Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Pietermaritzburg and Phuket

For one person, living is cheaper in Pietermaritzburg: $1,033 a month against $1,278 in Phuket, rent and utilities included – about $2,900 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

50

Cost of Living Index in Pietermaritzburg
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Pietermaritzburg Living Index
62

Cost of Living Index in Phuket
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Phuket Living Index

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Pietermaritzburg

🇿🇦 South Africa

$1,033

/mo nomad

Phuket

🇹🇭 Thailand

$1,278

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Pietermaritzburg and in Phuket

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,033 in Pietermaritzburg versus $1,278 in Phuket.

Pietermaritzburg $1,033
Phuket $1,278

Estimated couple costs with rent: $1,555 in Pietermaritzburg versus $2,216 in Phuket.

Pietermaritzburg $1,555
Phuket $2,216

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $2,077 in Pietermaritzburg versus $3,154 in Phuket.

Pietermaritzburg $2,077
Phuket $3,154

Living in Pietermaritzburg costs roughly 19% less than in Phuket, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in groceries.

Both cities sit below the global median: Pietermaritzburg 24% lower, Phuket 6% lower.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$7.74 R 129

$4.47 ฿151

73.15%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$35.63 R 594

$32.41 ฿1,094

9.94%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$5.80 R 96.6

$8.81 ฿297

-34.17%

Cappuccino

$2.36 R 39.27

$2.83 ฿95.5

-16.61%

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

$1.16 R 19.40

$0.87 ฿29.43

33.33%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.03 R 17.15

$0.49 ฿16.67

110.20%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$2.15 R 35.77

$2.56 ฿86.4

-16.02%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.51 R 41.75

$3.68 ฿124

-31.79%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.33 R 22.16

$1.66 ฿56.0

-19.88%

White Bread (500g)

$0.92 R 15.33

$1.46 ฿49.35

-36.99%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.70 R 28.31

$1.50 ฿50.6

13.33%

Eggs

$3.16 R 52.7

$2.09 ฿70.5

51.20%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$7.22 R 120

$19.07 ฿644

-62.14%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$4.94 R 82.3

$3.30 ฿111

49.70%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$6.36 R 106

$10.91 ฿368

-41.70%

Apples (1kg)

$2.04 R 34.00

$2.93 ฿99.0

-30.38%

Banana (1kg)

$1.94 R 32.28

$1.69 ฿57.1

14.79%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.32 R 38.74

$2.25 ฿75.8

3.11%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.03 R 33.90

$2.08 ฿70.1

-2.40%

Potato (1kg)

$1.78 R 29.68

$1.51 ฿51.0

17.88%

Onion (1kg)

$1.81 R 30.09

$1.38 ฿46.56

31.16%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.49 R 24.78

$1.07 ฿35.99

39.25%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.04 R 17.28

$0.52 ฿17.52

100.00%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$3.14 R 52.3

$4.20 ฿142

-25.24%

Wine (Bottle)

