Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Phuket and Umea

For one person, living is cheaper in Phuket: $1,190 a month against $1,608 in Umea, rent and utilities included – about $5,000 less a year. The total is higher in Umea despite lower rent and utilities.

59

Cost of Living Index in Phuket
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Phuket Living Index
80

Cost of Living Index in Umea
Learn more

Umea Living Index

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Phuket

🇹🇭 Thailand

$1,190

/mo nomad

Umea

🇸🇪 Sweden

$1,608

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Phuket and in Umea

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,190 in Phuket versus $1,608 in Umea.

Phuket $1,190
Umea $1,608

Estimated couple costs with rent: $2,006 in Phuket versus $2,579 in Umea.

Phuket $2,006
Umea $2,579

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $2,822 in Phuket versus $3,550 in Umea.

Phuket $2,822
Umea $3,550

Living in Phuket costs roughly 26% less than in Umea, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

The two cities straddle the global median: Phuket is 11% below, Umea is 20% above.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$4.35 ฿146

$15.02 SEK 150

-71.04%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$32.45 ฿1,087

$79.3 SEK 793

-59.09%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$8.42 ฿282

$12.00 SEK 120

-29.83%

Cappuccino

$2.81 ฿94.0

$3.99 SEK 39.90

-29.57%

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

$0.87 ฿29.29

$3.20 SEK 31.99

-72.81%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.46 ฿15.39

$2.36 SEK 23.59

-80.51%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$2.59 ฿86.6

$8.30 SEK 83.0

-68.80%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.64 ฿122

$7.40 SEK 74.0

-50.81%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.71 ฿57.2

$1.63 SEK 16.29

4.91%

White Bread (500g)

$1.45 ฿48.42

$3.44 SEK 34.42

-57.85%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.56 ฿52.3

$4.07 SEK 40.68

-61.67%

Eggs

$2.10 ฿70.3

$3.90 SEK 38.95

-46.15%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$19.53 ฿654

$11.24 SEK 112

73.75%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$3.40 ฿114

$10.73 SEK 107

-68.31%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$11.14 ฿373

$17.23 SEK 172

-35.35%

Apples (1kg)

$2.83 ฿94.8

$2.46 SEK 24.57

15.04%

Banana (1kg)

$1.62 ฿54.3

$2.26 SEK 22.63

-28.32%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.22 ฿74.5

$2.82 SEK 28.16

-21.28%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.15 ฿71.9

$4.30 SEK 43.00

-50.00%

Potato (1kg)

$1.49 ฿49.95

$1.64 SEK 16.35

-9.15%

Onion (1kg)

$1.33 ฿44.40

$1.66 SEK 16.60

-19.88%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.07 ฿35.72

$2.49 SEK 24.90

-57.03%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.51 ฿17.01

$1.28 SEK 12.83

-60.16%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$4.38 ฿147

$6.89 SEK 68.9

-36.43%

Wine (Bottle)

