Cost of living comparison

Wellington, New Zealand

compared to

Chiang Mai, Thailand

Chiang Mai vs. Wellington Cost of Living Summary

Chiang Mai is 47.5% cheaper than Wellington.

Restaurants: pay 66.5% less in Chiang Mai
Groceries: pay 35.9% less in Chiang Mai
Transportation: pay 46.6% less in Chiang Mai
Housing: pay 71.6% less in Chiang Mai
Childcare: pay 21.2% less in Chiang Mai
Entertainment and Sports: pay 52.6% less in Chiang Mai
Clothing: pay 38.4% less in Chiang Mai

Expenses including housing, restaurants, entertainment and sports, transportation, clothing, and groceries are lower in Chiang Mai.

Chiang Mai vs. Wellington Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Chiang Mai instead of Wellington, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 66.5% less for restaurants

	Wellington	Chiang Mai
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$14.93 NZ$25.04	$1.75 THB57.18	-88.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.96 NZ$15.02	$7.28 THB238.25	-18.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.57 NZ$4.32	$0.65 THB21.36	-74.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.15 NZ$3.61	$0.33 THB10.85	-84.6%
Average			-66.5%

Wellington vs. Chiang Mai - Cost of restaurants

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pay 35.9% less for groceries

	Wellington	Chiang Mai
Bread 1 loaf	$1.96 NZ$3.29	$1.47 THB47.97	-25.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.15 NZ$6.96	$7.16 THB234.20	+72.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.98 NZ$11.71	$5.98 THB195.75	-14.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$6.84 NZ$11.47	$2.02 THB66.06	-70.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$5.06 NZ$8.48	$1.25 THB40.87	-75.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.40 NZ$2.34	$1.19 THB38.80	-15.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.09 NZ$1.83	$0.52 THB16.90	-52.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.48 NZ$2.48	$0.57 THB18.64	-61.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.61 NZ$4.38	$0.68 THB22.33	-73.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.01 NZ$1.70	$0.60 THB19.72	-40.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.84 NZ$1.41	$0.51 THB16.75	-38.9%
Average			-35.9%

Wellington vs. Chiang Mai - Cost of groceries

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pay 46.6% less for transportation

	Wellington	Chiang Mai
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.42 NZ$10.76	$4.46 THB146.02	-30.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$127.57 NZ$213.93	$23.30 THB762.39	-81.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$34,339.84 NZ$57,588.22	$21,118.56 THB690,914.21	-38.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$18.22 NZ$30.55	$11.72 THB383.58	-35.6%
Average			-46.6%

Wellington vs. Chiang Mai - Cost of transportation

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pay 71.6% less for housing

	Wellington	Chiang Mai
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$54.27 NZ$91.01	$18.20 THB595.38	-66.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,487.35 NZ$2,494.29	$388.93 THB12,724.35	-73.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,335.17 NZ$2,239.10	$233.89 THB7,651.91	-82.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$134.11 NZ$224.90	$49.06 THB1,605.13	-63.4%
Average			-71.6%

Wellington vs. Chiang Mai - Cost of housing

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pay 21.2% less for childcare

	Wellington	Chiang Mai
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$871.44 NZ$1,461.41	$461.21 THB15,088.93	-47.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$12,649.75 NZ$21,213.75	$13,232.91 THB432,927.52	+4.6%
Average			-21.2%

Wellington vs. Chiang Mai - Cost of childcare

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pay 52.6% less for entertainment and sports

	Wellington	Chiang Mai
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$7.17 NZ$12.02	$2.26 THB73.86	-68.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.41 NZ$5.72	$1.79 THB58.43	-47.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$24.46 NZ$41.01	$4.37 THB142.95	-82.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$39.85 NZ$66.83	$34.96 THB1,143.82	-12.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$12.24 NZ$20.53	$5.83 THB190.60	-52.4%
Average			-52.6%

Wellington vs. Chiang Mai - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 38.4% less for clothing

	Wellington	Chiang Mai
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$75.78 NZ$127.08	$55.83 THB1,826.55	-26.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$55.09 NZ$92.39	$30.29 THB991.10	-45.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$119.44 NZ$200.31	$81.56 THB2,668.36	-31.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$129.60 NZ$217.33	$64.08 THB2,096.57	-50.6%
Average			-38.4%

Wellington vs. Chiang Mai - Cost of clothing

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The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: June 2025

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