Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Rugby and Phuket

For one person, living is cheaper in Phuket: $1,278 a month against $2,353 in Rugby, rent and utilities included – about $12,900 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

113

Cost of Living Index in Rugby
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Rugby Living Index
62

Cost of Living Index in Phuket
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Phuket Living Index

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Rugby

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

$2,353

/mo nomad

Phuket

🇹🇭 Thailand

$1,278

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $2,353 in Rugby versus $1,278 in Phuket.

Rugby $2,353
Phuket $1,278

Estimated couple costs with rent: $3,513 in Rugby versus $2,216 in Phuket.

Rugby $3,513
Phuket $2,216

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $4,673 in Rugby versus $3,154 in Phuket.

Rugby $4,673
Phuket $3,154

Living in Rugby is roughly 84% more expensive than in Phuket, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

The two cities straddle the global median: Rugby is 73% above, Phuket is 6% below.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$19.95 £15.01

$4.47 ฿151

346.31%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$80.1 £60.3

$32.41 ฿1,094

147.27%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$9.38 £7.06

$8.81 ฿297

6.47%

Cappuccino

$5.02 £3.78

$2.83 ฿95.5

77.39%

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

$2.07 £1.56

$0.87 ฿29.43

137.93%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.49 £1.12

$0.49 ฿16.67

204.08%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$6.13 £4.61

$2.56 ฿86.4

139.45%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$6.42 £4.83

$3.68 ฿124

74.46%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.72 £1.29

$1.66 ฿56.0

3.61%

White Bread (500g)

$1.82 £1.37

$1.46 ฿49.35

24.66%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$2.62 £1.97

$1.50 ฿50.6

74.67%

Eggs

$3.93 £2.95

$2.09 ฿70.5

88.04%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$9.35 £7.04

$19.07 ฿644

-50.97%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$7.92 £5.96

$3.30 ฿111

140.00%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$15.17 £11.42

$10.91 ฿368

39.05%

Apples (1kg)

$2.58 £1.94

$2.93 ฿99.0

-11.95%

Banana (1kg)

$1.77 £1.33

$1.69 ฿57.1

4.73%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.49 £1.87

$2.25 ฿75.8

10.67%

Tomato (1kg)

$3.13 £2.35

$2.08 ฿70.1

50.48%

Potato (1kg)

$1.64 £1.24

$1.51 ฿51.0

8.61%

Onion (1kg)

$1.79 £1.35

$1.38 ฿46.56

29.71%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.30 £0.98

$1.07 ฿35.99

21.50%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.64 £1.24

$0.52 ฿17.52

215.38%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$22.48 £16.92

$4.20 ฿142

435.24%

Wine (Bottle)

$11.88 £8.94

$18.79 ฿634

-36.77%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$3.74 £2.82

$1.82 ฿61.5

105.49%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.25 £2.45

$2.84 ฿95.9

14.44%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$2.60 £1.96

$1.45 ฿49.03

79.31%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$96.6 £72.7

$56.7 ฿1,913

70.42%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$4.69 £3.53

$3.02 ฿102

55.30%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.61 £1.21

$1.02 ฿34.36

57.84%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$24.12 £18.15

$3.69 ฿125

553.66%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$2.02 £1.52

$1.47 ฿49.81

37.41%

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

$38.4K £28.9K

$26.8K ฿904.3K

43.23%

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

$41.0K £30.8K

$26.7K ฿901.3K

53.43%

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

$269 £202

$96.4 ฿3,254

179.22%

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

$20.01 £15.06

$11.26 ฿380

77.71%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$46.65 £35.11

$16.85 ฿569

176.85%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$57.7 £43.41

$67.2 ฿2,270

-14.20%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$10.73 ฿362

Cinema Ticket

$14.92 £11.23

$7.50 ฿253

98.93%

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

$1,617 £1,217

$476 ฿16.1K

239.71%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$22.3K £16.8K

$11.3K ฿380.4K

97.68%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$105 £79.0

$62.4 ฿2,106

68.26%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$31.48 £23.70

$28.41 ฿959

10.81%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$82.6 £62.2

$94.3 ฿3,184

-12.37%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$114 £85.9

$85.8 ฿2,898

33.00%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,117 £841

$716 ฿24.2K

56.04%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,049 £789

$491 ฿16.6K

113.62%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,799 £1,354

$1,927 ฿65.1K

-6.65%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,847 £1,390

$1,431 ฿48.3K

29.10%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$5,050 £3,801

$4,175 ฿141.0K

20.95%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$3,853 £2,900

$3,045 ฿102.8K

26.56%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$4,564 £3,435

$502 ฿17.0K

808.75%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

5.09

5.57

-8.62%

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

Last update for Rugby: October 26, 2026

Last update for Phuket: October 26, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Rugby

$1K 44.6%

Phuket

$491 38.4% 53.2% $558

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Rugby

$336 14.3%

Phuket

$124 9.7% 62.9% $211

Groceries & Markets

Rugby

$306 13%

Phuket

$266 20.8% 13.1% $40

Eating Out

Rugby

$306 13%

Phuket

$122 9.5% 60.2% $184

Clothing & Footwear

Rugby

$150 6.4%

Phuket

$122 9.5% 18.7% $28

Getting Around

Rugby

$120 5.1%

Phuket

$71 5.5% 41% $49

Sport & Entertainment

Rugby

$88 3.7%

Phuket

$82 6.4% 6% $5.3

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $1,117 in Rugby and $716 in Phuket. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Rugby pays about 9.1 times more on average. How far that income stretches comes down to housing choices and lifestyle.

Dining out: $80 in Rugby vs $32 in Phuket for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $306 vs $266 per month, with Phuket cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇬🇧 Rugby

🇹🇭 Phuket

🕒 Local time

21:19 9:19 PM

04:19 4:19 AM

7 h ahead of Rugby

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

70,628

79,308

💱 Currency

British Pound GBP £

Thai Baht THB ฿

📈 Exchange rate

1 GBP = 1.33 USD

1 GBP = 1.19 EUR

100 THB = 2.96 USD

100 THB = 2.66 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

THB, USD, EUR to GBP – British Pound Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇬🇧 British Pound (£)

British Pound exchange rates as of October 28, 2026: 1 USD = 0.753 GBP (1 GBP = 1.33 USD). 1 EUR = 0.838 GBP (1 GBP = 1.19 EUR).

Thai Baht exchange rates as of October 28, 2026: 1 USD = 33.77 THB (100 THB = 2.96 USD). 1 EUR = 37.59 THB (100 THB = 2.66 EUR).

USD to GBP in detail →

On the map

Lowest

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Between locations

Rugby Phuket 9,960 km ≈ 13 h nonstop flight

From you

Rugby
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

Rugby vs Phuket: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Phuket is about 46% cheaper overall, especially in eating out, transport, and groceries. That difference adds up to real monthly savings that compound significantly over time.

Average pay in Rugby is about 9.1 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: $1,117 in Rugby versus $716 in Phuket. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $1,617 in Rugby 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 15% higher in Rugby. For households that cook at home regularly, that difference adds up over a month.

At $1,278 in Phuket versus $2,353 in Rugby, a $1,500 budget is realistic in Phuket but tight or insufficient in Rugby. 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.

Expats usually find Phuket gentler on the wallet – expenses run 46% less than in Rugby. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.