Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Rio de Janeiro and Phuket

For one person, living is cheaper in Rio de Janeiro: $1,182 a month against $1,278 in Phuket, rent and utilities included – about $1,200 less a year. The total is higher in Phuket despite lower rent and utilities.

57

Cost of Living Index in Rio de Janeiro
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Rio de Janeiro Living Index
62

Cost of Living Index in Phuket
Learn more

Phuket Living Index

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Rio de Janeiro

🇧🇷 Brazil

$1,182

/mo nomad

Phuket

🇹🇭 Thailand

$1,278

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Rio de Janeiro 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 Rio de Janeiro and in Phuket actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,182 in Rio de Janeiro versus $1,278 in Phuket.

Rio de Janeiro $1,182
Phuket $1,278

Estimated couple costs with rent: $1,750 in Rio de Janeiro versus $2,216 in Phuket.

Rio de Janeiro $1,750
Phuket $2,216

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $2,318 in Rio de Janeiro versus $3,154 in Phuket.

Rio de Janeiro $2,318
Phuket $3,154

Living in Rio de Janeiro costs roughly 7% less than in Phuket, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in groceries.

Both cities sit below the global median: Rio de Janeiro 13% lower, Phuket 6% lower.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$9.08 R$48.58

$4.47 ฿151

103.13%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$37.25 R$199

$32.41 ฿1,094

14.93%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$8.02 R$42.91

$8.81 ฿297

-8.97%

Cappuccino

$2.19 R$11.72

$2.83 ฿95.5

-22.61%

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

$1.46 R$7.83

$0.87 ฿29.43

67.82%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.99 R$5.28

$0.49 ฿16.67

102.04%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$2.03 R$10.85

$2.56 ฿86.4

-20.70%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.45 R$18.45

$3.68 ฿124

-6.25%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.06 R$5.67

$1.66 ฿56.0

-36.14%

White Bread (500g)

$1.98 R$10.62

$1.46 ฿49.35

35.62%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.17 R$6.28

$1.50 ฿50.6

-22.00%

Eggs

$2.21 R$11.81

$2.09 ฿70.5

5.74%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$10.11 R$54.1

$19.07 ฿644

-46.98%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$4.12 R$22.02

$3.30 ฿111

24.85%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$9.17 R$49.08

$10.91 ฿368

-15.95%

Apples (1kg)

$2.72 R$14.55

$2.93 ฿99.0

-7.17%

Banana (1kg)

$1.71 R$9.15

$1.69 ฿57.1

1.18%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.53 R$8.19

$2.25 ฿75.8

-32.00%

Tomato (1kg)

$1.66 R$8.89

$2.08 ฿70.1

-20.19%

Potato (1kg)

$1.14 R$6.09

$1.51 ฿51.0

-24.50%

Onion (1kg)

$0.99 R$5.32

$1.38 ฿46.56

-28.26%

Lettuce (1 head)

$0.65 R$3.46

$1.07 ฿35.99

-39.25%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.60 R$3.20

$0.52 ฿17.52

15.38%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$2.79 R$14.96

$4.20 ฿142

-33.57%

Wine (Bottle)

