Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Kukes and Phuket

For one person, living is cheaper in Kukes: $750 a month against $1,278 in Phuket, rent and utilities included – about $6,300 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

36

Cost of Living Index in Kukes
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Kukes Living Index
62

Cost of Living Index in Phuket
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Phuket Living Index

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Kukes

🇦🇱 Albania

$750

/mo nomad

Phuket

🇹🇭 Thailand

$1,278

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $750 in Kukes versus $1,278 in Phuket.

Kukes $750
Phuket $1,278

Estimated couple costs with rent: $1,115 in Kukes versus $2,216 in Phuket.

Kukes $1,115
Phuket $2,216

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $1,480 in Kukes versus $3,154 in Phuket.

Kukes $1,480
Phuket $3,154

Living in Kukes costs roughly 41% less than in Phuket, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in groceries.

Both cities sit below the global median: Kukes 45% lower, Phuket 6% lower.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$3.63 ALL 293

$4.47 ฿151

-18.79%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$22.06 ALL 1,782

$32.41 ฿1,094

-31.93%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$7.57 ALL 612

$8.81 ฿297

-14.07%

Cappuccino

$1.49 ALL 121

$2.83 ฿95.5

-47.35%

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

$1.40 ALL 113

$0.87 ฿29.43

60.92%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.64 ALL 51.5

$0.49 ฿16.67

30.61%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$1.89 ALL 153

$2.56 ฿86.4

-26.17%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.25 ALL 182

$3.68 ฿124

-38.86%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.59 ALL 128

$1.66 ฿56.0

-4.22%

White Bread (500g)

$0.78 ALL 63.0

$1.46 ฿49.35

-46.58%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$2.10 ALL 170

$1.50 ฿50.6

40.00%

Eggs

$2.72 ALL 220

$2.09 ฿70.5

30.14%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$9.23 ALL 745

$19.07 ฿644

-51.60%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$7.39 ALL 597

$3.30 ฿111

123.94%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$10.49 ALL 847

$10.91 ฿368

-3.85%

Apples (1kg)

$0.98 ALL 79.0

$2.93 ฿99.0

-66.55%

Banana (1kg)

$1.91 ALL 154

$1.69 ฿57.1

13.02%

Oranges (1kg)

$0.95 ALL 76.4

$2.25 ฿75.8

-57.78%

Tomato (1kg)

$1.59 ALL 129

$2.08 ฿70.1

-23.56%

Potato (1kg)

$0.77 ALL 62.3

$1.51 ฿51.0

-49.01%

Onion (1kg)

$1.02 ALL 82.3

$1.38 ฿46.56

-26.09%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.08 ALL 87.3

$1.07 ฿35.99

0.93%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.70 ALL 56.6

$0.52 ฿17.52

34.62%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$4.41 ALL 356

$4.20 ฿142

5.00%

Wine (Bottle)

