3.79/5
2,621 reviews
Photo by Adli Wahid via Unsplash

Cost of Living in Chiang Mai

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great

season

nomad

air

nomads

cafes

quality

easy

coworking

year

coffee

work

good

spaces

stay

day

burning

food

Chiang Mai stands out as a very affordable destination with a relaxed pace of life that appeals to long-term travelers, remote workers, and retirees. It offers a strong coffee culture with unique and locally-owned cafes, many of which are highly praised by coffee enthusiasts. The city is ideal for lovers of outdoor activities—cycling, trekking, rafting, and motorbiking are common pastimes thanks to the accessible nearby countryside. The community vibe is friendly, and there's a good mix of digital nomads, locals, and spiritual seekers. Day-to-day living is easy, though basic Thai or translation apps help due to limited English fluency.

There are major seasonal downsides to consider. The air quality takes a serious hit during the burning season from February to April, and the heat and humidity can be oppressive especially between May and June. Those planning extended stays often leave Chiang Mai during peak pollution months. Additionally, the city lacks walkability outside of the Old City and requires a scooter or motorbike for convenience. Traffic can be heavy in certain areas.

Overall, Chiang Mai is best for an affordable, laid-back lifestyle surrounded by nature and a welcoming community, provided you're prepared to deal with the hot season and temporarily relocate during high-pollution months.

AI-generated summary of reviews
4 months ago

I liked it , but shouldn't be number 1 here.
Walkable ? Not really. Traffic everywhere.
Food is really good.

Better get out to Pai or Mae Hong Son or Mae SaRiang to rest.

10 months ago

I don't get why anyone comes here. It's a semi-rural town with poor walkability and few sources of shade. There's way better places to go in SEA.

1 year ago

Chiang Mai has had a deep Buddhist influence running over the last 1,000 years and this can be felt in the helpfulness, patience and generosity of the Thai and long-term transplants you come across. The city has an active community scene (nomads, spiritual seekers, hikers, creatives), several mountains with hiking spots and waterfalls surrounding the city, over 20 water bodies inside the city -- many have cafes and walks around, several public parks, and over 13 national parks with campgrounds within a 2hr drive. New cafes / art spaces are opening up every other week. Also, many temples that disseminate Buddhist teachings and run mindfulness retreats near and around the city. The nervous system of Chiang Mai is a relaxing one - the city often feels as an open space without walls.

Burning season ( Feb - Apr) sees an AQI of 200+ and either requires you to stay indoors or travel elsewhere. May/June are on the hotter side, and July - Sep sees an average rainfall of an hour a day. Oct to Jan is a cool season with Dec to early Feb being the blooming season. While each season brings a different flavor with it, Chiang Mai is a paradise throughout excepting the burning season period.

Other notes: English proficiency of the local population is basic. Old city is walking friendly and has many quiet spots, Nimman is the westerner friendly spot and also sees high traffic, Pong Noi is more artsy / hippie.

2 years ago

If you're physically active, CM is paradise 9 months out the year. Like many, I live here, but fly to Phuket from Mid Feb to Mid May to escape the burning season. The rest of the year, the weather is fine: about 1h of strong rain a day from May to September, then September to December is awesome with cold air in the morning and evenings, and just right warm during the day.

In CM, you have unlimited landscape for: Trekking, Mountain Biking, Cycling, Road Trips on scooter or motorcycle (some of the best roads in the world!), white water rafting, and the list goes on. If you love coffee: I met aussies from Melbourne who were amazed by the coffee culture here. Lots of yoga and sports clubs of all levels (including Virgin Active).

CM is down to earth, relaxed pace of life. Most people love CM but can't figure out why: because it's not visual: it's a feeling of stability and peace of mind around this area. It's a university city with 100k+ students. There is no business district of any form of high quality professional services firm (brain drain to Bangkok), so you won't feel the energy of ambition here. That said if you've already made lots of cash and want a place to chill and calm down, reconnect with yourself and discover more of nature, it's the right spot.

True you need a scooter. You can't walk this city, sadly. True the local english level is low, but google translate works very well for me. Feel like you need some proper city vibe and chaos? 1h flight to Bkk for 30$. Need some beach vibes? Flight to Phuket in 1h. The airport is litterally inside the city, it's just so easy to commute domestically.

