Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Phuket and Sabac

For one person, living is cheaper in Sabac: $840 a month against $1,208 in Phuket, rent and utilities included – about $4,400 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

59

Cost of Living Index in Phuket
Learn more

Phuket Living Index
41

Cost of Living Index in Sabac
Learn more

Sabac Living Index

Jump to prices

Phuket

🇹🇭 Thailand

$1,208

/mo nomad

Sabac

🇷🇸 Serbia

$840

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Phuket and in Sabac

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 Sabac actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,208 in Phuket versus $840 in Sabac.

Phuket $1,208
Sabac $840

Estimated couple costs with rent: $2,027 in Phuket versus $1,276 in Sabac.

Phuket $2,027
Sabac $1,276

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $2,845 in Phuket versus $1,712 in Sabac.

Phuket $2,845
Sabac $1,712

Living in Phuket is roughly 44% more expensive than in Sabac, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in groceries.

Both cities sit below the global median: Phuket 11% lower, Sabac 38% lower.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$4.40 ฿147

$8.23 RSD 858

-46.54%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$32.26 ฿1,078

$27.55 RSD 2,872

17.10%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$8.76 ฿293

$6.71 RSD 700

30.55%

Cappuccino

$2.83 ฿94.5

$1.87 RSD 195

51.34%

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

$0.90 ฿30.14

$1.87 RSD 195

-51.87%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.47 ฿15.56

$1.40 RSD 146

-66.43%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$2.55 ฿85.2

$2.63 RSD 274

-3.04%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.83 ฿128

$2.63 RSD 274

45.63%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.73 ฿57.7

$1.31 RSD 136

32.06%

White Bread (500g)

$1.47 ฿49.11

$0.62 RSD 65.0

137.10%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.51 ฿50.6

$1.92 RSD 200

-21.35%

Eggs

$2.17 ฿72.7

$1.89 RSD 197

14.81%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$19.70 ฿658

$5.65 RSD 589

248.67%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$3.34 ฿112

$6.31 RSD 658

-47.07%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$11.16 ฿373

$11.48 RSD 1,197

-2.79%

Apples (1kg)

$2.85 ฿95.1

$1.24 RSD 129

129.84%

Banana (1kg)

$1.70 ฿56.9

$1.80 RSD 188

-5.56%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.19 ฿73.3

$1.45 RSD 151

51.03%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.05 ฿68.4

$1.88 RSD 196

9.04%

Potato (1kg)

$1.45 ฿48.57

$0.70 RSD 72.6

107.14%

Onion (1kg)

$1.38 ฿46.16

$0.35 RSD 36.08

294.29%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.07 ฿35.69

$1.00 RSD 105

7.00%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.51 ฿16.91

$0.40 RSD 41.90

27.50%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$4.26 ฿142

$3.61 RSD 377

18.01%

Wine (Bottle)

