One month, in local salaries

The same monthly basket divided by the average local net salary in that city. Phuket costs 1.73 local salaries; Chiang Rai costs 0.66.

Dumbbell chart of monthly cost against local net salary for six Thai cities, with a strip showing all cities on the same ratio

Green is the average local net wage, red the basket. The number is the basket divided by the wage.

Download the chart (PNG) Download all 290 cities (CSV)

What the chart says

In 4 of 6 Thai cities the basket costs more than the average local net wage. 110 of all 290 cities carried are in the same position, so this is normal, not Thai.
Chiang Rai is the exception at 0.66. Same country, Phuket at 1.73 — the ratio tracks which city sells to visitors, not which is nicer.

All 290

Every city carrying both a cost and a local salary, cheapest relative to the wage first.

#	City	Market	Cost / mo	Local net salary / mo	Cost ÷ salary
1	Hyderabad	India	$311	$1,271	0.24×
2	Hsinchu City	Taiwan	$718	$2,446	0.29×
3	Pune	India	$370	$1,100	0.34×
4	Chennai	India	$267	$762	0.35×
5	Qingdao	China	$452	$1,199	0.38×
6	Chongqing	China	$425	$1,114	0.38×
7	Busan	South Korea	$982	$2,572	0.38×
8	Seoul	South Korea	$1,215	$3,180	0.38×
9	Incheon	South Korea	$870	$2,225	0.39×
10	Suwon	South Korea	$885	$2,255	0.39×
11	Chengdu	China	$501	$1,264	0.40×
12	Xi'an	China	$426	$1,067	0.40×
13	Brest	Belarus	$1,099	$2,653	0.41×
14	Shenzhen	China	$723	$1,721	0.42×
15	Gaziantep	Turkey	$487	$1,135	0.43×
16	Daegu	South Korea	$973	$2,225	0.44×
17	Wuhan	China	$487	$1,106	0.44×
18	Xiamen	China	$502	$1,132	0.44×
19	Nuremberg	Germany	$1,653	$3,711	0.45×
20	Hangzhou	China	$646	$1,449	0.45×
21	Guangzhou	China	$572	$1,281	0.45×
22	Kuala Lumpur	Malaysia	$698	$1,542	0.45×
23	Austin	United States of America	$2,302	$5,050	0.46×
24	Stuttgart	Germany	$1,906	$4,114	0.46×
25	East London	South Africa	$762	$1,640	0.46×
26	Kaohsiung City	Taiwan	$696	$1,478	0.47×
27	Taoyuan City	Taiwan	$728	$1,504	0.48×
28	Dresden	Germany	$1,541	$3,155	0.49×
29	Seattle	United States of America	$3,250	$6,597	0.49×
30	Al Ain	United Arab Emirates	$1,398	$2,836	0.49×
31	Zhuhai	China	$520	$1,052	0.49×
32	Taichung City	Taiwan	$689	$1,389	0.50×
33	Tainan City	Taiwan	$681	$1,345	0.51×
34	Duesseldorf	Germany	$1,944	$3,758	0.52×
35	Shanghai	China	$892	$1,711	0.52×
36	Atlanta	United States of America	$2,713	$5,195	0.52×
37	Dallas	United States of America	$2,526	$4,791	0.53×
38	Osaka	Japan	$995	$1,883	0.53×
39	San Francisco	United States of America	$4,016	$7,600	0.53×
40	Quebec City	Canada	$1,518	$2,869	0.53×
41	Nashville	United States of America	$2,409	$4,518	0.53×
42	Kochi	India	$248	$464	0.53×
43	Frankfurt am Main	Germany	$2,207	$4,098	0.54×