$18.77 ฿629

$9.89 SEK 98.9

89.79%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.74 ฿58.3

$2.27 SEK 22.66

-23.35%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.78 ฿92.9

$2.44 SEK 24.40

13.93%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$2.17 ฿72.6

$2.92 SEK 29.16

-25.68%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$22.28 ฿746

$56.9 SEK 568

-60.82%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$3.02 ฿101

$6.80 SEK 68.0

-55.59%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.06 ฿35.43

$5.02 SEK 50.2

-78.88%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$3.71 ฿124

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.43 ฿47.88

$1.74 SEK 17.37

-17.82%

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

$26.3K ฿882.1K

$33.0K SEK 330.0K

-20.22%

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

$26.2K ฿877.3K

$33.6K SEK 336.3K

-22.12%

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

$96.7 ฿3,236

$86.0 SEK 860

12.34%

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

$11.41 ฿382

$32.39 SEK 324

-64.77%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$17.11 ฿573

$27.15 SEK 271

-36.98%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$52.8 ฿1,768

$48.96 SEK 489

7.84%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$11.07 ฿371

$35.34 SEK 353

-68.68%

Cinema Ticket

$7.65 ฿256

$16.17 SEK 162

-52.69%

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

$555 ฿18.6K

$137 SEK 1,368

305.30%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$11.3K ฿377.7K

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$63.4 ฿2,123

$99.5 SEK 995

-36.27%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$28.61 ฿958

$36.44 SEK 364

-21.49%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$96.7 ฿3,238

$117 SEK 1,166

-17.11%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$88.6 ฿2,967

$141 SEK 1,405

-36.98%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$735 ฿24.6K

$736 SEK 7,357

-0.19%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$458 ฿15.3K

$504 SEK 5,040

-9.18%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$2,102 ฿70.4K

$1,105 SEK 11.0K

90.24%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,187 ฿39.7K

$823 SEK 8,227

44.19%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$3,493 ฿116.9K

$4,542 SEK 45.4K

-23.11%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$2,491 ฿83.4K

$3,043 SEK 30.4K

-18.14%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$501 ฿16.8K

$2,674 SEK 26.7K

-81.27%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

5.57

3.65

52.60%

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

Last update for Phuket: October 4, 2026

Last update for Umea: October 4, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Phuket

$458 38.1%

Umea

$504 30.7% 10.1% $46

Groceries & Markets

Phuket

$268 22.3%

Umea

$350 21.3% 30.6% $82

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Phuket

$125 10.4%

Umea

$146 8.9% 16.3% $20

Clothing & Footwear

Phuket

$125 10.4%

Umea

$177 10.8% 41.8% $52

Eating Out

Phuket

$119 9.9%

Umea

$283 17.2% 137% $163

Sport & Entertainment

Phuket

$68 5.7%

Umea

$81 5% 19.4% $13

Getting Around

Phuket

$39 3.3%

Umea

$100 6.1% 156% $61

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $735 in Phuket and $736 in Umea. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Umea pays 434% more on average. The extra income cushions the higher costs, though housing choices and lifestyle decide how much of the gap is truly closed.

Dining out: $32.00 in Phuket vs $79.0 in Umea for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $268 vs $350 per month, with Phuket cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇹🇭 Phuket

🇸🇪 Umea

🕒 Local time

16:41 4:41 PM

11:41 11:41 AM

5 h behind Phuket

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

79,308

79,594

💱 Currency

Thai Baht THB ฿

Swedish Krona SEK kr

📈 Exchange rate

100 THB = 2.99 USD

100 THB = 2.67 EUR

100 SEK = 10.01 USD

100 SEK = 8.93 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

SEK, USD, EUR to THB – Thai Baht Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇹🇭 Thai Baht (฿)

Thai Baht exchange rates as of October 10, 2026: 1 USD = 33.48 THB (100 THB = 2.99 USD). 1 EUR = 37.52 THB (100 THB = 2.67 EUR).

Swedish Krona exchange rates as of October 10, 2026: 1 USD = 9.99 SEK (1 SEK = 0.1 USD). 1 EUR = 11.2 SEK (100 SEK = 8.93 EUR).

USD to THB in detail →

On the map

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Highest

Between locations

Phuket Umea 8,640 km ≈ 11 h nonstop flight

From you

Phuket
Umea

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 Umea: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Phuket is cheaper overall, especially in groceries, clothing, and eating out. The 35% gap adds up to real monthly savings that compound significantly over time.

On paper, salaries run 434% lower in Umea. 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: $735 in Phuket versus $736 in Umea. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $555 in Phuket versus $137 in Umea. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Supermarket bills run roughly 31% higher in Umea. For households that cook at home regularly, that difference adds up over a month.

At $1,190 in Phuket versus $1,608 in Umea, a $1,500 budget is realistic in Phuket but tight or insufficient in Umea. The gap between the two cities makes Phuket the clear choice for anyone on this budget.

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

Safety-wise, Phuket and Umea 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 Phuket gentler on the wallet – expenses run 35% less than in Umea. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.