Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Karmøy and Phuket

For one person, living is cheaper in Phuket: $1,278 a month against $2,641 in Karmøy, rent and utilities included – about $16,400 less a year. Rent and utilities account for about half of the difference.

132

Cost of Living Index in Karmøy
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Karmøy Living Index
62

Cost of Living Index in Phuket
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Phuket Living Index

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Karmøy

🇳🇴 Norway

$2,641

/mo nomad

Phuket

🇹🇭 Thailand

$1,278

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $2,641 in Karmøy versus $1,278 in Phuket.

Karmøy $2,641
Phuket $1,278

Estimated couple costs with rent: $4,032 in Karmøy versus $2,216 in Phuket.

Karmøy $4,032
Phuket $2,216

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $5,423 in Karmøy versus $3,154 in Phuket.

Karmøy $5,423
Phuket $3,154

Living in Karmøy is roughly 107% more expensive than in Phuket, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

The two cities straddle the global median: Karmøy is 94% above, Phuket is 6% below.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$21.23 NOK 198

$4.47 ฿151

374.94%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$122 NOK 1,141

$32.41 ฿1,094

276.98%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$16.23 NOK 151

$8.81 ฿297

84.22%

Cappuccino

$6.16 NOK 57.5

$2.83 ฿95.5

117.67%

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

$3.80 NOK 35.51

$0.87 ฿29.43

336.78%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.91 NOK 27.15

$0.49 ฿16.67

493.88%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$11.67 NOK 109

$2.56 ฿86.4

355.86%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$11.22 NOK 105

$3.68 ฿124

204.89%

Milk (1 liter)

$2.32 NOK 21.65

$1.66 ฿56.0

39.76%

White Bread (500g)

$3.87 NOK 36.11

$1.46 ฿49.35

165.07%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$3.37 NOK 31.44

$1.50 ฿50.6

124.67%

Eggs

$4.39 NOK 40.94

$2.09 ฿70.5

110.05%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$12.31 NOK 115

$19.07 ฿644

-35.45%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$15.45 NOK 144

$3.30 ฿111

368.18%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$29.85 NOK 279

$10.91 ฿368

173.60%

Apples (1kg)

$3.29 NOK 30.67

$2.93 ฿99.0

12.29%

Banana (1kg)

$2.37 NOK 22.14

$1.69 ฿57.1

40.24%

Oranges (1kg)

$3.05 NOK 28.42

$2.25 ฿75.8

35.56%

Tomato (1kg)

$4.55 NOK 42.52

$2.08 ฿70.1

118.75%

Potato (1kg)

$2.51 NOK 23.46

$1.51 ฿51.0

66.23%

Onion (1kg)

$3.00 NOK 28.04

$1.38 ฿46.56

117.39%

Lettuce (1 head)

$3.44 NOK 32.07

$1.07 ฿35.99

221.50%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$2.49 NOK 23.24

$0.52 ฿17.52

378.85%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$20.07 NOK 187

$4.20 ฿142

377.86%

Wine (Bottle)

