Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Phuket and Trondheim

For one person, living is cheaper in Phuket: $1,278 a month against $3,027 in Trondheim, rent and utilities included – about $21,000 less a year. Rent and utilities account for about half of the difference.

62

Cost of Living Index in Phuket
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Phuket Living Index
145

Cost of Living Index in Trondheim
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Trondheim Living Index

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Phuket

🇹🇭 Thailand

$1,278

/mo nomad

Trondheim

🇳🇴 Norway

$3,027

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Phuket and in Trondheim

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,278 in Phuket versus $3,027 in Trondheim.

Phuket $1,278
Trondheim $3,027

Estimated couple costs with rent: $2,216 in Phuket versus $4,390 in Trondheim.

Phuket $2,216
Trondheim $4,390

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $3,154 in Phuket versus $5,752 in Trondheim.

Phuket $3,154
Trondheim $5,752

Living in Phuket costs roughly 58% less than in Trondheim, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

The two cities straddle the global median: Phuket is 6% below, Trondheim is 122% above.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$4.47 ฿151

$21.10 NOK 194

-78.82%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$32.41 ฿1,093

$108 NOK 996

-70.12%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$8.81 ฿297

$16.26 NOK 149

-45.82%

Cappuccino

$2.83 ฿95.4

$5.58 NOK 51.3

-49.28%

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

$0.87 ฿29.41

$5.90 NOK 54.2

-85.25%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.49 ฿16.65

$4.40 NOK 40.38

-88.86%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$2.56 ฿86.3

$13.21 NOK 121

-80.62%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.68 ฿124

$13.16 NOK 121

-72.04%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.66 ฿55.9

$2.52 NOK 23.12

-34.13%

White Bread (500g)

$1.46 ฿49.31

$3.55 NOK 32.58

-58.87%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.50 ฿50.5

$3.83 NOK 35.20

-60.84%

Eggs

$2.09 ฿70.5

$5.01 NOK 45.98

-58.28%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$19.07 ฿643

$13.20 NOK 121

44.47%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$3.30 ฿111

$17.00 NOK 156

-80.59%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$10.91 ฿368

$32.32 NOK 297

-66.24%

Apples (1kg)

$2.93 ฿98.9

$4.01 NOK 36.84

-26.93%

Banana (1kg)

$1.69 ฿57.0

$3.05 NOK 28.04

-44.59%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.25 ฿75.8

$3.87 NOK 35.57

-41.86%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.08 ฿70.0

$5.60 NOK 51.4

-62.86%

Potato (1kg)

$1.51 ฿51.0

$2.98 NOK 27.36

-49.33%

Onion (1kg)

$1.38 ฿46.52

$3.03 NOK 27.86

-54.46%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.07 ฿35.96

$2.98 NOK 27.35

-64.09%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.52 ฿17.51

$2.35 NOK 21.63

-77.87%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$4.20 ฿142

$18.01 NOK 165

-76.68%

Wine (Bottle)