Again, it's true it's polluted because of the burning, but it's only 3 first month of the year. The rest of the time, it's one of the cleanest air of all southeast asia!

2 years ago

I really liked Chiang Mai but I can't put my finger on why. I'll try to remain unbiased so here goes. Chiang Mai is a dirty place with horrible pollution levels. English speaking is okay. I did really enjoy a balance of simple, risk-free living at low cost and acceptable quality of living. Many places only accept cash but plenty accept card. There's lots to do and it's fun exploring on a moped/motorbike. It feels as easy as Canggu with more modern appointments to get by as a westerner a bit easier.

3 years ago

Best cafes I have seen in my 35 years of traveling. It is not unusual for coffee to be grown, roasted, and poured locally by people who grew up dreaming of nothing other than coffee. The cafes range from mid-century modern dreamscapes to open bamboo spaces. There is something for everyone. Great cycling, too. The big downside is air quality.

3 years ago

I love Chiang Mai for obvious reasons: Cheap, culture, food, and great people. Love it! :) My only con: It's super hot and humid. I can't deal with that amount of humidity personally. Maybe something to look out for people who can't do well with high humidity level. For me: Great for 1-3 months but not the whole year.

3 years ago

Chiang Mai used to be N.1 for the digital nomad life.
It is still great and you can find really cheap apartments (300-400$) and restaurants (2-3$ for a main).
Wouldn't recommend staying there during the burning season.
The best area is Nimman, but it's also the most expensive. You can stay in the old city that's very nice but that gets noisy during the weekend for the night markets.
Last but not least, very safe city.
All in all would go back in a heartbeat.

6 years ago

A solid spot to live and work remotely. Plenty of things to do and relaxed quality of life. Many places to work from. Downsides are the lack of sidewalks makes walking around town uncomfortable. Also the traffic is very bad.

6 years ago

It’s the cheapest digital nomad friendly spot in the world, that is also nice and convenient. Although the earlier reviews do point out the issue of air quality and transportation. the local food is great plus there’s a variety of world class restaurants, there’s nature and lots of places to see that aren’t tourist spots, loads of coworking spots and cafes, .. but it’s also just boring enough to be a good spot to settle down and focus on work.. plus month to month rentals are super common here, can show up at many places and rent a room for a month

6 years ago

I have to agree with previous review from 6 days ago. Its definitely not like before- the vibe has definitely changed. I have lived here on/off for the past 2 years on METV visa, 60 Day visa, and now its not worth staying and dealing with the hassels. Infrastructure is terrible with dirty roads, definitely not a walkable city which is a shame since the Nimman area could have been a walking street, but cars and scooters dominate this city. Just try to cross and walk the streets and you will see what i mean- no mercy! I no longer feel CM is a good digital nomad city, its gotten way too inconvenient with visa's, dirty polluted air, smokey season as of Jan, just not a nomad paradise. If you're traveling alone single ladies- dating pool is terrible- Vietnam could be the better choice or Eastern Europe as a base. Good Luck.

6 years ago

Chiang Mai has THE WORST AIR QUALITY of any city in the world for >= ~2 months every year (Google "burning season"). So impossible to ever live here permanently, even if you like the place. Also, Thailand is now cracking down on people using back-to-back visas or visa free entries to stay as well (just Google for it on the forums). It was getting harder and harder to stay (before I left) and the vibe wasn't as good as it used to be. Most people have moved onto Vietnam, which is much easier to stay in, much more up-and-coming, and where the authorities are much friendlier towards digital nomads.

6 years ago

I have been told it's the vanilla of digital nomads : easy, cheap, risk free. I loved it so much I want to move there ! Great food, great places to see and awesomely polite and nice people.

6 years ago

Can't recommend it enough. Been a nomad now for 2 years and this ticks a lot of boxes. Great quality people you meet here compared to the rest of Thailand.

6 years ago

Great place. You can avoid the dropshipper, FBA and MLM webinar course people who have infested the coworkings here for years, by, well, just not visiting the coworking spaces here.