44	Leipzig	Germany	$1,579	$2,928	0.54×
45	Chicago	United States of America	$2,701	$4,984	0.54×
46	Ipoh	Malaysia	$517	$952	0.54×
47	Hamburg	Germany	$1,973	$3,558	0.55×
48	Omaha	United States of America	$2,164	$3,902	0.55×
49	Cologne	Germany	$1,889	$3,389	0.56×
50	Minneapolis	United States of America	$2,319	$4,153	0.56×
51	Sapporo	Japan	$968	$1,724	0.56×
52	Edmonton	Canada	$1,882	$3,350	0.56×
53	Birmingham	United Kingdom	$2,216	$3,930	0.56×
54	Tokyo	Japan	$1,306	$2,308	0.57×
55	Beijing	China	$891	$1,568	0.57×
56	Phoenix	United States of America	$2,526	$4,440	0.57×
57	George Town	Malaysia	$614	$1,074	0.57×
58	Tampa	United States of America	$2,674	$4,668	0.57×
59	Taipei City	Taiwan	$977	$1,704	0.57×
60	Fukuoka	Japan	$883	$1,535	0.58×
61	Ottawa	Canada	$2,102	$3,626	0.58×
62	Kisumu	Kenya	$455	$775	0.59×
63	Munich	Germany	$2,442	$4,110	0.59×
64	Montreal	Canada	$1,756	$2,938	0.60×
65	Liverpool	United Kingdom	$1,977	$3,271	0.60×
66	Denver	United States of America	$2,713	$4,487	0.60×
67	New Orleans	United States of America	$2,455	$4,025	0.61×
68	Portland	United States of America	$2,887	$4,682	0.62×
69	Glasgow	United Kingdom	$2,122	$3,433	0.62×
70	Leeds	United Kingdom	$1,983	$3,180	0.62×
71	Bloemfontein	South Africa	$813	$1,300	0.63×
72	Johor Bahru	Malaysia	$678	$1,070	0.63×
73	Belfast	United Kingdom	$1,945	$3,067	0.63×
74	Delhi	India	$347	$546	0.64×
75	Boston	United States of America	$3,935	$6,184	0.64×
76	Kolkata	India	$250	$389	0.64×
77	Cardiff	United Kingdom	$2,124	$3,261	0.65×
78	Berlin	Germany	$2,190	$3,331	0.66×
79	Chiang Rai	Thailand	$393	$595	0.66×
80	George	South Africa	$893	$1,340	0.67×
81	Johannesburg	South Africa	$1,130	$1,694	0.67×
82	Sharjah	United Arab Emirates	$1,472	$2,205	0.67×
83	Abu Dhabi	United Arab Emirates	$1,957	$2,930	0.67×
84	Dubai	United Arab Emirates	$2,303	$3,441	0.67×
85	Calgary	Canada	$2,006	$2,991	0.67×
86	Toronto	Canada	$2,327	$3,429	0.68×
87	Bristol	United Kingdom	$2,592	$3,794	0.68×
88	Edinburgh	United Kingdom	$2,432	$3,542	0.69×
89	Sanya	China	$609	$887	0.69×
90	Ostrava	Czechia	$1,194	$1,731	0.69×
91	Szeged	Hungary	$925	$1,313	0.70×
92	Manchester	United Kingdom	$2,293	$3,239	0.71×
93	Durban	South Africa	$856	$1,206	0.71×
94	Mogilev	Belarus	$565	$796	0.71×
95	Winnipeg	Canada	$1,771	$2,486	0.71×
96	Bursa	Turkey	$714	$998	0.72×
97	Victoria	Canada	$2,209	$3,082	0.72×
98	Plzen	Czechia	$1,384	$1,928	0.72×
99	Seville	Spain	$1,289	$1,790	0.72×
100	Jaipur	India	$269	$371	0.73×
101	Granada	Nicaragua	$1,374	$1,886	0.73×
102	San Diego	United States of America	$3,878	$5,316	0.73×
103	Vancouver	Canada	$2,446	$3,343	0.73×
104	Gyor	Hungary	$1,028	$1,401	0.73×
105	Łódź	Poland	$1,230	$1,667	0.74×
106	Pretoria	South Africa	$1,075	$1,451	0.74×