$7.51 ALL 607

$18.79 ฿634

-60.03%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.09 ALL 88.0

$1.82 ฿61.5

-40.11%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.64 ALL 132

$2.84 ฿95.9

-42.25%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.50 ALL 40.72

$1.45 ฿49.03

-65.52%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$19.35 ALL 1,563

$56.7 ฿1,913

-65.85%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$3.80 ALL 307

$3.02 ฿102

25.83%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$3.80 ALL 307

$1.02 ฿34.36

272.55%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$4.91 ALL 396

$3.69 ฿125

33.06%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$2.25 ALL 182

$1.47 ฿49.81

53.06%

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

$33.8K ALL 2.7M

$26.8K ฿904.3K

26.36%

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

$24.8K ALL 2.0M

$26.7K ฿901.3K

-6.94%

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

$61.4 ALL 4,962

$96.4 ฿3,254

-36.23%

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

$16.50 ALL 1,332

$11.26 ฿380

46.54%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$17.09 ALL 1,380

$16.85 ฿569

1.42%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$57.5 ALL 4,640

$67.2 ฿2,270

-14.55%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$12.40 ALL 1,002

$10.73 ฿362

15.56%

Cinema Ticket

$3.62 ALL 292

$7.50 ฿253

-51.73%

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

$99.3 ALL 8,022

$476 ฿16.1K

-79.13%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$11.3K ฿380.4K

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$37.24 ALL 3,008

$62.4 ฿2,106

-40.28%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$28.06 ALL 2,267

$28.41 ฿959

-1.23%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$50.2 ALL 4,055

$94.3 ฿3,184

-46.75%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$44.89 ALL 3,626

$85.8 ฿2,898

-47.68%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$235 ALL 18.9K

$716 ฿24.2K

-67.23%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$175 ALL 14.1K

$491 ฿16.6K

-64.45%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$281 ALL 22.7K

$1,927 ฿65.1K

-85.44%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$207 ALL 16.7K

$1,431 ฿48.3K

-85.51%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$1,941 ALL 156.8K

$4,175 ฿141.0K

-53.51%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$1,312 ALL 106.0K

$3,045 ฿102.8K

-56.89%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$544 ALL 43.9K

$502 ฿17.0K

8.24%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

5.57

-10.23%

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

Last update for Kukes: October 27, 2026

Last update for Phuket: October 26, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Groceries & Markets

Kukes

$208 27.7%

Phuket

$266 20.8% 28% $58

Accommodation & Living

Kukes

$175 23.3%

Phuket

$491 38.4% 181% $316

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Kukes

$95 12.7%

Phuket

$124 9.7% 31% $29

Eating Out

Kukes

$92 12.2%

Phuket

$122 9.5% 32.6% $30

Clothing & Footwear

Kukes

$72 9.6%

Phuket

$122 9.5% 68.9% $50

Sport & Entertainment

Kukes

$65 8.6%

Phuket

$82 6.4% 27.1% $18

Getting Around

Kukes

$44 5.9%

Phuket

$71 5.5% 59.8% $26

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $235 in Kukes and $716 in Phuket. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Kukes pays 8% more on average while also being the cheaper of the two. The combined effect is a noticeably stronger local purchasing power.

Dining out: $22 in Kukes vs $32 in Phuket for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $208 vs $266 per month, with Kukes cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇦🇱 Kukes

🇹🇭 Phuket

🕒 Local time

18:39 6:39 PM

00:39 12:39 AM

6 h ahead of Kukes

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

47,985

79,308

💱 Currency

Albanian Lek ALL L

Thai Baht THB ฿

📈 Exchange rate

100 ALL = 1.24 USD

100 ALL = 1.11 EUR

100 THB = 2.96 USD

100 THB = 2.66 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

THB, USD, EUR to ALL – Albanian Lek Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇦🇱 Albanian Lek (L)

Albanian Lek exchange rates as of October 28, 2026: 1 USD = 80.77 ALL (100 ALL = 1.24 USD). 1 EUR = 89.91 ALL (100 ALL = 1.11 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 ALL in detail →

On the map

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Highest

Between locations

Kukes Phuket 8,430 km ≈ 11 h nonstop flight

From you

Kukes
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

Kukes vs Phuket: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Kukes is cheaper overall, especially in groceries, clothing, and eating out. The 70% gap adds up to real monthly savings that compound significantly over time.

Average pay runs 8% higher in Kukes, 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: $235 in Kukes versus $716 in Phuket. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

A monthly transit pass in Kukes runs roughly 66% less than in Phuket. Both cities have functional networks, but the price difference matters if you’re watching your budget.

Childcare runs $99 in Kukes versus $476 in Phuket. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

At $750 in Kukes versus $1,278 in Phuket, a $1,000 budget is realistic in Kukes but tight or insufficient in Phuket. The gap between the two cities makes Kukes 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.

Expats usually find Kukes gentler on the wallet – expenses run 41% less than in Phuket. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.