$3.92 R 65.4

$18.79 ฿634

-79.14%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.42 R 23.70

$1.82 ฿61.5

-21.98%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.75 R 29.20

$2.84 ฿95.9

-38.38%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$2.86 R 47.70

$1.45 ฿49.03

97.24%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$19.71 R 328

$56.7 ฿1,913

-65.21%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$1.59 R 26.52

$3.02 ฿102

-47.35%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.06 R 17.69

$1.02 ฿34.36

3.92%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$3.69 ฿125

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.44 R 23.96

$1.47 ฿49.81

-2.04%

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

$26.5K R 442.3K

$26.8K ฿904.3K

-0.87%

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

$26.8K R 446.3K

$26.7K ฿901.3K

0.34%

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

$205 R 3,416

$96.4 ฿3,254

112.73%

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

$32.46 R 541

$11.26 ฿380

188.28%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$37.19 R 620

$16.85 ฿569

120.71%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$43.80 R 730

$67.2 ฿2,270

-34.85%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$3.05 R 50.9

$10.73 ฿362

-71.58%

Cinema Ticket

$4.84 R 80.6

$7.50 ฿253

-35.47%

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

$177 R 2,949

$476 ฿16.1K

-62.81%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$5,103 R 85.0K

$11.3K ฿380.4K

-54.70%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$56.7 R 945

$62.4 ฿2,106

-9.09%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$34.35 R 572

$28.41 ฿959

20.91%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$114 R 1,897

$94.3 ฿3,184

20.77%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$69.9 R 1,165

$85.8 ฿2,898

-18.54%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$216 R 3,606

$716 ฿24.2K

-69.77%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$217 R 3,613

$491 ฿16.6K

-55.83%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$576 R 9,598

$1,927 ฿65.1K

-70.11%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$405 R 6,753

$1,431 ฿48.3K

-71.67%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$5,914 R 98.5K

$4,175 ฿141.0K

41.64%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$148 R 2,470

$3,045 ฿102.8K

-95.13%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$1,058 R 17.6K

$502 ฿17.0K

110.55%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

11.67

5.57

109.52%

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

Last update for Pietermaritzburg: October 24, 2026

Last update for Phuket: October 26, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Pietermaritzburg

$275 26.6%

Phuket

$124 9.7% 54.7% $150

Accommodation & Living

Pietermaritzburg

$217 21%

Phuket

$491 38.4% 126% $274

Groceries & Markets

Pietermaritzburg

$194 18.8%

Phuket

$266 20.8% 36.9% $72

Eating Out

Pietermaritzburg

$132 12.8%

Phuket

$122 9.5% 7.9% $10

Clothing & Footwear

Pietermaritzburg

$124 12%

Phuket

$122 9.5% 1.4% $1.8

Sport & Entertainment

Pietermaritzburg

$53 5.2%

Phuket

$82 6.4% 53.8% $29

Getting Around

Pietermaritzburg

$38 3.7%

Phuket

$71 5.5% 85.4% $33

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $216 in Pietermaritzburg and $716 in Phuket. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Pietermaritzburg pays about 2.1 times more on average while also being the cheaper of the two. The combined effect is a noticeably stronger local purchasing power.

Dining out: $36 in Pietermaritzburg vs $32 in Phuket. Groceries flip the comparison at $194 vs $266, with Pietermaritzburg cheaper for home cooking.

Good to know

🇿🇦 Pietermaritzburg

🇹🇭 Phuket

🕒 Local time

16:05 4:05 PM

21:05 9:05 PM

5 h ahead of Pietermaritzburg

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

618,536

79,308

💱 Currency

South African Rand ZAR R

Thai Baht THB ฿

📈 Exchange rate

100 ZAR = 6 USD

100 ZAR = 5.39 EUR

100 THB = 2.96 USD

100 THB = 2.66 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

THB, USD, EUR to ZAR – South African Rand Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇿🇦 South African Rand (R)

South African Rand exchange rates as of October 28, 2026: 1 USD = 16.66 ZAR (100 ZAR = 6 USD). 1 EUR = 18.55 ZAR (100 ZAR = 5.39 EUR).

Thai Baht exchange rates as of October 28, 2026: 1 USD = 33.77 THB (100 THB = 2.96 USD). 1 EUR = 37.58 THB (100 THB = 2.66 EUR).

USD to ZAR in detail →

On the map

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Pietermaritzburg Phuket 8,370 km ≈ 11 h nonstop flight

From you

Pietermaritzburg
Phuket

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

Pietermaritzburg vs Phuket: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Pietermaritzburg is cheaper overall, especially in groceries, transport, and leisure. The 24% gap adds up to real monthly savings that compound significantly over time.

Average pay in Pietermaritzburg is about 2.1 times higher, which matters when comparing affordability. Whether that higher income actually nets you more depends on your spending habits and housing choices.

Rent for a central apartment: $216 in Pietermaritzburg versus $716 in Phuket. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $177 in Pietermaritzburg versus $476 in Phuket. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Supermarket bills run roughly 37% higher in Phuket. For households that cook at home regularly, that difference adds up over a month.

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