107	Poznań	Poland	$1,321	$1,771	0.75×
108	Adana	Turkey	$592	$792	0.75×
109	Arequipa	Peru	$490	$655	0.75×
110	Timisoara	Romania	$918	$1,222	0.75×
111	Prague	Czechia	$1,767	$2,343	0.75×
112	Sofia	Bulgaria	$1,301	$1,707	0.76×
113	Ruse	Bulgaria	$761	$998	0.76×
114	Mumbai	India	$593	$776	0.76×
115	Sibiu	Romania	$886	$1,157	0.77×
116	Liberec	Czechia	$1,202	$1,570	0.77×
117	New York City	United States of America	$4,213	$5,486	0.77×
118	Miami	United States of America	$3,413	$4,432	0.77×
119	Budapest	Hungary	$1,345	$1,743	0.77×
120	Bucharest	Romania	$1,108	$1,427	0.78×
121	Izmir	Turkey	$883	$1,136	0.78×
122	Bilbao	Spain	$1,830	$2,351	0.78×
123	Viña del Mar	Chile	$850	$1,091	0.78×
124	Halifax	Canada	$2,158	$2,762	0.78×
125	Alicante	Spain	$1,530	$1,945	0.79×
126	Plovdiv	Bulgaria	$901	$1,142	0.79×
127	Wrocław	Poland	$1,455	$1,835	0.79×
128	Cape Town	South Africa	$1,265	$1,591	0.79×
129	Warsaw	Poland	$1,749	$2,194	0.80×
130	Madrid	Spain	$1,993	$2,489	0.80×
131	Olomouc	Czechia	$1,253	$1,564	0.80×
132	Cascais	Portugal	$1,844	$2,296	0.80×
133	Kraków	Poland	$1,542	$1,919	0.80×
134	Brno	Czechia	$1,530	$1,904	0.80×
135	Gdańsk	Poland	$1,540	$1,914	0.80×
136	Los Angeles	United States of America	$3,629	$4,480	0.81×
137	Grodno	Belarus	$623	$767	0.81×
138	Rabat	Morocco	$599	$733	0.82×
139	Meknes	Morocco	$408	$490	0.83×
140	Niš	Serbia	$745	$892	0.84×
141	Fez	Morocco	$425	$507	0.84×
142	Oradea	Romania	$794	$938	0.85×
143	Ankara	Turkey	$970	$1,132	0.86×
144	Iasi	Romania	$1,004	$1,167	0.86×
145	Loja	Ecuador	$423	$491	0.86×
146	Machala	Ecuador	$388	$450	0.86×
147	Barcelona	Spain	$2,036	$2,361	0.86×
148	Malaga	Spain	$1,680	$1,943	0.86×
149	London	United Kingdom	$3,799	$4,391	0.87×
150	Minsk	Belarus	$814	$939	0.87×
151	Riga	Latvia	$1,335	$1,521	0.88×
152	Ajman	United Arab Emirates	$1,980	$2,246	0.88×
153	Iquique	Chile	$860	$971	0.89×
154	Cluj-Napoca	Romania	$1,193	$1,348	0.89×
155	Hai Phong	Vietnam	$438	$494	0.89×
156	Debrecen	Hungary	$1,128	$1,273	0.89×
157	Agadir	Morocco	$484	$545	0.89×
158	Barysaw	Belarus	$1,732	$1,950	0.89×
159	Varna	Bulgaria	$1,075	$1,208	0.89×
160	Kota Kinabalu	Malaysia	$523	$584	0.90×
161	Valencia	Spain	$1,778	$1,959	0.91×
162	Liepaja	Latvia	$1,016	$1,117	0.91×
163	Bratislava	Slovakia	$1,575	$1,712	0.92×
164	Istanbul	Turkey	$1,142	$1,240	0.92×
165	Antalya	Turkey	$878	$952	0.92×
166	Kragujevac	Serbia	$888	$961	0.92×
167	Coimbra	Portugal	$1,263	$1,356	0.93×
168	Riobamba	Ecuador	$311	$334	0.93×
169	Subotica	Serbia	$854	$906	0.94×
170	Palma de Mallorca	Spain	$1,953	$2,069	0.94×
171	Rosario	Argentina	$664	$700	0.95×
172	Dhaka	Bangladesh	$263	$276	0.95×
173	Chiang Mai	Thailand	$565	$589	0.96×
174	Tashkent	Uzbekistan	$693	$721	0.96×
