Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Sandnes and Phuket

For one person, living is cheaper in Phuket: $1,278 a month against $2,732 in Sandnes, rent and utilities included – about $17,400 less a year. Rent and utilities account for about half of the difference.

131

Cost of Living Index in Sandnes
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Sandnes Living Index
62

Cost of Living Index in Phuket
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Phuket Living Index

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Sandnes

🇳🇴 Norway

$2,732

/mo nomad

Phuket

🇹🇭 Thailand

$1,278

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $2,732 in Sandnes versus $1,278 in Phuket.

Sandnes $2,732
Phuket $1,278

Estimated couple costs with rent: $4,220 in Sandnes versus $2,216 in Phuket.

Sandnes $4,220
Phuket $2,216

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $5,708 in Sandnes versus $3,154 in Phuket.

Sandnes $5,708
Phuket $3,154

Living in Sandnes is roughly 114% more expensive than in Phuket, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

The two cities straddle the global median: Sandnes is 101% above, Phuket is 6% below.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$24.34 NOK 224

$4.47 ฿151

444.52%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$97.8 NOK 898

$32.41 ฿1,093

201.76%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$15.44 NOK 142

$8.81 ฿297

75.26%

Cappuccino

$5.60 NOK 51.5

$2.83 ฿95.4

97.88%

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

$3.46 NOK 31.78

$0.87 ฿29.41

297.70%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.99 NOK 27.51

$0.49 ฿16.65

510.20%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$13.86 NOK 127

$2.56 ฿86.3

441.41%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$10.60 NOK 97.4

$3.68 ฿124

188.04%

Milk (1 liter)

$2.50 NOK 22.95

$1.66 ฿55.9

50.60%

White Bread (500g)

$3.42 NOK 31.39

$1.46 ฿49.31

134.25%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$2.56 NOK 23.49

$1.50 ฿50.5

70.67%

Eggs

$4.85 NOK 44.53

$2.09 ฿70.5

132.06%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$13.56 NOK 125

$19.07 ฿643

-28.89%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$16.05 NOK 147

$3.30 ฿111

386.36%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$33.19 NOK 305

$10.91 ฿368

204.22%

Apples (1kg)

$3.54 NOK 32.51

$2.93 ฿98.9

20.82%

Banana (1kg)

$2.89 NOK 26.57

$1.69 ฿57.0

71.01%

Oranges (1kg)

$3.15 NOK 28.93

$2.25 ฿75.8

40.00%

Tomato (1kg)

$4.99 NOK 45.85

$2.08 ฿70.0

139.90%

Potato (1kg)

$2.64 NOK 24.24

$1.51 ฿51.0

74.83%

Onion (1kg)

$2.38 NOK 21.86

$1.38 ฿46.52

72.46%

Lettuce (1 head)

$2.89 NOK 26.53

$1.07 ฿35.96

170.09%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$2.43 NOK 22.29

$0.52 ฿17.51

367.31%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$16.80 NOK 154

$4.20 ฿142

300.00%

Wine (Bottle)