$18.79 ฿634

$18.61 NOK 171

0.97%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.82 ฿61.5

$3.68 NOK 33.80

-50.54%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.84 ฿95.8

$4.53 NOK 41.59

-37.31%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$1.45 ฿48.98

$4.86 NOK 44.61

-70.16%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$56.7 ฿1,912

$102 NOK 940

-44.61%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$3.02 ฿102

$9.63 NOK 88.5

-68.64%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.02 ฿34.33

$1.64 NOK 15.09

-37.80%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$3.69 ฿125

$61.7 NOK 567

-94.02%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.47 ฿49.76

$2.54 NOK 23.34

-42.13%

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

$26.8K ฿903.4K

$46.3K NOK 425.6K

-42.20%

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

$26.7K ฿900.5K

$46.2K NOK 424.2K

-42.19%

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

$96.4 ฿3,251

$281 NOK 2,579

-65.68%

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

$11.26 ฿380

$36.31 NOK 334

-68.99%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$16.85 ฿568

$84.9 NOK 780

-80.16%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$67.2 ฿2,268

$45.31 NOK 416

48.38%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$10.73 ฿362

$40.99 NOK 377

-73.82%

Cinema Ticket

$7.50 ฿253

$19.70 NOK 181

-61.93%

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

$476 ฿16.1K

$305 NOK 2,798

56.28%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$11.3K ฿380.0K

$4,591 NOK 42.2K

145.34%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$62.4 ฿2,104

$109 NOK 998

-42.60%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$28.41 ฿958

$51.4 NOK 472

-44.72%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$94.3 ฿3,181

$121 NOK 1,112

-22.07%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$85.8 ฿2,895

$158 NOK 1,455

-45.84%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$716 ฿24.2K

$1,635 NOK 15.0K

-56.22%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$491 ฿16.6K

$1,266 NOK 11.6K

-61.23%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,927 ฿65.0K

$2,320 NOK 21.3K

-16.93%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,431 ฿48.3K

$1,817 NOK 16.7K

-21.28%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$4,175 ฿140.9K

$6,610 NOK 60.7K

-36.83%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$3,045 ฿102.7K

$4,997 NOK 45.9K

-39.07%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$502 ฿16.9K

$4,392 NOK 40.3K

-88.56%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

5.57

5.32

4.70%

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

Last update for Phuket: October 26, 2026

Last update for Trondheim: October 26, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Phuket

$491 38.4%

Trondheim

$1.3K 41.8% 158% $775

Groceries & Markets

Phuket

$266 20.8%

Trondheim

$519 17.2% 95% $253

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Phuket

$124 9.7%

Trondheim

$402 13.3% 223% $278

Clothing & Footwear

Phuket

$122 9.5%

Trondheim

$198 6.5% 62.2% $76

Eating Out

Phuket

$122 9.5%

Trondheim

$418 13.8% 244% $296

Sport & Entertainment

Phuket

$82 6.4%

Trondheim

$85 2.8% 3% $2.5

Getting Around

Phuket

$71 5.5%

Trondheim

$140 4.6% 97.7% $69

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $716 in Phuket and $1,635 in Trondheim. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Trondheim pays about 8.7 times more on average. How far that income stretches comes down to housing choices and lifestyle.

Dining out: $32 in Phuket vs $108 in Trondheim for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $266 vs $519 per month, with Phuket cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇹🇭 Phuket

🇳🇴 Trondheim

🕒 Local time

19:40 7:40 PM

13:40 1:40 PM

6 h behind Phuket

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

79,308

215,121

💱 Currency

Thai Baht THB ฿

Norwegian Krone NOK kr

📈 Exchange rate

100 THB = 2.96 USD

100 THB = 2.65 EUR

100 NOK = 10.88 USD

100 NOK = 9.75 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

NOK, USD, EUR to THB – Thai Baht Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇹🇭 Thai Baht (฿)

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

Norwegian Krone exchange rates as of November 1, 2026: 1 USD = 9.19 NOK (1 NOK = 0.109 USD). 1 EUR = 10.26 NOK (100 NOK = 9.75 EUR).

USD to THB in detail →

On the map

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Highest

Between locations

Phuket Trondheim 9,120 km ≈ 12 h nonstop flight

From you

Phuket
Trondheim

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 Trondheim: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Phuket is about 58% cheaper overall, especially in eating out, groceries, and utilities. That difference adds up to real monthly savings that compound significantly over time.

On paper, salaries run 89% 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 $1,635 in Trondheim. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $476 in Phuket versus $305 in Trondheim. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Supermarket bills run roughly 95% higher in Trondheim. For households that cook at home regularly, that difference adds up over a month.

At $1,278 in Phuket versus $3,027 in Trondheim, a $1,500 budget is realistic in Phuket but tight or insufficient in Trondheim. The gap between the two cities makes Phuket 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, Phuket and Trondheim are both considered safe, so it’s unlikely to be the deciding factor between them.

Expats usually find Phuket gentler on the wallet – expenses run 58% less than in Trondheim. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.