Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Nuku'alofa and Phuket

For one person, living is cheaper in Nuku’alofa: $1,021 a month against $1,278 in Phuket, rent and utilities included – about $3,100 less a year. Higher rent and utilities in Phuket outweigh lower spending on other living expenses.

49

Cost of Living Index in Nuku'alofa
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Nuku'alofa Living Index
62

Cost of Living Index in Phuket
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Phuket Living Index

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Nuku'alofa

🇹🇴 Tonga

$1,021

/mo nomad

Phuket

🇹🇭 Thailand

$1,278

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,021 in Nuku’alofa versus $1,278 in Phuket.

Nuku'alofa $1,021
Phuket $1,278

Estimated couple costs with rent: $1,865 in Nuku’alofa versus $2,216 in Phuket.

Nuku'alofa $1,865
Phuket $2,216

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $2,710 in Nuku’alofa versus $3,154 in Phuket.

Nuku'alofa $2,710
Phuket $3,154

Living in Nuku’alofa costs roughly 20% less than in Phuket, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in clothing.

Both cities sit below the global median: Nuku’alofa 25% lower, Phuket 6% lower.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$8.30 TOP 19.64

$4.47 ฿151

85.68%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$62.1 TOP 147

$32.41 ฿1,094

91.48%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$10.43 TOP 24.68

$8.81 ฿297

18.39%

Cappuccino

$2.84 TOP 6.72

$2.83 ฿95.5

0.35%

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

$2.87 TOP 6.79

$0.87 ฿29.43

229.89%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.45 TOP 5.80

$0.49 ฿16.67

400.00%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.40 TOP 8.05

$2.56 ฿86.4

32.81%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.89 TOP 11.57

$3.68 ฿124

32.88%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.54 TOP 3.64

$1.66 ฿56.0

-7.23%

White Bread (500g)

$1.01 TOP 2.39

$1.46 ฿49.35

-30.82%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$2.12 TOP 5.01

$1.50 ฿50.6

41.33%

Eggs

$5.03 TOP 11.91

$2.09 ฿70.5

140.67%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$8.80 TOP 20.84

$19.07 ฿644

-53.85%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$5.95 TOP 14.08

$3.30 ฿111

80.30%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$7.76 TOP 18.36

$10.91 ฿368

-28.87%

Apples (1kg)

$2.80 TOP 6.62

$2.93 ฿99.0

-4.44%

Banana (1kg)

$2.69 TOP 6.38

$1.69 ฿57.1

59.17%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.86 TOP 6.78

$2.25 ฿75.8

27.11%

Tomato (1kg)

$3.84 TOP 9.09

$2.08 ฿70.1

84.62%

Potato (1kg)

$3.22 TOP 7.61

$1.51 ฿51.0

113.25%

Onion (1kg)

$2.56 TOP 6.06

$1.38 ฿46.56

85.51%

Lettuce (1 head)

$2.20 TOP 5.21

$1.07 ฿35.99

105.61%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.34 TOP 3.18

$0.52 ฿17.52

157.69%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$9.99 TOP 23.64

$4.20 ฿142

137.86%

Wine (Bottle)