175	Salta	Argentina	$823	$850	0.97×
176	Burgas	Bulgaria	$989	$1,016	0.97×
177	Brasov	Romania	$1,096	$1,120	0.98×
178	Košice	Slovakia	$1,492	$1,510	0.99×
179	Pecs	Hungary	$1,086	$1,097	0.99×
180	Florianópolis	Brazil	$931	$931	1.00×
181	Gomel	Belarus	$520	$517	1.01×
182	Liberia	Costa Rica	$886	$879	1.01×
183	Heredia	Costa Rica	$1,370	$1,354	1.01×
184	Marbella	Spain	$2,143	$2,116	1.01×
185	Antofagasta	Chile	$731	$722	1.01×
186	Santa Ana	El Salvador	$3,169	$3,116	1.02×
187	Porto	Portugal	$1,640	$1,607	1.02×
188	Hanoi	Vietnam	$528	$512	1.03×
189	Novi Sad	Serbia	$1,100	$1,064	1.03×
190	Braga	Portugal	$1,319	$1,275	1.03×
191	São Paulo	Brazil	$891	$855	1.04×
192	Cusco	Peru	$456	$431	1.06×
193	Quito	Ecuador	$640	$603	1.06×
194	Jakarta	Indonesia	$464	$429	1.08×
195	Ho Chi Minh City	Vietnam	$532	$489	1.09×
196	La Serena	Chile	$796	$729	1.09×
197	Manta	Ecuador	$534	$481	1.11×
198	Lima	Peru	$705	$634	1.11×
199	Constanta	Romania	$1,099	$986	1.11×
200	Bangkok	Thailand	$690	$617	1.12×
201	Asunción	Paraguay	$741	$659	1.12×
202	Montevideo	Uruguay	$1,436	$1,275	1.13×
203	Faro	Portugal	$1,535	$1,356	1.13×
204	La Plata	Argentina	$760	$665	1.14×
205	Casablanca	Morocco	$702	$600	1.17×
206	Da Lat	Vietnam	$495	$422	1.17×
207	Valparaíso	Chile	$915	$771	1.19×
208	Monterrey	Mexico	$1,334	$1,120	1.19×
209	Mexico City	Mexico	$1,250	$1,048	1.19×
210	Marrakech	Morocco	$616	$513	1.20×
211	Guatemala City	Guatemala	$1,024	$852	1.20×
212	Tabriz	Iran	$283	$233	1.22×
213	Cuenca	Ecuador	$671	$546	1.23×
214	Mendoza	Argentina	$907	$733	1.24×
215	Almaty	Kazakhstan	$990	$799	1.24×
216	Cali	Colombia	$708	$571	1.24×
217	Santiago	Chile	$974	$782	1.24×
218	Bandung	Indonesia	$356	$283	1.26×
219	Santiago de los Caballeros	Dominican Republic	$723	$566	1.28×
220	Bogota	Colombia	$960	$741	1.30×
221	Jurmala	Latvia	$1,477	$1,139	1.30×
222	Fortaleza	Brazil	$629	$474	1.33×
223	Denpasar	Indonesia	$371	$279	1.33×
224	Nairobi	Kenya	$578	$433	1.34×
225	Tangier	Morocco	$690	$515	1.34×
226	Bariloche	Argentina	$1,294	$958	1.35×
227	Guayaquil	Ecuador	$800	$590	1.36×
228	Guadalajara	Mexico	$1,065	$785	1.36×
229	Punta del Este	Uruguay	$1,534	$1,131	1.36×
230	Manado	Indonesia	$290	$213	1.36×
231	Mombasa	Kenya	$435	$319	1.36×
232	Bucaramanga	Colombia	$783	$570	1.37×
233	Santo Domingo	Ecuador	$857	$614	1.39×
234	Santo Domingo	Dominican Republic	$858	$615	1.40×
235	Surabaya	Indonesia	$383	$272	1.41×
236	San Jose	Costa Rica	$1,476	$1,046	1.41×
237	Bishkek	Kyrgyzstan	$695	$490	1.42×
238	Boquete	Panama	$1,143	$800	1.43×
239	Playa del Carmen	Mexico	$948	$662	1.43×
240	Funchal	Portugal	$1,923	$1,337	1.44×
241	Hua Hin	Thailand	$671	$464	1.45×
242	Metro Manila	Philippines	$689	$469	1.47×
243	Mar del Plata	Argentina	$900	$611	1.47×
