Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Miaoli and Phuket

For one person, living is cheaper in Miaoli: $768 a month against $1,278 in Phuket, rent and utilities included – about $6,100 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

37

Cost of Living Index in Miaoli
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Miaoli Living Index
62

Cost of Living Index in Phuket
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Phuket Living Index

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Miaoli

🇹🇼 Taiwan

$768

/mo nomad

Phuket

🇹🇭 Thailand

$1,278

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $768 in Miaoli versus $1,278 in Phuket.

Miaoli $768
Phuket $1,278

Estimated couple costs with rent: $1,069 in Miaoli versus $2,216 in Phuket.

Miaoli $1,069
Phuket $2,216

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $1,370 in Miaoli versus $3,154 in Phuket.

Miaoli $1,370
Phuket $3,154

Living in Miaoli costs roughly 40% less than in Phuket, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in transport.

Both cities sit below the global median: Miaoli 44% lower, Phuket 6% lower.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$2.53 NT$82.1

$4.47 ฿151

-43.40%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$23.04 NT$747

$32.41 ฿1,094

-28.91%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$4.69 NT$152

$8.81 ฿297

-46.77%

Cappuccino

$2.94 NT$95.3

$2.83 ฿95.5

3.89%

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

$0.83 NT$26.74

$0.87 ฿29.43

-4.60%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.55 NT$17.89

$0.49 ฿16.67

12.24%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$1.20 NT$38.78

$2.56 ฿86.4

-53.13%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.28 NT$41.53

$3.68 ฿124

-65.22%

Milk (1 liter)

$2.64 NT$85.5

$1.66 ฿56.0

59.04%

White Bread (500g)

$1.22 NT$39.59

$1.46 ฿49.35

-16.44%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$2.64 NT$85.7

$1.50 ฿50.6

76.00%

Eggs

$2.05 NT$66.6

$2.09 ฿70.5

-1.91%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$8.96 NT$290

$19.07 ฿644

-53.02%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$7.43 NT$241

$3.30 ฿111

125.15%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$21.11 NT$684

$10.91 ฿368

93.49%

Apples (1kg)

$3.77 NT$122

$2.93 ฿99.0

28.67%

Banana (1kg)

$1.96 NT$63.5

$1.69 ฿57.1

15.98%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.91 NT$94.3

$2.25 ฿75.8

29.33%

Tomato (1kg)

$3.10 NT$100

$2.08 ฿70.1

49.04%

Potato (1kg)

$2.53 NT$81.9

$1.51 ฿51.0

67.55%

Onion (1kg)

$1.91 NT$61.7

$1.38 ฿46.56

38.41%

Lettuce (1 head)

$2.20 NT$71.2

$1.07 ฿35.99

105.61%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.89 NT$28.98

$0.52 ฿17.52

71.15%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$3.86 NT$125

$4.20 ฿142

-8.10%

Wine (Bottle)

$10.90 NT$353

$18.79 ฿634

-41.99%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.40 NT$45.41

$1.82 ฿61.5

-23.08%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.10 NT$68.2

$2.84 ฿95.9

-26.06%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$1.45 ฿49.03

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$56.7 ฿1,913

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$2.81 NT$91.1

$3.02 ฿102

-6.95%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$0.74 NT$23.95

$1.02 ฿34.36

-27.45%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$7.07 NT$229

$3.69 ฿125

91.60%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.01 NT$32.79

$1.47 ฿49.81

-31.29%

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

$36.7K NT$1.2M

$26.8K ฿904.3K

36.97%

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

$22.8K NT$738.3K

$26.7K ฿901.3K

-14.62%

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

$68.0 NT$2,203

$96.4 ฿3,254

-29.43%

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

$17.30 NT$560

$11.26 ฿380

53.64%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$21.61 NT$700

$16.85 ฿569

28.25%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$67.2 ฿2,270

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$10.73 ฿362

Cinema Ticket

$10.84 NT$351

$7.50 ฿253

44.53%

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

$508 NT$16.5K

$476 ฿16.1K

6.74%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$30.8K NT$999.4K

$11.3K ฿380.4K

173.87%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$12.19 NT$395

$62.4 ฿2,106

-80.45%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$23.87 NT$773

$28.41 ฿959

-15.98%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$62.2 NT$2,014

$94.3 ฿3,184

-34.07%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$94.1 NT$3,049

$85.8 ฿2,898

9.70%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$211 NT$6,834

$716 ฿24.2K

-70.53%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$156 NT$5,060

$491 ฿16.6K

-68.19%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,927 ฿65.1K

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,431 ฿48.3K

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$4,175 ฿141.0K

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$3,045 ฿102.8K

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$2,374 NT$76.9K

$502 ฿17.0K

372.74%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

2.38

5.57

-57.27%

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

Last update for Miaoli: 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

Miaoli

$306 39.9%

Phuket

$266 20.8% 13.1% $40

Accommodation & Living

Miaoli

$156 20.3%

Phuket

$491 38.4% 214% $335

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Miaoli

$107 13.9%

Phuket

$124 9.7% 16.4% $18

Clothing & Footwear

Miaoli

$87 11.3%

Phuket

$122 9.5% 40.8% $35

Eating Out

Miaoli

$84 10.9%

Phuket

$122 9.5% 45.4% $38

Sport & Entertainment

Miaoli

$22 * 2.8%

Phuket

$82 6.4% 280% $61

Getting Around

Miaoli

$6.5 * 0.9%

Phuket

$71 5.5% 984% $64

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 $211 in Miaoli and $716 in Phuket. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Miaoli pays about 4.7 times more on average while also being the cheaper of the two. The combined effect is a noticeably stronger local purchasing power.

Dining out: $23 in Miaoli vs $32 in Phuket. Groceries flip the comparison at $306 vs $266, with Phuket cheaper for home cooking.

Good to know

🇹🇼 Miaoli

🇹🇭 Phuket

🕒 Local time

04:22 4:22 AM

03:22 3:22 AM

1 h behind Miaoli

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

89,892

79,308

💱 Currency

New Taiwan Dollar TWD NT$

Thai Baht THB ฿

📈 Exchange rate

100 TWD = 3.09 USD

100 TWD = 2.77 EUR

100 THB = 2.96 USD

100 THB = 2.66 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

THB, USD, EUR to TWD – New Taiwan Dollar Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇹🇼 New Taiwan Dollar (NT$)

New Taiwan Dollar exchange rates as of October 28, 2026: 1 USD = 32.4 TWD (100 TWD = 3.09 USD). 1 EUR = 36.07 TWD (100 TWD = 2.77 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 TWD in detail →

On the map

Lowest

Highest

Between locations

Miaoli Phuket 3,020 km ≈ 4 h 15 min nonstop flight

From you

Miaoli
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

Miaoli vs Phuket: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Total monthly costs including rent come to $768 in Miaoli and $1,278 in Phuket, so Miaoli is about 40% cheaper – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

Average pay in Miaoli is about 4.7 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: $211 in Miaoli versus $716 in Phuket. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Shoppers in Phuket pay roughly 13% less for everyday groceries. It’s an unusual reversal that partly offsets higher costs elsewhere.

All in, you’ll spend $768 per month in Miaoli versus $1,278 in Phuket – Miaoli is about 40% cheaper, which adds up to real savings over time.

At $768 in Miaoli versus $1,278 in Phuket, a $1,200 budget is realistic in Miaoli but tight or insufficient in Phuket. The gap between the two cities makes Miaoli 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, Miaoli and Phuket are both considered safe, so it’s unlikely to be the deciding factor between them.