$17.00 TOP 40.23

$18.79 ฿634

-9.53%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$3.23 TOP 7.66

$1.82 ฿61.5

77.47%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.31 TOP 7.83

$2.84 ฿95.9

16.55%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$2.11 TOP 4.98

$1.45 ฿49.03

45.52%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$41.11 TOP 97.3

$56.7 ฿1,913

-27.44%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$2.10 TOP 4.98

$3.02 ฿102

-30.46%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$2.06 TOP 4.88

$1.02 ฿34.36

101.96%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$41.98 TOP 99.4

$3.69 ฿125

1037.67%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.48 TOP 3.51

$1.47 ฿49.81

0.68%

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

$5,770 TOP 13.7K

$26.8K ฿904.3K

-78.45%

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

$8,255 TOP 19.5K

$26.7K ฿901.3K

-69.07%

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

$188 TOP 445

$96.4 ฿3,254

95.23%

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

$22.11 TOP 52.3

$11.26 ฿380

96.36%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$126 TOP 298

$16.85 ฿569

646.71%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$31.77 TOP 75.2

$67.2 ฿2,270

-52.74%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$41.37 TOP 97.9

$10.73 ฿362

285.55%

Cinema Ticket

$41.62 TOP 98.5

$7.50 ฿253

454.93%

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

$155 TOP 368

$476 ฿16.1K

-67.35%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$252 TOP 596

$11.3K ฿380.4K

-97.77%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$14.42 TOP 34.13

$62.4 ฿2,106

-76.88%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$17.89 TOP 42.33

$28.41 ฿959

-37.03%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$20.97 TOP 49.63

$94.3 ฿3,184

-77.76%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$29.14 TOP 69.0

$85.8 ฿2,898

-66.04%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$619 TOP 1,466

$716 ฿24.2K

-13.48%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$491 ฿16.6K

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$814 TOP 1,927

$1,927 ฿65.1K

-57.74%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$557 TOP 1,318

$1,431 ฿48.3K

-61.08%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$417 TOP 987

$4,175 ฿141.0K

-90.02%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$251 TOP 594

$3,045 ฿102.8K

-91.75%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$692 TOP 1,639

$502 ฿17.0K

37.85%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

5.57

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

Last update for Nuku'alofa: October 27, 2026

Last update for Phuket: October 26, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Nuku'alofa

$336 32.9%

Phuket

$124 9.7% 63% $212

Groceries & Markets

Nuku'alofa

$291 28.5%

Phuket

$266 20.8% 8.5% $25

Eating Out

Nuku'alofa

$180 17.6%

Phuket

$122 9.5% 32.3% $58

Sport & Entertainment

Nuku'alofa

$115 11.3%

Phuket

$82 6.4% 28.5% $33

Getting Around

Nuku'alofa

$62 6.1%

Phuket

$71 5.5% 13.9% $8.6

Clothing & Footwear

Nuku'alofa

$37 3.6%

Phuket

$122 9.5% 229% $85

Accommodation & Living

Nuku'alofa

- * 0%

Phuket

$491 38.4%

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 $619 in Nuku’alofa and $716 in Phuket. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Nuku’alofa pays 38% more on average while also being the cheaper of the two. The combined effect is a noticeably stronger local purchasing power.

Dining out: $62 in Nuku’alofa vs $32 in Phuket for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $291 vs $266 per month, with Phuket cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇹🇴 Nuku'alofa

🇹🇭 Phuket

🕒 Local time

11:20 11:20 AM

05:20 5:20 AM

6 h behind Nuku'alofa

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

24,500 Capital

79,308

💱 Currency

Tongan Paʻanga TOP T$

Thai Baht THB ฿

📈 Exchange rate

1 TOP = 0.423 USD

1 TOP = 0.38 EUR

100 THB = 2.96 USD

100 THB = 2.66 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

THB, USD, EUR to TOP – Tongan Paʻanga Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇹🇴 Tongan Paʻanga (T$)

Tongan Paʻanga exchange rates as of October 28, 2026: 1 USD = 2.37 TOP (1 TOP = 0.423 USD). 1 EUR = 2.63 TOP (1 TOP = 0.38 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 TOP in detail →

On the map

Lowest

Highest

Between locations

Nuku'alofa Phuket 9,950 km ≈ 13 h nonstop flight

From you

Nuku'alofa
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

Nuku'alofa vs Phuket: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Total monthly costs including rent come to $1,021 in Nuku’alofa and $1,278 in Phuket, so Nuku’alofa is about 20% cheaper – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

Average pay runs 38% higher in Nuku’alofa, 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: $619 in Nuku’alofa versus $716 in Phuket. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Dining out is cheaper in Phuket – a meal for two runs $32 versus $62 in Nuku’alofa. If you eat out regularly, this makes a real dent in your monthly spending.

All in, you’ll spend $1,021 per month in Nuku’alofa versus $1,278 in Phuket – Nuku’alofa is about 20% cheaper, which adds up to real savings over time.

Either city works on $2,000 a month, though Nuku’alofa gives you more room to save. At this income level, the choice is more about lifestyle than financial pressure.

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, Nuku’alofa and Phuket are both considered safe, so it’s unlikely to be the deciding factor between them.