Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Samsun and Phuket

For one person, living is cheaper in Samsun: $940 a month against $1,278 in Phuket, rent and utilities included – about $4,100 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

46

Cost of Living Index in Samsun
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Samsun Living Index
62

Cost of Living Index in Phuket
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Phuket Living Index

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Samsun

🇹🇷 Turkey

$940

/mo nomad

Phuket

🇹🇭 Thailand

$1,278

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $940 in Samsun versus $1,278 in Phuket.

Samsun $940
Phuket $1,278

Estimated couple costs with rent: $1,631 in Samsun versus $2,216 in Phuket.

Samsun $1,631
Phuket $2,216

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $2,321 in Samsun versus $3,154 in Phuket.

Samsun $2,321
Phuket $3,154

Living in Samsun costs roughly 26% less than in Phuket, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in transport.

Both cities sit below the global median: Samsun 31% lower, Phuket 6% lower.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$10.06 ₺502

$4.47 ฿151

125.06%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$59.3 ₺2,961

$32.41 ฿1,093

82.97%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$10.45 ₺522

$8.81 ฿297

18.62%

Cappuccino

$3.97 ₺198

$2.83 ฿95.4

40.28%

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

$0.84 ₺41.91

$0.87 ฿29.41

-3.45%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.29 ₺14.38

$0.49 ฿16.65

-40.82%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$1.86 ₺92.7

$2.56 ฿86.3

-27.34%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.03 ₺101

$3.68 ฿124

-44.84%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.17 ₺58.5

$1.66 ฿55.9

-29.52%

White Bread (500g)

$1.94 ₺96.8

$1.46 ฿49.31

32.88%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$2.73 ₺136

$1.50 ฿50.5

82.00%

Eggs

$2.44 ₺122

$2.09 ฿70.5

16.75%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$8.20 ₺409

$19.07 ฿643

-57.00%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$5.53 ₺276

$3.30 ฿111

67.58%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$26.33 ₺1,315

$10.91 ฿368

141.34%

Apples (1kg)

$2.40 ₺120

$2.93 ฿98.9

-18.09%

Banana (1kg)

$2.34 ₺117

$1.69 ฿57.0

38.46%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.46 ₺72.9

$2.25 ฿75.8

-35.11%

Tomato (1kg)

$1.04 ₺51.9

$2.08 ฿70.0

-50.00%

Potato (1kg)

$0.44 ₺21.91

$1.51 ฿51.0

-70.86%

Onion (1kg)

$0.34 ₺16.82

$1.38 ฿46.52

-75.36%

Lettuce (1 head)

$0.82 ₺40.84

$1.07 ฿35.96

-23.36%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.68 ₺33.76

$0.52 ฿17.51

30.77%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$2.16 ₺108

$4.20 ฿142

-48.57%

Wine (Bottle)

