Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Phuket and Al Muharraq

For one person, living is cheaper in Al Muharraq: $1,083 a month against $1,278 in Phuket, rent and utilities included – about $2,300 less a year. Other living expenses account for most of the difference.

62

Cost of Living Index in Phuket
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Phuket Living Index
52

Cost of Living Index in Al Muharraq
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Al Muharraq Living Index

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Phuket

🇹🇭 Thailand

$1,278

/mo nomad

Al Muharraq

🇧🇭 Bahrain

$1,083

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Phuket and in Al Muharraq

Real prices from locals and on-the-ground checks – rent, groceries, transit and the daily extras. Here's what a month in Phuket and in Al Muharraq actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,278 in Phuket versus $1,083 in Al Muharraq.

Phuket $1,278
Al Muharraq $1,083

Estimated couple costs with rent: $2,216 in Phuket versus $1,615 in Al Muharraq.

Phuket $2,216
Al Muharraq $1,615

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $3,154 in Phuket versus $2,147 in Al Muharraq.

Phuket $3,154
Al Muharraq $2,147

Living in Phuket is roughly 18% more expensive than in Al Muharraq, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in leisure.

Both cities sit below the global median: Phuket 6% lower, Al Muharraq 20% lower.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$4.47 ฿151

$2.58 BHD 0.97

73.26%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$32.41 ฿1,094

$26.49 BHD 9.99

22.35%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$8.81 ฿297

$5.98 BHD 2.25

47.32%

Cappuccino

$2.83 ฿95.5

$3.87 BHD 1.46

-26.87%

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

$0.87 ฿29.43

$0.82 BHD 0.31

6.10%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.49 ฿16.67

$0.30 BHD 0.11

63.33%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$2.56 ฿86.4

$6.66 BHD 2.51

-61.56%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.68 ฿124

$6.75 BHD 2.55

-45.48%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.66 ฿56.0

$1.37 BHD 0.52

21.17%

White Bread (500g)

$1.46 ฿49.35

$1.07 BHD 0.40

36.45%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.50 ฿50.6

$2.37 BHD 0.89

-36.71%

Eggs

$2.09 ฿70.5

$2.28 BHD 0.86

-8.33%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$19.07 ฿644

$3.76 BHD 1.42

407.18%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$3.30 ฿111

$4.87 BHD 1.84

-32.24%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$10.91 ฿368

$8.74 BHD 3.30

24.83%

Apples (1kg)

$2.93 ฿99.0

$1.08 BHD 0.41

171.30%

Banana (1kg)

$1.69 ฿57.1

$1.90 BHD 0.72

-11.05%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.25 ฿75.8

$1.05 BHD 0.39

114.29%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.08 ฿70.1

$1.39 BHD 0.52

49.64%

Potato (1kg)

$1.51 ฿51.0

$1.00 BHD 0.38

51.00%

Onion (1kg)

$1.38 ฿46.56

$0.51 BHD 0.19

170.59%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.07 ฿35.99

$0.51 BHD 0.19

109.80%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.52 ฿17.52

$0.55 BHD 0.21

-5.45%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$4.20 ฿142

$5.25 BHD 1.98

-20.00%

Wine (Bottle)

