Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Phuket and Taoyuan

For one person, living is cheaper in Taoyuan: $1,183 a month against $1,278 in Phuket, rent and utilities included – about $1,100 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

62

Cost of Living Index in Phuket
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Phuket Living Index
57

Cost of Living Index in Taoyuan
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Taoyuan Living Index

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Phuket

🇹🇭 Thailand

$1,278

/mo nomad

Taoyuan

🇹🇼 Taiwan

$1,183

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Phuket and in Taoyuan

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,278 in Phuket versus $1,183 in Taoyuan.

Phuket $1,278
Taoyuan $1,183

Estimated couple costs with rent: $2,216 in Phuket versus $1,731 in Taoyuan.

Phuket $2,216
Taoyuan $1,731

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $3,154 in Phuket versus $2,278 in Taoyuan.

Phuket $3,154
Taoyuan $2,278

Living in Phuket is roughly 8% more expensive than in Taoyuan, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in leisure.

Both cities sit below the global median: Phuket 6% lower, Taoyuan 13% lower.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$4.47 ฿151

$4.13 NT$135

8.23%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$32.41 ฿1,093

$24.84 NT$810

30.48%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$8.81 ฿297

$5.46 NT$178

61.36%

Cappuccino

$2.83 ฿95.4

$3.00 NT$97.8

-5.67%

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

$0.87 ฿29.41

$1.00 NT$32.66

-13.00%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.49 ฿16.65

$0.69 NT$22.65

-28.99%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$2.56 ฿86.3

$1.81 NT$58.9

41.44%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.68 ฿124

$2.25 NT$73.3

63.56%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.66 ฿55.9

$2.76 NT$89.9

-39.86%

White Bread (500g)

$1.46 ฿49.31

$1.16 NT$37.73

25.86%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.50 ฿50.5

$2.58 NT$84.0

-41.86%

Eggs

$2.09 ฿70.5

$2.14 NT$69.9

-2.34%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$19.07 ฿643

$8.84 NT$288

115.72%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$3.30 ฿111

$7.14 NT$233

-53.78%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$10.91 ฿368

$21.23 NT$692

-48.61%

Apples (1kg)

$2.93 ฿98.9

$3.77 NT$123

-22.28%

Banana (1kg)

$1.69 ฿57.0

$1.94 NT$63.3

-12.89%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.25 ฿75.8

$3.05 NT$99.4

-26.23%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.08 ฿70.0

$3.05 NT$99.5

-31.80%

Potato (1kg)

$1.51 ฿51.0

$2.44 NT$79.5

-38.11%

Onion (1kg)

$1.38 ฿46.52

$1.91 NT$62.2

-27.75%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.07 ฿35.96

$2.29 NT$74.6

-53.28%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.52 ฿17.51

$0.87 NT$28.21

-40.23%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$4.20 ฿142

$4.85 NT$158

-13.40%

Wine (Bottle)

$18.79 ฿634

$10.78 NT$351

74.30%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.82 ฿61.5

$1.48 NT$48.27

22.97%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.84 ฿95.8

$2.03 NT$66.3

39.90%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$1.45 ฿48.98

$0.52 NT$17.07

178.85%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$56.7 ฿1,912

$37.11 NT$1,210

52.68%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$3.02 ฿102

$2.83 NT$92.3

6.71%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.02 ฿34.33

$0.81 NT$26.32

25.93%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$3.69 ฿125

$6.89 NT$225

-46.44%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.47 ฿49.76

$0.95 NT$31.03

54.74%

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

$26.8K ฿903.4K

$36.5K NT$1.2M

-26.60%

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

$26.7K ฿900.5K

$23.0K NT$748.9K

16.21%

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

$96.4 ฿3,251

$66.9 NT$2,180

44.11%

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

$11.26 ฿380

$17.45 NT$569

-35.47%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$16.85 ฿568

$21.84 NT$712

-22.85%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$67.2 ฿2,268

$30.19 NT$984

122.69%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$10.73 ฿362

$7.09 NT$231

51.34%

Cinema Ticket

$7.50 ฿253

$10.80 NT$352

-30.56%

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

$476 ฿16.1K

$521 NT$17.0K

-8.71%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$11.3K ฿380.0K

$31.3K NT$1.0M

-64.06%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$62.4 ฿2,104

$88.0 NT$2,871

-29.17%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$28.41 ฿958

$24.36 NT$794

16.63%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$94.3 ฿3,181

$83.0 NT$2,707

13.59%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$85.8 ฿2,895

$96.0 NT$3,129

-10.61%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$716 ฿24.2K

$641 NT$20.9K

11.71%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$491 ฿16.6K

$437 NT$14.2K

12.33%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,927 ฿65.0K

$777 NT$25.3K

148.10%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,431 ฿48.3K

$610 NT$19.9K

134.64%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$4,175 ฿140.9K

$6,226 NT$203.0K

-32.93%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$3,045 ฿102.7K

$4,079 NT$133.0K

-25.37%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$502 ฿16.9K

$1,507 NT$49.1K

-66.67%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

5.57

2.38

134.03%

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

Last update for Phuket: October 26, 2026

Last update for Taoyuan: October 27, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Phuket

$491 38.4%

Taoyuan

$437 36.9% 11% $54

Groceries & Markets

Phuket

$266 20.8%

Taoyuan

$306 25.8% 14.8% $39

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Phuket

$124 9.7%

Taoyuan

$106 9% 14.7% $18

Clothing & Footwear

Phuket

$122 9.5%

Taoyuan

$131 11.1% 7.6% $9.2

Eating Out

Phuket

$122 9.5%

Taoyuan

$106 8.9% 13.1% $16

Sport & Entertainment

Phuket

$82 6.4%

Taoyuan

$52 4.4% 37% $30

Getting Around

Phuket

$71 5.5%

Taoyuan

$46 3.9% 34.7% $25

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $716 in Phuket and $641 in Taoyuan. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Taoyuan pays about 3 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 $25 in Taoyuan. Groceries flip the comparison at $266 vs $306, with Phuket cheaper for home cooking.

Good to know

🇹🇭 Phuket

🇹🇼 Taoyuan

🕒 Local time

02:38 2:38 AM

03:38 3:38 AM

1 h ahead of Phuket

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

79,308

2,147,763

💱 Currency

Thai Baht THB ฿

New Taiwan Dollar TWD NT$

📈 Exchange rate

100 THB = 2.96 USD

100 THB = 2.65 EUR

100 TWD = 3.07 USD

100 TWD = 2.75 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

TWD, USD, EUR to THB – Thai Baht Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇹🇭 Thai Baht (฿)

Thai Baht exchange rates as of October 31, 2026: 1 USD = 33.74 THB (100 THB = 2.96 USD). 1 EUR = 37.67 THB (100 THB = 2.65 EUR).

New Taiwan Dollar exchange rates as of October 31, 2026: 1 USD = 32.61 TWD (100 TWD = 3.07 USD). 1 EUR = 36.41 TWD (100 TWD = 2.75 EUR).

USD to THB in detail →

On the map

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Highest

Between locations

Phuket Taoyuan 3,090 km ≈ 4 h 15 min nonstop flight

From you

Phuket
Taoyuan

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 Taoyuan: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Taoyuan is about 7% cheaper overall, especially in leisure, transport, and eating out. That difference adds up to real monthly savings that compound significantly over time.

On paper, salaries run 67% 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 $641 in Taoyuan. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $476 in Phuket versus $521 in Taoyuan. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

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

Both cities are expensive relative to $1,000. Taoyuan is the more realistic option, but even there you’ll need to be disciplined with housing, food, and fun money.

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