7 years ago

Great place. Very easy to live here.

Every self confessed "Digital Nomad" in Chiang Mai is borderline psychotic/delusional. Luckily, they're easy to avoid. Stick with the expats, locals, and tourists and you'll meet some great people.

My second digital nomad pick after Saigon.

7 years ago

I really can't see what's cool here. The air is highly toxic, the old city is charming but outside of it there is so much traffic it's so noisy and you can never cross the streets. If you don't have a sccoter it's super annoying to go from a point to another quickly. No real transports. The coworking places or made of unfriendly western people.

7 years ago

Why Chiang Mai? Because it's the easiest place to live of anywhere IMO. You can afford everything, you can do everything, you can access everything, and everything is available. It's very very low stress place compared to everywhere else, which is one of:

- expensive (north america)
- cold (europe)
- terrible food (most places)
- terrible airbnb/apartments (most places)
- no modern amenities available like apple store, mall, normal shops (bali)
- awful local transport (bali)
- not easy to get around with just english (europe)

Chiang mai is just the "everything is easy" nomad capital which means I can focus on work and not be stressed out about everything

actually my only complaints about Chiang Mai are:

1. bit boring, not THAT much to do

2. hard to find normal humans to hang out with who aren't delusional dropship scammers trying to escape real life

7 years ago

Spent a little over 2 months in CM. Loved it.
A little bit annoyed with the hippy western backpackers who suddenly becomes more Thai than the Thai's themselves with their ridiculous elephant pants, but you can easily look past that.
Still way too many dodgy dropshippers and FBA bros hanging out at the coworking spaces, but with the abundance of hipster cafe's serving great coffee for 80 baht you don't even need to go to a coworking space to get stuff done.
Regardless, I'm definitely going back. It's a fantastic place to be productive, meet cool people and enjoy Khao Soi.

7 years ago

Chiang Mai is a gas chamber. The smokey season starts beginning of January and goes on till end of May. But apart of that: the air is bad year around. The city has grown too fast. Pity because Chiang Mai is a fantastic place!

7 years ago

I just got back here in late 2018 and it's better than ever. People who say "Chiang Mai is overrun by nomads" are really mistaken. I hardly saw them. I did see lots of Chinese and some Korean tourists, but they were all quite nice and mostly around Nimman. There's also the few American vegan midlifer's in the Old City center, but that's about it. Chiang Mai is cool and breezy, there's now public bicycles literally everywhere that you can rent for 250 THB or $6 (per month!) with the MoBike app. The red buses (or Songthaew's) are now legit and don't rip tourists off anymore, so you can drive everywhere for 30 THB or $1. People are nice. It's still super safe, even late a night. The food is better than ever. And thanks to the nomad wave of 2014 in Chiang Mai, there's now lots of hip cafes that allow coworking too. It's a great city.

7 years ago

It's no surprise that Chiang Mai is currently the top city for digital nomads to live and work in. It has the far lowest cost of living in comparison to other cities, including low rent for decent apartments. With a variety of great co-working spaces on the rise, not to mention the number of coffee shops with decent Wi-Fi, you'll be spoilt for choice.

7 years ago

The city where digital nomadism essentially started. There's no other place where you can walk out of the airplane, get a cheap place to rent, find a boutique cafe to work, and then meet locals and nomads in the same day. Some people say it's overrun by nomads, which is fair. But it still remains one of the best places to start out.

7 years ago

✅ Very affordable

✅ Great coffee culture

✅ Excellent outdoor activities

✅ Relaxed pace of life

✅ Friendly and welcoming people

✅ Affordable to live

✅ Very safe

✅ Fast internet

✅ Warm now

✅ Warm all year round

✅ Good air quality on average

✅ Nomads.com members liked going here

✅ Many Nomads.com members here all year round

✅ Spacious and not crowded

✅ Easy to make friends

✅ Very easy to do business

✅ Great hospitals

✅ Very safe for women

✅ Family friendly

✅ Very friendly to LGBTQ+

✅ Not many people smoke tobacco

✅ (Medical) marijuana MAY be legal, unenforced or decriminalized (always double check this)