$18.79 ฿634

$18.69 BHD 7.05

0.54%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.82 ฿61.5

$3.51 BHD 1.32

-48.15%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.84 ฿95.9

$2.58 BHD 0.97

10.08%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$1.45 ฿49.03

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$56.7 ฿1,913

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$3.02 ฿102

$5.19 BHD 1.96

-41.81%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.02 ฿34.36

$1.29 BHD 0.49

-20.93%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$3.69 ฿125

$5.15 BHD 1.94

-28.35%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.47 ฿49.81

$0.56 BHD 0.21

162.50%

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

$26.8K ฿904.3K

$26.2K BHD 9,876

2.27%

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

$26.7K ฿901.3K

$19.5K BHD 7,359

36.82%

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

$96.4 ฿3,254

$155 BHD 58.4

-37.73%

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

$11.26 ฿380

$21.39 BHD 8.07

-47.36%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$16.85 ฿569

$34.74 BHD 13.11

-51.50%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$67.2 ฿2,270

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$10.73 ฿362

Cinema Ticket

$7.50 ฿253

$10.62 BHD 4.01

-29.38%

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

$476 ฿16.1K

$617 BHD 233

-22.84%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$11.3K ฿380.4K

$10.9K BHD 4,111

3.34%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$62.4 ฿2,106

$50.9 BHD 19.20

22.51%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$28.41 ฿959

$58.1 BHD 21.90

-51.06%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$94.3 ฿3,184

$87.6 BHD 33.06

7.59%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$85.8 ฿2,898

$89.2 BHD 33.64

-3.79%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$716 ฿24.2K

$465 BHD 176

53.81%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$491 ฿16.6K

$369 BHD 139

33.21%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,927 ฿65.1K

$993 BHD 375

93.99%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,431 ฿48.3K

$733 BHD 277

95.12%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$4,175 ฿141.0K

$2,011 BHD 758

107.65%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$3,045 ฿102.8K

$1,563 BHD 590

94.73%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$502 ฿17.0K

$1,765 BHD 666

-71.55%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

5.57

6.21

-10.31%

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

Last update for Phuket: October 26, 2026

Last update for Al Muharraq: October 26, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Phuket

$491 38.4%

Al Muharraq

$369 34% 24.9% $122

Groceries & Markets

Phuket

$266 20.8%

Al Muharraq

$205 19% 22.8% $61

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Phuket

$124 9.7%

Al Muharraq

$211 19.5% 69.4% $86

Clothing & Footwear

Phuket

$122 9.5%

Al Muharraq

$129 11.9% 5.5% $6.7

Eating Out

Phuket

$122 9.5%

Al Muharraq

$136 12.6% 12% $15

Sport & Entertainment

Phuket

$82 6.4%

Al Muharraq

$21 * 2% 74.2% $61

Getting Around

Phuket

$71 5.5%

Al Muharraq

$12 * 1.1% 83.5% $59

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 $716 in Phuket and $465 in Al Muharraq. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Al Muharraq pays about 3.5 times more on average while also being the cheaper of the two. The combined effect is a noticeably stronger local purchasing power.

Dining out: $32 in Phuket vs $26 in Al Muharraq for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $266 vs $205 per month, with Al Muharraq cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇹🇭 Phuket

🇧🇭 Al Muharraq

🕒 Local time

05:54 5:54 AM

01:54 1:54 AM

4 h behind Phuket

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

79,308

75,000

💱 Currency

Thai Baht THB ฿

Bahraini Dinar BHD .د.ب

📈 Exchange rate

100 THB = 2.96 USD

100 THB = 2.66 EUR

1 BHD = 2.65 USD

1 BHD = 2.38 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

BHD, USD, EUR to THB – Thai Baht Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇹🇭 Thai Baht (฿)

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).

Bahraini Dinar exchange rates as of October 28, 2026: 1 USD = 0.377 BHD (1 BHD = 2.65 USD). 1 EUR = 0.42 BHD (1 BHD = 2.38 EUR).

USD to THB in detail →

On the map

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Highest

Between locations

Phuket Al Muharraq 5,430 km ≈ 7 h nonstop flight

From you

Phuket
Al Muharraq

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

Phuket vs Al Muharraq: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Total monthly costs including rent come to $1,278 in Phuket and $1,083 in Al Muharraq, so Al Muharraq is about 15% cheaper – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

On paper, salaries run 72% lower in Phuket. That’s worth factoring in alongside costs, though remote workers earning in a stronger currency may not notice the difference at all.

Rent for a central apartment: $716 in Phuket versus $465 in Al Muharraq. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Supermarket bills run roughly 30% higher in Phuket. For households that cook at home regularly, that difference adds up over a month.

All in, you’ll spend $1,278 per month in Phuket versus $1,083 in Al Muharraq – Al Muharraq is about 15% cheaper, which adds up to real savings over time.

Either city works on $2,000 a month, though Al Muharraq 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.