Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Stockton-on-Tees and Phuket

For one person, living is cheaper in Phuket: $1,208 a month against $1,692 in Stockton-on-Tees, rent and utilities included – about $5,800 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

82

Cost of Living Index in Stockton-on-Tees
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Stockton-on-Tees Living Index
59

Cost of Living Index in Phuket
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Phuket Living Index

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Stockton-on-Tees

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

$1,692

/mo nomad

Phuket

🇹🇭 Thailand

$1,208

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,692 in Stockton-on-Tees versus $1,208 in Phuket.

Stockton-on-Tees $1,692
Phuket $1,208

Estimated couple costs with rent: $2,431 in Stockton-on-Tees versus $2,027 in Phuket.

Stockton-on-Tees $2,431
Phuket $2,027

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $3,170 in Stockton-on-Tees versus $2,845 in Phuket.

Stockton-on-Tees $3,170
Phuket $2,845

Living in Stockton-on-Tees is roughly 40% more expensive than in Phuket, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

The two cities straddle the global median: Stockton-on-Tees is 25% above, Phuket is 11% below.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$13.37 £10.03

$4.40 ฿147

203.86%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$68.7 £51.5

$32.26 ฿1,078

112.90%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$10.50 £7.88

$8.76 ฿293

19.86%

Cappuccino

$3.39 £2.54

$2.83 ฿94.5

19.79%

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

$2.38 £1.78

$0.90 ฿30.14

164.44%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.03 £1.52

$0.47 ฿15.56

331.91%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$4.60 £3.45

$2.55 ฿85.2

80.39%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.13 £3.10

$3.83 ฿128

7.83%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.23 £0.92

$1.73 ฿57.7

-28.90%

White Bread (500g)

$1.05 £0.79

$1.47 ฿49.11

-28.57%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.38 £1.04

$1.51 ฿50.6

-8.61%

Eggs

$3.57 £2.68

$2.17 ฿72.7

64.52%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$7.63 £5.72

$19.70 ฿658

-61.27%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$7.06 £5.29

$3.34 ฿112

111.38%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$13.99 £10.49

$11.16 ฿373

25.36%

Apples (1kg)

$2.47 £1.85

$2.85 ฿95.1

-13.33%

Banana (1kg)

$1.60 £1.20

$1.70 ฿56.9

-5.88%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.24 £1.68

$2.19 ฿73.3

2.28%

Tomato (1kg)

$1.82 £1.37

$2.05 ฿68.4

-11.22%

Potato (1kg)

$1.72 £1.29

$1.45 ฿48.57

18.62%

Onion (1kg)

$1.28 £0.96

$1.38 ฿46.16

-7.25%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.15 £0.87

$1.07 ฿35.69

7.48%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.57 £1.18

$0.51 ฿16.91

207.84%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$23.04 £17.29

$4.26 ฿142

440.85%

Wine (Bottle)

