Inverness vs Phuket: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Phuket wins on cost – living expenses run 95% lower than in Inverness. 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 537% higher in Inverness, 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: $1,300 in Inverness versus $737 in Phuket. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

A monthly transit pass in Phuket runs roughly 175% less than in Inverness. Both cities have functional networks, but the price difference matters if you're watching your budget.

Childcare runs $919 in Inverness versus $556 in Phuket. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

At $1,208 in Phuket versus $2,360 in Inverness, a $1,500 budget is realistic in Phuket but tight or insufficient in Inverness. 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, Inverness 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 95% less than in Inverness. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.