$18.58 ฿621

$7.74 RSD 807

140.05%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.78 ฿59.7

$0.66 RSD 68.4

169.70%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.85 ฿95.2

$0.94 RSD 97.6

203.19%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$2.26 ฿75.6

$0.93 RSD 97.1

143.01%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$22.10 ฿738

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$3.01 ฿101

$1.39 RSD 145

116.55%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.06 ฿35.34

$0.95 RSD 98.9

11.58%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$3.86 ฿129

$5.11 RSD 532

-24.46%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.45 ฿48.45

$1.76 RSD 183

-17.61%

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

$26.3K ฿879.9K

$30.3K RSD 3.2M

-13.01%

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

$26.9K ฿900.4K

$24.4K RSD 2.5M

10.24%

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

$96.4 ฿3,221

$138 RSD 14.4K

-30.07%

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

$11.04 ฿369

$25.50 RSD 2,658

-56.71%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$17.14 ฿573

$18.96 RSD 1,976

-9.60%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$52.2 ฿1,744

$29.17 RSD 3,041

78.88%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$11.16 ฿373

$11.44 RSD 1,192

-2.45%

Cinema Ticket

$7.81 ฿261

$5.58 RSD 581

39.96%

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

$556 ฿18.6K

$176 RSD 18.3K

215.85%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$11.6K ฿387.0K

$3,770 RSD 393.0K

207.19%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$64.2 ฿2,146

$59.8 RSD 6,238

7.29%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$28.69 ฿959

$64.5 RSD 6,721

-55.51%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$95.4 ฿3,187

$56.6 RSD 5,898

68.57%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$88.0 ฿2,940

$118 RSD 12.3K

-25.59%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$737 ฿24.6K

$234 RSD 24.4K

214.70%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$462 ฿15.5K

$151 RSD 15.7K

206.08%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$2,095 ฿70.0K

$345 RSD 35.9K

507.73%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,201 ฿40.1K

$250 RSD 26.1K

379.61%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$3,488 ฿116.6K

$1,884 RSD 196.4K

85.08%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$2,523 ฿84.3K

$1,514 RSD 157.8K

66.61%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$501 ฿16.7K

$962 RSD 100.3K

-47.97%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

5.57

4.84

15.08%

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

Last update for Phuket: October 19, 2026

Last update for Sabac: October 18, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Phuket

$462 38.3%

Sabac

$151 18% 67.3% $311

Groceries & Markets

Phuket

$269 22.2%

Sabac

$182 21.7% 32.3% $87

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Phuket

$125 10.3%

Sabac

$182 21.7% 46.3% $58

Clothing & Footwear

Phuket

$124 10.3%

Sabac

$135 16% 8.3% $10

Eating Out

Phuket

$121 10%

Sabac

$140 16.7% 15.4% $19

Sport & Entertainment

Phuket

$68 5.6%

Sabac

$40 4.8% 40.5% $27

Getting Around

Phuket

$39 3.3%

Sabac

$9.9 * 1.2% 75% $30

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 $737 in Phuket and $234 in Sabac. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Sabac pays 92% more on average while also being the cheaper of the two. The combined effect is a noticeably stronger local purchasing power.

Dining out: $32.00 in Phuket vs $28.00 in Sabac for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $269 vs $182 per month, with Sabac cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇹🇭 Phuket

🇷🇸 Sabac

🕒 Local time

18:27 6:27 PM

13:27 1:27 PM

5 h behind Phuket

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

79,308

51,163

💱 Currency

Thai Baht THB ฿

Serbian Dinar RSD din

📈 Exchange rate

100 THB = 2.99 USD

100 THB = 2.66 EUR

1,000 RSD = 9.59 USD

1,000 RSD = 8.53 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

RSD, USD, EUR to THB – Thai Baht Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇹🇭 Thai Baht (฿)

Thai Baht exchange rates as of October 20, 2026: 1 USD = 33.42 THB (100 THB = 2.99 USD). 1 EUR = 37.57 THB (100 THB = 2.66 EUR).

Serbian Dinar exchange rates as of October 20, 2026: 1 USD = 104 RSD (1,000 RSD = 9.59 USD). 1 EUR = 117 RSD (1,000 RSD = 8.53 EUR).

USD to THB in detail →

On the map

Lowest

Highest

Between locations

Phuket Sabac 8,500 km ≈ 11 h nonstop flight

From you

Phuket
Sabac

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 Sabac: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Sabac is cheaper overall, especially in groceries, leisure, and transport. The 44% gap adds up to real monthly savings that compound significantly over time.

On paper, salaries run 92% lower in Sabac. 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: $737 in Phuket versus $234 in Sabac. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $556 in Phuket versus $176 in Sabac. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Dining out is cheaper in Sabac – a meal for two runs $28.00 versus $32.00 in Phuket. If you eat out regularly, this makes a real dent in your monthly spending.

At $840 in Sabac versus $1,208 in Phuket, a $2,000 budget is realistic in Sabac but tight or insufficient in Phuket. The gap between the two cities makes Sabac the clear choice for anyone on this budget.

For families, Sabac is more practical. Housing and childcare are both notably cheaper than in Phuket, and the savings on those two alone free up budget for education, activities, and family trips.

Safety-wise, Phuket and Sabac 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 Sabac gentler on the wallet – expenses run 44% less than in Phuket. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.