$7.48 R$40.03

$18.79 ฿634

-60.19%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.09 R$5.84

$1.82 ฿61.5

-40.11%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.33 R$12.49

$2.84 ฿95.9

-17.96%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.90 R$4.79

$1.45 ฿49.03

-37.93%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$53.0 R$284

$56.7 ฿1,913

-6.46%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$1.17 R$6.24

$3.02 ฿102

-61.26%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$0.78 R$4.18

$1.02 ฿34.36

-23.53%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$8.37 R$44.79

$3.69 ฿125

126.83%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.21 R$6.49

$1.47 ฿49.81

-17.69%

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

$21.5K R$114.9K

$26.8K ฿904.3K

-19.83%

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

$31.1K R$166.6K

$26.7K ฿901.3K

16.65%

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

$124 R$666

$96.4 ฿3,254

29.17%

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

$10.03 R$53.7

$11.26 ฿380

-10.92%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$20.88 R$112

$16.85 ฿569

23.92%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$28.35 R$152

$67.2 ฿2,270

-57.83%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$29.33 R$157

$10.73 ฿362

173.35%

Cinema Ticket

$7.62 R$40.75

$7.50 ฿253

1.60%

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

$563 R$3,012

$476 ฿16.1K

18.28%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$12.0K R$64.5K

$11.3K ฿380.4K

6.94%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$39.25 R$210

$62.4 ฿2,106

-37.06%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$46.36 R$248

$28.41 ฿959

63.18%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$68.4 R$366

$94.3 ฿3,184

-27.44%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$63.4 R$339

$85.8 ฿2,898

-26.08%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$776 R$4,153

$716 ฿24.2K

8.42%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$473 R$2,532

$491 ฿16.6K

-3.61%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,391 R$7,443

$1,927 ฿65.1K

-27.82%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$739 R$3,954

$1,431 ฿48.3K

-48.34%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$3,393 R$18.2K

$4,175 ฿141.0K

-18.73%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$1,570 R$8,403

$3,045 ฿102.8K

-48.43%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$597 R$3,194

$502 ฿17.0K

18.85%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

11.93

5.57

114.18%

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

Last update for Rio de Janeiro: October 25, 2026

Last update for Phuket: October 26, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Rio de Janeiro

$473 40%

Phuket

$491 38.4% 3.7% $18

Groceries & Markets

Rio de Janeiro

$201 17%

Phuket

$266 20.8% 32.5% $65

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Rio de Janeiro

$155 13.1%

Phuket

$124 9.7% 19.9% $31

Eating Out

Rio de Janeiro

$150 12.7%

Phuket

$122 9.5% 18.8% $28

Clothing & Footwear

Rio de Janeiro

$98 8.3%

Phuket

$122 9.5% 24.6% $24

Getting Around

Rio de Janeiro

$62 5.2%

Phuket

$71 5.5% 14.5% $8.9

Sport & Entertainment

Rio de Janeiro

$44 3.7%

Phuket

$82 6.4% 88.7% $39

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $776 in Rio de Janeiro and $716 in Phuket. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Rio de Janeiro pays 19% more on average while also being the cheaper of the two. The combined effect is a noticeably stronger local purchasing power.

Dining out: $37 in Rio de Janeiro vs $32 in Phuket. Groceries flip the comparison at $201 vs $266, with Rio de Janeiro cheaper for home cooking.

Good to know

🇧🇷 Rio de Janeiro

🇹🇭 Phuket

🕒 Local time

06:13 6:13 AM

16:13 4:13 PM

10 h ahead of Rio de Janeiro

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

6,211,223

79,308

💱 Currency

Brazilian Real BRL R$

Thai Baht THB ฿

📈 Exchange rate

1 BRL = 0.187 USD

1 BRL = 0.168 EUR

100 THB = 2.96 USD

100 THB = 2.66 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

THB, USD, EUR to BRL – Brazilian Real Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇧🇷 Brazilian Real (R$)

Brazilian Real exchange rates as of October 28, 2026: 1 USD = 5.35 BRL (1 BRL = 0.187 USD). 1 EUR = 5.96 BRL (1 BRL = 0.168 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 BRL in detail →

On the map

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Highest

Between locations

Rio de Janeiro Phuket 15,590 km ≈ 20 h nonstop flight

From you

Rio de Janeiro
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

Rio de Janeiro vs Phuket: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Rio de Janeiro is cheaper overall, especially in groceries, leisure, and clothing. The 8% gap adds up to real monthly savings that compound significantly over time.

Average pay runs 19% higher in Rio de Janeiro, 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: $776 in Rio de Janeiro versus $716 in Phuket. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $563 in Rio de Janeiro 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 33% 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 Rio de Janeiro 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.