❌ Poor air quality during burning season

❌ Very hot and humid

❌ Not walkable

❌ Freedom of speech is weak

❌ Not very democratic

❌ Not much to do

❌ Very sweaty and humid now

❌ Quality of education is low

❌ Roads are very dangerous

❌ People don't speak English well

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Feels (median)

30°C / 86°F warm

31°C / 88°F hot

34°C / 93°F hot

38°C / 100°F hot

40°C / 104°F hot

42°C / 108°F scorching

36°C / 97°F hot

38°C / 100°F hot

37°C / 99°F hot

35°C / 95°F hot

34°C / 93°F hot

28°C / 82°F warm

Real (median)

28°C / 82°F
very warm

30°C / 85°F
very warm

33°C / 91°F
hot

32°C / 90°F
hot

32°C / 89°F
hot

30°C / 85°F
very warm

30°C / 86°F
very warm

30°C / 85°F
very warm

29°C / 84°F
very warm

26°C / 79°F
warm

Humidity

nice
68%

nice
56%

nice
42%

nice
61%

nice
69%

sweaty
78%

sweaty
83%

sweaty
82%

sweaty
84%

sweaty
85%

sweaty
80%

nice
73%

Most common

☀️ Clear

☔️ Rain

☀️ Clear

☔️ Rain

☀️ Clear

Rain

dry
7mm

dry
2mm

dry
12mm

dry
14mm

rainy
124mm

rainy
140mm

rainy
184mm

rainy
261mm

rainy
236mm

rainy
122mm

dry
13mm

dry
7mm

Cloud

pockets
19%

pockets
17%

pockets
20%

pockets
37%

pockets
40%

pockets
50%

cloudy
52%

cloudy
53%

cloudy
51%

pockets
47%

pockets
33%

pockets
22%

Air quality

bad
139 US AQI

bad
126 US AQI

bad
154 US AQI

bad
121 US AQI

clean
37 US AQI

clean
32 US AQI

clean
35 US AQI

okay
58 US AQI

okay
86 US AQI

okay
84 US AQI

bad
102 US AQI

Sun

avoid sun
7 UVI

avoid sun
9 UVI

avoid sun
11 UVI

avoid sun
9 UVI

avoid sun
7 UVI

avoid sun
6 UVI

avoid sun
7 UVI

Remote workers

6,922 people

3,918 people

3,288 people

3,200 people

3,631 people

2,553 people

3,369 people

2,888 people

3,447 people

5,622 people

6,030 people

6,088 people

Green is good. Red is bad. Values shown are the medians of all daily highs in a month based on past few years, not necessarily current numbers. Remote worker count is estimated based on the total amount of trips logged by Nomads.com members.

If you'd like to filter destinations based on their climate, try Nomads.com's Climate Finder

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✈️51min

$1,213 / mo

8 Mbps

Thailand

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌧 Feels 38° 100° 30° 85° 🥵 AQI 54 😷

✈️47min

$1,578 / mo

🌇 Also went here1,771 people

Hanoi

Vietnam

Indonesia

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌦 Feels 12° 54° 13° 56° AQI 35

✈️12h

$5,397 / mo

🌇 Also went here621 people

Paris

France

Members who will be here soon

Members who have been here

Values shown are estimated visits by traveling remote workers based on the total amount of trips logged by Nomads.com members. Visits to a place are only counted once per year per user, even if they visit more in that year. Visits are also normalized by overall trips added per month on the site, so if site usage goes up or down it does not affect trends. Not all digital nomads are on Nomads.com, and not all Nomads.com members log their trips. So the data is only indicative.

The chart below shows visitors by nationality normalized for population size. This means we take all trips logged on Nomads.com, check which country of origin the user is from, then divide that total visit count by the country of origin's population. If we didn't, it'd just show the big countries like US, Brazil and India always on top. Instead, this shows which nationalities worldwide proportionally visit more or less, which is more useful.