$16.87 NOK 155

$18.79 ฿634

-10.22%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$3.29 NOK 30.24

$1.82 ฿61.5

80.77%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.43 NOK 40.67

$2.84 ฿95.8

55.99%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$4.88 NOK 44.85

$1.45 ฿48.98

236.55%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$85.5 NOK 786

$56.7 ฿1,912

50.90%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$6.43 NOK 59.1

$3.02 ฿102

112.91%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.80 NOK 16.49

$1.02 ฿34.33

76.47%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$50.1 NOK 460

$3.69 ฿125

1257.18%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$2.32 NOK 21.29

$1.47 ฿49.76

57.82%

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

$45.2K NOK 415.5K

$26.8K ฿903.4K

68.92%

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

$38.8K NOK 356.3K

$26.7K ฿900.5K

45.31%

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

$266 NOK 2,447

$96.4 ฿3,251

176.49%

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

$34.32 NOK 315

$11.26 ฿380

204.80%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$80.8 NOK 743

$16.85 ฿568

379.76%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$46.63 NOK 428

$67.2 ฿2,268

-30.64%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$54.4 NOK 500

$10.73 ฿362

406.71%

Cinema Ticket

$19.49 NOK 179

$7.50 ฿253

159.87%

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

$297 NOK 2,726

$476 ฿16.1K

-37.65%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$9,467 NOK 87.0K

$11.3K ฿380.0K

-15.94%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$128 NOK 1,172

$62.4 ฿2,104

104.63%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$60.4 NOK 555

$28.41 ฿958

112.57%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$122 NOK 1,121

$94.3 ฿3,181

29.40%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$194 NOK 1,783

$85.8 ฿2,895

126.17%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,375 NOK 12.6K

$716 ฿24.2K

92.08%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$999 NOK 9,177

$491 ฿16.6K

103.49%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$2,076 NOK 19.1K

$1,927 ฿65.0K

7.75%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,834 NOK 16.8K

$1,431 ฿48.3K

28.17%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$6,988 NOK 64.2K

$4,175 ฿140.9K

67.35%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$4,176 NOK 38.4K

$3,045 ฿102.7K

37.18%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$3,789 NOK 34.8K

$502 ฿16.9K

654.31%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

5.22

5.57

-6.28%

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

Last update for Sandnes: 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

Sandnes

$999 36.6%

Phuket

$491 38.4% 50.9% $508

Groceries & Markets

Sandnes

$494 18.1%

Phuket

$266 20.8% 46.1% $228

Eating Out

Sandnes

$425 15.5%

Phuket

$122 9.5% 71.3% $303

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Sandnes

$382 14%

Phuket

$124 9.7% 67.4% $257

Clothing & Footwear

Sandnes

$227 8.3%

Phuket

$122 9.5% 46.3% $105

Getting Around

Sandnes

$120 4.4%

Phuket

$71 5.5% 41.4% $50

Sport & Entertainment

Sandnes

$86 3.1%

Phuket

$82 6.4% 3.9% $3.4

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $1,375 in Sandnes and $716 in Phuket. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Sandnes pays about 7.5 times more on average. How far that income stretches comes down to housing choices and lifestyle.

Dining out: $98 in Sandnes vs $32 in Phuket for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $494 vs $266 per month, with Phuket cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇳🇴 Sandnes

🇹🇭 Phuket

🕒 Local time

08:29 8:29 AM

14:29 2:29 PM

6 h ahead of Sandnes

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

83,958

79,308

💱 Currency

Norwegian Krone NOK kr

Thai Baht THB ฿

📈 Exchange rate

100 NOK = 10.88 USD

100 NOK = 9.75 EUR

100 THB = 2.96 USD

100 THB = 2.65 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

THB, USD, EUR to NOK – Norwegian Krone Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇳🇴 Norwegian Krone (kr)

Norwegian Krone exchange rates as of November 1, 2026: 1 USD = 9.19 NOK (1 NOK = 0.109 USD). 1 EUR = 10.26 NOK (100 NOK = 9.75 EUR).

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

USD to NOK in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Sandnes Phuket 9,370 km ≈ 12 h nonstop flight

From you

Sandnes
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

Sandnes vs Phuket: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Phuket is about 53% cheaper overall, especially in eating out, groceries, and clothing. That difference adds up to real monthly savings that compound significantly over time.

Average pay in Sandnes is about 7.5 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: $1,375 in Sandnes versus $716 in Phuket. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $297 in Sandnes 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 86% higher in Sandnes. For households that cook at home regularly, that difference adds up over a month.

At $1,278 in Phuket versus $2,732 in Sandnes, a $1,500 budget is realistic in Phuket but tight or insufficient in Sandnes. 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.

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

Expats usually find Phuket gentler on the wallet – expenses run 53% less than in Sandnes. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.