Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Kaifeng and Phuket

For one person, living is cheaper in Kaifeng: $500 a month against $1,278 in Phuket, rent and utilities included – about $9,300 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

24

Cost of Living Index in Kaifeng
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Kaifeng Living Index
62

Cost of Living Index in Phuket
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Phuket Living Index

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Kaifeng

🇨🇳 China

$500

/mo nomad

Phuket

🇹🇭 Thailand

$1,278

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $500 in Kaifeng versus $1,278 in Phuket.

Kaifeng $500
Phuket $1,278

Estimated couple costs with rent: $792 in Kaifeng versus $2,216 in Phuket.

Kaifeng $792
Phuket $2,216

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $1,083 in Kaifeng versus $3,154 in Phuket.

Kaifeng $1,083
Phuket $3,154

Living in Kaifeng costs roughly 61% less than in Phuket, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in groceries.

Both cities sit below the global median: Kaifeng 63% lower, Phuket 6% lower.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$1.85 ¥12.32

$4.47 ฿151

-58.61%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$13.44 ¥89.4

$32.41 ฿1,093

-58.53%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$4.12 ¥27.43

$8.81 ฿297

-53.23%

Cappuccino

$2.19 ¥14.56

$2.83 ฿95.4

-22.61%

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

$0.39 ¥2.57

$0.87 ฿29.41

-55.17%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.17 ¥1.15

$0.49 ฿16.65

-65.31%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$0.89 ¥5.92

$2.56 ฿86.3

-65.23%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.53 ¥10.17

$3.68 ฿124

-58.42%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.57 ¥10.42

$1.66 ฿55.9

-5.42%

White Bread (500g)

$1.54 ¥10.23

$1.46 ฿49.31

5.48%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$0.81 ¥5.40

$1.50 ฿50.5

-46.00%

Eggs

$0.96 ¥6.40

$2.09 ฿70.5

-54.07%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$6.67 ¥44.36

$19.07 ฿643

-65.02%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$2.30 ¥15.27

$3.30 ฿111

-30.30%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$10.21 ¥67.9

$10.91 ฿368

-6.42%

Apples (1kg)

$0.87 ¥5.79

$2.93 ฿98.9

-70.31%

Banana (1kg)

$0.97 ¥6.43

$1.69 ฿57.0

-42.60%

Oranges (1kg)

$0.59 ¥3.95

$2.25 ฿75.8

-73.78%

Tomato (1kg)

$0.64 ¥4.26

$2.08 ฿70.0

-69.23%

Potato (1kg)

$0.58 ¥3.84

$1.51 ฿51.0

-61.59%

Onion (1kg)

$0.67 ¥4.48

$1.38 ฿46.52

-51.45%

Lettuce (1 head)

$0.21 ¥1.39

$1.07 ฿35.96

-80.37%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.55 ¥3.68

$0.52 ฿17.51

5.77%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$2.94 ¥19.59

$4.20 ฿142

-30.00%

Wine (Bottle)