$8.79 ₺439

$18.79 ฿634

-53.22%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.61 ₺80.4

$1.82 ฿61.5

-11.54%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.28 ₺114

$2.84 ฿95.8

-19.72%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.60 ₺30.20

$1.45 ฿48.98

-58.62%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$11.88 ₺593

$56.7 ฿1,912

-79.03%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$2.03 ₺101

$3.02 ฿102

-32.78%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$0.63 ₺31.28

$1.02 ฿34.33

-38.24%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$6.33 ₺316

$3.69 ฿125

71.54%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.29 ₺64.2

$1.47 ฿49.76

-12.24%

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

$41.2K ₺2.1M

$26.8K ฿903.4K

53.90%

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

$39.0K ₺1.9M

$26.7K ฿900.5K

45.98%

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

$87.1 ₺4,351

$96.4 ฿3,251

-9.56%

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

$12.43 ₺621

$11.26 ฿380

10.39%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$12.50 ₺624

$16.85 ฿568

-25.82%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$30.67 ₺1,532

$67.2 ฿2,268

-54.38%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$5.89 ₺294

$10.73 ฿362

-45.11%

Cinema Ticket

$4.05 ₺202

$7.50 ฿253

-46.00%

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

$256 ₺12.8K

$476 ฿16.1K

-46.21%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$11.3K ฿380.0K

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$23.82 ₺1,189

$62.4 ฿2,104

-61.80%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$30.41 ₺1,518

$28.41 ฿958

7.04%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$69.7 ₺3,479

$94.3 ฿3,181

-26.10%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$60.4 ₺3,018

$85.8 ฿2,895

-29.56%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$354 ₺17.7K

$716 ฿24.2K

-50.53%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$246 ₺12.3K

$491 ฿16.6K

-49.86%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$738 ₺36.9K

$1,927 ฿65.0K

-61.68%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$612 ₺30.6K

$1,431 ฿48.3K

-57.20%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$973 ₺48.6K

$4,175 ฿140.9K

-76.69%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$664 ₺33.2K

$3,045 ฿102.7K

-78.18%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$934 ₺46.7K

$502 ฿16.9K

86.05%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

5.57

779.71%

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

Last update for Samsun: October 27, 2026

Last update for Phuket: October 26, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Groceries & Markets

Samsun

$264 28%

Phuket

$266 20.8% 1% $2.6

Accommodation & Living

Samsun

$246 26.2%

Phuket

$491 38.4% 99.4% $245

Eating Out

Samsun

$177 18.9%

Phuket

$122 9.5% 31.3% $56

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Samsun

$112 11.9%

Phuket

$124 9.7% 11.1% $12

Clothing & Footwear

Samsun

$83 8.8%

Phuket

$122 9.5% 46.9% $39

Sport & Entertainment

Samsun

$39 4.1%

Phuket

$82 6.4% 112% $43

Getting Around

Samsun

$19 2.1%

Phuket

$71 5.5% 263% $51

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $354 in Samsun and $716 in Phuket. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Samsun pays 86% more on average while also being the cheaper of the two. The combined effect is a noticeably stronger local purchasing power.

Dining out: $59 in Samsun vs $32 in Phuket. Groceries flip the comparison at $264 vs $266, with Samsun cheaper for home cooking.

Good to know

🇹🇷 Samsun

🇹🇭 Phuket

🕒 Local time

03:46 3:46 AM

07:46 7:46 AM

4 h ahead of Samsun

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

1,295,927

79,308

💱 Currency

Turkish Lira TRY ₺

Thai Baht THB ฿

📈 Exchange rate

100 TRY = 2 USD

100 TRY = 1.79 EUR

100 THB = 2.96 USD

100 THB = 2.65 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

THB, USD, EUR to TRY – Turkish Lira Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇹🇷 Turkish Lira (₺)

Turkish Lira exchange rates as of November 2, 2026: 1 USD = 49.93 TRY (100 TRY = 2 USD). 1 EUR = 55.75 TRY (100 TRY = 1.79 EUR).

Thai Baht exchange rates as of November 2, 2026: 1 USD = 33.74 THB (100 THB = 2.96 USD). 1 EUR = 37.67 THB (100 THB = 2.65 EUR).

USD to TRY in detail →

On the map

Lowest

Highest

Between locations

Samsun Phuket 7,110 km ≈ 9 h nonstop flight

From you

Samsun
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

Samsun vs Phuket: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Samsun is about 26% cheaper overall, especially in transport, leisure, and clothing. That difference adds up to real monthly savings that compound significantly over time.

Average pay runs 86% higher in Samsun, 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: $354 in Samsun versus $716 in Phuket. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $256 in Samsun versus $476 in Phuket. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Dining out is cheaper in Phuket – a meal for two runs $32 versus $59 in Samsun. If you eat out regularly, this makes a real dent in your monthly spending.

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, Samsun and Phuket are both considered safe, so it’s unlikely to be the deciding factor between them.