$17.00 NOK 159

$18.79 ฿634

-9.53%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$3.89 NOK 36.28

$1.82 ฿61.5

113.74%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.95 NOK 46.21

$2.84 ฿95.9

74.30%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$4.66 NOK 43.52

$1.45 ฿49.03

221.38%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$84.3 NOK 787

$56.7 ฿1,913

48.71%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$13.42 NOK 125

$3.02 ฿102

344.37%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.84 NOK 17.18

$1.02 ฿34.36

80.39%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$63.7 NOK 595

$3.69 ฿125

1626.29%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$2.52 NOK 23.52

$1.47 ฿49.81

71.43%

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

$50.9K NOK 474.8K

$26.8K ฿904.3K

89.94%

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

$41.1K NOK 383.4K

$26.7K ฿901.3K

53.89%

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

$243 NOK 2,270

$96.4 ฿3,254

152.41%

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

$30.54 NOK 285

$11.26 ฿380

171.23%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$46.76 NOK 437

$16.85 ฿569

177.51%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$49.24 NOK 460

$67.2 ฿2,270

-26.76%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$41.02 NOK 383

$10.73 ฿362

282.29%

Cinema Ticket

$16.70 NOK 156

$7.50 ฿253

122.67%

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

$259 NOK 2,417

$476 ฿16.1K

-45.60%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$12.2K NOK 113.8K

$11.3K ฿380.4K

8.27%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$96.0 NOK 896

$62.4 ฿2,106

53.93%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$49.63 NOK 463

$28.41 ฿959

74.69%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$111 NOK 1,035

$94.3 ฿3,184

17.64%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$154 NOK 1,436

$85.8 ฿2,898

79.24%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,262 NOK 11.8K

$716 ฿24.2K

76.26%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,044 NOK 9,749

$491 ฿16.6K

112.74%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$2,068 NOK 19.3K

$1,927 ฿65.1K

7.32%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,688 NOK 15.8K

$1,431 ฿48.3K

17.96%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$6,242 NOK 58.3K

$4,175 ฿141.0K

49.50%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$4,136 NOK 38.6K

$3,045 ฿102.8K

35.84%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$4,114 NOK 38.4K

$502 ฿17.0K

719.13%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

4.94

5.57

-11.31%

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

Last update for Karmøy: October 27, 2026

Last update for Phuket: October 26, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Karmøy

$1K 39.6%

Phuket

$491 38.4% 53% $553

Groceries & Markets

Karmøy

$483 18.3%

Phuket

$266 20.8% 44.8% $217

Eating Out

Karmøy

$400 15.2%

Phuket

$122 9.5% 69.6% $278

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Karmøy

$321 12.1%

Phuket

$124 9.7% 61.2% $196

Clothing & Footwear

Karmøy

$185 7%

Phuket

$122 9.5% 34% $63

Getting Around

Karmøy

$126 4.8%

Phuket

$71 5.5% 43.8% $55

Sport & Entertainment

Karmøy

$83 3.1%

Phuket

$82 6.4% 0.5% $0.4

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $1,262 in Karmøy and $716 in Phuket. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Karmøy pays about 8.2 times more on average. How far that income stretches comes down to housing choices and lifestyle.

Dining out: $122 in Karmøy vs $32 in Phuket for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $483 vs $266 per month, with Phuket cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇳🇴 Karmøy

🇹🇭 Phuket

🕒 Local time

12:57 12:57 PM

18:57 6:57 PM

6 h ahead of Karmøy

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

43,404

79,308

💱 Currency

Norwegian Krone NOK kr

Thai Baht THB ฿

📈 Exchange rate

100 NOK = 10.71 USD

100 NOK = 9.63 EUR

100 THB = 2.96 USD

100 THB = 2.66 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

THB, USD, EUR to NOK – Norwegian Krone Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇳🇴 Norwegian Krone (kr)

Norwegian Krone exchange rates as of October 28, 2026: 1 USD = 9.33 NOK (1 NOK = 0.107 USD). 1 EUR = 10.39 NOK (100 NOK = 9.63 EUR).

Thai Baht exchange rates as of October 28, 2026: 1 USD = 33.77 THB (100 THB = 2.96 USD). 1 EUR = 37.58 THB (100 THB = 2.66 EUR).

USD to NOK in detail →

On the map

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Highest

Between locations

Karmøy Phuket 9,440 km ≈ 12 h nonstop flight

From you

Karmøy
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

Karmøy vs Phuket: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Karmøy and Phuket differ by about 107% in total monthly costs ($2,641 vs $1,278 including rent). Phuket is meaningfully more affordable – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

Average pay in Karmøy is about 8.2 times higher, 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: $1,262 in Karmøy versus $716 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 33% less than in Karmøy. Both cities have functional networks, but the price difference matters if you’re watching your budget.

Childcare runs $259 in Karmøy versus $476 in Phuket. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

At $1,278 in Phuket versus $2,641 in Karmøy, a $1,500 budget is realistic in Phuket but tight or insufficient in Karmøy. The gap between the two cities makes Phuket 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, Karmøy 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 52% less than in Karmøy. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.