$14.88 ¥99.0

$18.79 ฿634

-20.81%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.01 ¥6.71

$1.82 ฿61.5

-44.51%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.01 ¥13.37

$2.84 ฿95.8

-29.23%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.13 ¥0.88

$1.45 ฿48.98

-91.03%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$56.7 ฿1,912

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$1.17 ¥7.76

$3.02 ฿102

-61.26%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$0.15 ¥0.99

$1.02 ฿34.33

-85.29%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$3.69 ¥24.54

$3.69 ฿125

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.27 ¥8.45

$1.47 ฿49.76

-13.61%

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

$19.2K ¥127.5K

$26.8K ฿903.4K

-28.44%

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

$14.9K ¥99.1K

$26.7K ฿900.5K

-44.20%

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

$45.22 ¥301

$96.4 ฿3,251

-53.07%

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

$4.76 ¥31.66

$11.26 ฿380

-57.73%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$5.28 ¥35.12

$16.85 ฿568

-68.66%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$29.67 ¥197

$67.2 ฿2,268

-55.87%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$10.55 ¥70.2

$10.73 ฿362

-1.68%

Cinema Ticket

$3.82 ¥25.39

$7.50 ฿253

-49.07%

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

$388 ¥2,585

$476 ฿16.1K

-18.38%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$31.2K ¥207.6K

$11.3K ฿380.0K

176.99%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$43.81 ¥292

$62.4 ฿2,104

-29.75%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$33.96 ¥226

$28.41 ฿958

19.54%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$71.9 ¥478

$94.3 ฿3,181

-23.78%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$45.32 ¥302

$85.8 ฿2,895

-47.18%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$121 ¥802

$716 ฿24.2K

-83.16%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$88.7 ¥590

$491 ฿16.6K

-81.93%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$225 ¥1,496

$1,927 ฿65.0K

-88.33%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$180 ¥1,199

$1,431 ฿48.3K

-87.40%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$4,175 ฿140.9K

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$3,045 ฿102.7K

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$580 ¥3,857

$502 ฿16.9K

15.40%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

3.1

5.57

-44.34%

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

Last update for Kaifeng: October 26, 2026

Last update for Phuket: October 26, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Groceries & Markets

Kaifeng

$165 33.1%

Phuket

$266 20.8% 61.1% $101

Accommodation & Living

Kaifeng

$89 17.7%

Phuket

$491 38.4% 454% $402

Clothing & Footwear

Kaifeng

$88 17.6%

Phuket

$122 9.5% 38.9% $34

Eating Out

Kaifeng

$63 12.6%

Phuket

$122 9.5% 92.7% $59

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Kaifeng

$55 11.1%

Phuket

$124 9.7% 125% $69

Sport & Entertainment

Kaifeng

$37 7.5%

Phuket

$82 6.4% 121% $45

Getting Around

Kaifeng

$2.4 * 0.5%

Phuket

$71 5.5% 2793% $68

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

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $121 in Kaifeng and $716 in Phuket. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Kaifeng pays 15% more on average while also being the cheaper of the two. The combined effect is a noticeably stronger local purchasing power.

Dining out: $13 in Kaifeng vs $32 in Phuket for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $165 vs $266 per month, with Kaifeng cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇨🇳 Kaifeng

🇹🇭 Phuket

🕒 Local time

03:34 3:34 AM

02:34 2:34 AM

1 h behind Kaifeng

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

4,676,159

79,308

💱 Currency

Chinese Yuan CNY ¥

Thai Baht THB ฿

📈 Exchange rate

1 CNY = 0.15 USD

1 CNY = 0.135 EUR

100 THB = 2.96 USD

100 THB = 2.65 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

THB, USD, EUR to CNY – Chinese Yuan Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇨🇳 Chinese Yuan (¥)

Chinese Yuan exchange rates as of November 1, 2026: 1 USD = 6.65 CNY (1 CNY = 0.15 USD). 1 EUR = 7.43 CNY (1 CNY = 0.135 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 CNY in detail →

On the map

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Highest

Between locations

Kaifeng Phuket 3,410 km ≈ 4 h 45 min nonstop flight

From you

Kaifeng
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

Kaifeng vs Phuket: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Kaifeng wins on cost – living expenses run 61% lower than in Phuket. Housing and daily spending are where you’ll feel the difference most, making Kaifeng the obvious pick if budget is a priority.

Average pay runs 15% higher in Kaifeng, 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: $121 in Kaifeng versus $716 in Phuket. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Supermarket bills run roughly 61% higher in Phuket. For households that cook at home regularly, that difference adds up over a month.

All in, you’ll spend $500 per month in Kaifeng versus $1,278 in Phuket – Kaifeng is about 61% cheaper, which adds up to real savings over time.

At $500 in Kaifeng versus $1,278 in Phuket, a $800 budget is realistic in Kaifeng but tight or insufficient in Phuket. The gap between the two cities makes Kaifeng 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.