244	Concepción	Chile	$837	$566	1.48×
245	Panaji	India	$282	$188	1.50×
246	Córdoba	Argentina	$1,001	$667	1.50×
247	Pattaya	Thailand	$694	$461	1.50×
248	Pereira	Colombia	$859	$570	1.51×
249	Temuco	Chile	$827	$546	1.52×
250	Puerto Vallarta	Mexico	$1,395	$919	1.52×
251	Barranquilla	Colombia	$852	$561	1.52×
252	San Pedro Sula	Honduras	$936	$602	1.55×
253	Recife	Brazil	$659	$420	1.57×
254	Buenos Aires	Argentina	$1,325	$842	1.57×
255	Rio de Janeiro	Brazil	$942	$596	1.58×
256	Tegucigalpa	Honduras	$976	$616	1.59×
257	Panama City	Panama	$1,507	$931	1.62×
258	Yangon	Myanmar	$454	$279	1.63×
259	Da Nang	Vietnam	$583	$352	1.66×
260	Tripoli	Lebanon	$413	$244	1.69×
261	Yogyakarta	Indonesia	$366	$214	1.71×
262	Shiraz	Iran	$401	$233	1.72×
263	Phuket	Thailand	$856	$496	1.73×
264	Beirut	Lebanon	$1,221	$704	1.73×
265	León	Nicaragua	$974	$559	1.74×
266	Nha Trang	Vietnam	$511	$291	1.75×
267	Santa Marta	Colombia	$928	$527	1.76×
268	Tamarindo	Costa Rica	$1,675	$938	1.79×
269	Merida	Mexico	$1,094	$612	1.79×
270	Salvador	Brazil	$708	$385	1.84×
271	Medellin	Colombia	$1,178	$619	1.90×
272	Managua	Nicaragua	$676	$353	1.92×
273	Can Tho	Vietnam	$307	$160	1.92×
274	Angeles City	Philippines	$578	$299	1.93×
275	Tehran	Iran	$428	$221	1.94×
276	Cebu City	Philippines	$682	$347	1.97×
277	Antigua Guatemala	Guatemala	$1,095	$546	2.00×
278	Portoviejo	Ecuador	$660	$325	2.03×
279	Essaouira	Morocco	$553	$267	2.07×
280	Siem Reap	Cambodia	$525	$236	2.22×
281	Phnom Penh	Cambodia	$742	$324	2.29×
282	Battambang	Cambodia	$460	$200	2.30×
283	Iloilo City	Philippines	$495	$206	2.40×
284	Cartagena	Colombia	$1,110	$462	2.40×
285	Davao City	Philippines	$550	$217	2.54×
286	Vientiane	Laos	$727	$265	2.75×
287	Baguio City	Philippines	$558	$185	3.01×
288	San Salvador	El Salvador	$1,303	$380	3.43×
289	Abuja	Nigeria	$870	$167	5.21×
290	Lagos	Nigeria	$797	$118	6.75×

Salary is an average, not a median: a few high earners lift it, so the ratio understates the gap for a typical worker.

Where this is wrong

Two populations in one number. The wage is what locals earn; the basket is what the basket costs. Nobody is claimed to be living on either.
Average, not median. Numbeo publishes a mean net salary, which sits above what most people earn.
Crowd-sourced both sides. Same Numbeo caveat as the cost chart, applied twice.

Sources

Numbeo cost-of-living prices and net salary

Salary is a column on the research desk, next to cost and the ratio.

More charts

Compare cost against local wages →

Both columns, every city, sortable.

The per-market deep-dives — 13 tabs of cost, visa, tax, safety and sub-national ratio for one country — are behind the Pro gate. Everything on this page is not.