$8.02 £6.02

$18.58 ฿621

-56.84%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$3.01 £2.25

$1.78 ฿59.7

69.10%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.75 £2.81

$2.85 ฿95.2

31.58%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$3.94 £2.96

$2.26 ฿75.6

74.34%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$62.7 £47.01

$22.10 ฿738

183.53%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$4.45 £3.34

$3.01 ฿101

47.84%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.06 ฿35.34

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$33.23 £24.93

$3.86 ฿129

760.88%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.99 £1.49

$1.45 ฿48.45

37.24%

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

$38.9K £29.2K

$26.3K ฿879.9K

47.71%

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

$40.2K £30.2K

$26.9K ฿900.4K

49.36%

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

$354 £265

$96.4 ฿3,221

266.90%

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

$25.85 £19.39

$11.04 ฿369

134.15%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$45.40 £34.06

$17.14 ฿573

164.88%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$52.2 ฿1,744

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$11.16 ฿373

Cinema Ticket

$17.10 £12.83

$7.81 ฿261

118.95%

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

$799 £599

$556 ฿18.6K

43.71%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$11.6K ฿387.0K

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$108 £81.3

$64.2 ฿2,146

68.71%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$55.4 £41.55

$28.69 ฿959

93.03%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$113 £84.5

$95.4 ฿3,187

18.05%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$114 £85.2

$88.0 ฿2,940

29.02%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$594 £446

$737 ฿24.6K

-19.40%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$494 £370

$462 ฿15.5K

6.80%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$809 £607

$2,095 ฿70.0K

-61.38%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$711 £533

$1,201 ฿40.1K

-40.78%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$3,488 ฿116.6K

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$2,523 ฿84.3K

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$2,020 £1,515

$501 ฿16.7K

303.36%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

5.53

5.57

-0.72%

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

Last update for Stockton-on-Tees: October 17, 2026

Last update for Phuket: October 19, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Stockton-on-Tees

$494 29.2%

Phuket

$462 38.3% 6.4% $31

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Stockton-on-Tees

$425 25.1%

Phuket

$125 10.3% 70.7% $300

Groceries & Markets

Stockton-on-Tees

$252 14.9%

Phuket

$269 22.2% 6.4% $16

Eating Out

Stockton-on-Tees

$228 13.5%

Phuket

$121 10% 46.8% $107

Clothing & Footwear

Stockton-on-Tees

$175 10.4%

Phuket

$124 10.3% 29.1% $51

Getting Around

Stockton-on-Tees

$83 * 4.9%

Phuket

$39 3.3% 52.4% $43

Sport & Entertainment

Stockton-on-Tees

$34 * 2%

Phuket

$68 5.6% 98.2% $34

Categories marked with * are only partly priced – their share counts the items that do have prices.

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $594 in Stockton-on-Tees and $737 in Phuket. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Stockton-on-Tees pays 303% more on average. The extra income cushions the higher costs, though housing choices and lifestyle decide how much of the gap is truly closed.

Dining out: $69.0 in Stockton-on-Tees vs $32.00 in Phuket. Groceries flip the comparison at $252 vs $269, with Stockton-on-Tees cheaper for home cooking.

Good to know

🇬🇧 Stockton-on-Tees

🇹🇭 Phuket

🕒 Local time

20:04 8:04 PM

02:04 2:04 AM

6 h ahead of Stockton-on-Tees

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

82,729

79,308

💱 Currency

British Pound GBP £

Thai Baht THB ฿

📈 Exchange rate

1 GBP = 1.33 USD

1 GBP = 1.19 EUR

100 THB = 2.99 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 21, 2026: 1 USD = 0.75 GBP (1 GBP = 1.33 USD). 1 EUR = 0.843 GBP (1 GBP = 1.19 EUR).

Thai Baht exchange rates as of October 21, 2026: 1 USD = 33.42 THB (100 THB = 2.99 USD). 1 EUR = 37.57 THB (100 THB = 2.66 EUR).

USD to GBP in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Stockton-on-Tees Phuket 9,910 km ≈ 13 h nonstop flight

From you

Stockton-on-Tees
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

Stockton-on-Tees vs Phuket: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Phuket is cheaper overall, especially in eating out, clothing, and transport. The 40% gap adds up to real monthly savings that compound significantly over time.

Average pay runs 303% higher in Stockton-on-Tees, 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: $594 in Stockton-on-Tees versus $737 in Phuket. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $799 in Stockton-on-Tees versus $556 in Phuket. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Shoppers in Stockton-on-Tees pay roughly 6% less for everyday groceries. It's an unusual reversal that partly offsets higher costs elsewhere.

At $1,208 in Phuket versus $1,692 in Stockton-on-Tees, a $1,500 budget is realistic in Phuket but tight or insufficient in Stockton-on-Tees. The gap between the two cities makes Phuket the clear choice for anyone on this budget.

For families, Phuket is more practical. Housing and childcare are both notably cheaper than in Stockton-on-Tees, and the savings on those two alone free up budget for education, activities, and family trips.

Safety-wise, Stockton-on-Tees and Phuket are on par. Petty crime is typical for cities this size, and most residents feel comfortable going about their daily routines in either place.

Expats usually find Phuket gentler on the wallet – expenses run 40% less than in Stockton-on-Tees. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.