⭐️ Total score	3.79/5 (Rank #2) 2621 reviews
❤️ Liked by members	👍28 liked it 👎3 disliked it
👍 Quality of life score	Okay
👶 Family score	Okay
🎒 Community score	Good
💵 Cost	😙 Affordable: $1,276 / mo
📡 Internet	😡 Slow: 19 Mbps (avg)
😝 Fun	Okay
⛅️ Temperature (now)	🥵 Hot: 28°C82°F (feels 32°C90°F)
💦 Humidity (now)	🥵 Sweaty: 82%
❄️ % of buildings with AC	😊 High: 68%
💨 Air quality (now)	😐 Moderate: 51 US AQI
💨 Air quality (annual)	🌱 Good: 58 US AQI
👌 Safety	Good
👩 Safe for women	Good
🌈 Safe for LGBTQ+	Great
🤮 Food safety*	Bad
👮‍♀️ Lack of crime*	Good
🤝 Lack of racism*	Bad
🎓 Education level*	Mediocre
⚡️ Power grid	Great
🌊 Vulnerability to climate change	Okay
💰 Income level*	Very low: $493 / mo
🙊 English speaking*	Bad
😤 People density	🧘‍♀️ Low density: 3k ppl/km² (1 per 17x17m)
🚶 Walkability	Great
🚦 Traffic safety*	Bad
✈️ Airline scores*	Good
🧳 Lost luggage*	Great
🏥 Hospitals	Great
😄 Happiness*	Good
🍸 Nightlife	Bad
📶 Free WiFi in city	Okay
🖥 Places to work from	Great
❄️ A/C or heating	Okay
😁 Friendly to foreigners	Okay
🗯 Freedom of speech*	Okay
🎅 Startup Score	Bad

🌍 Continent	Asia
🚩 Country	Thailand
🗓️ Average trip length	26 days
📡 Internet speed (avg)	19 Mbps
⛅️ Weather (now)	🌧 28°C 82°F + 🥵 Sweaty (82%) = feels 32°C 90°F
💨 Air quality (now)	👍 51 US AQI 🍃 OK
💨 Air quality (annual avg)	👎😷 58 US AQI
🔌 Power	230V 50Hz
🧔 Best neighborhood to stay	Nimman
🚀 Upcoming neighborhood	Flower Market
🚕 Best taxi app*	Grab
🚑 Travel medical insurance	Safetywing
💸 100 THB in USD	USD 3.08
🏧 Suggested ATM take out:	THB 10,000 = USD 308
💸 Tipping	Yes, 5%
💳 Cashless	💳 Yes, cards OK almost everywhere
💻 Best coworking space	Punspace
💻 Best alt. coworking space	The Brick
☕️ Best coffee place	Ristr8to
☕️ Best alt. coffee place	Coffee Monster
🏪 Best 24/7 coffee place	CAMP at Maya Mall
🚰 Tap water	🚫 No, not drinkable
♻️ Return rate	👍15% of visitors return
📸 Visitors per year	2,944,600 visitors
📸 Tourists now	56,433 tourists
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Population	400,000 people
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 GDP per capita*	$5,911 / year
😤 Population density	🧘‍♀️ not busy: 17x17m (289m²) per person
👫 Gender ratio (population)	👨 47% 👱‍♀️ 53%
👫 Gender ratio (young adults)	👨 52% 👱‍♀️ 48%
👫 Gender ratio (nomads)	👨 81% 👱‍♀️ 19%
⛪️ Religious government	Non-religious
💻 Online electronics shop	Lazada
✈️ Best short-haul air carrier	Air Asia
✈️ Best int'l air carrier	Air Asia

💵 Cost of living for nomad	$1,276 / month
💵 Cost of living for expat	$781 / month
💵 Cost of living for family	$1,666 / month
💵 Cost of living for local	$476 / month
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$881 / month
🏡 Airbnb (median price)	$1,294 / month
🏠 1br studio rent in center	$343 / month
🏠 Median home price	$108,329
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$41 / night
🏠 Airbnb (median price)	$42 / night
🏢 Coworking hot desk	$192 / month
🍛 Dinner	$2
🥤 Coca-Cola (0.3L)	$1
🍺 Beer in cafe (0.5L)	$2
☕️ Coffee in cafe	$2
👩‍🏫 International school	$8,637 / year
📱 Mobile data (~10GB)	$4 / month
🚕 Taxi price (avg trip ~3km/2mi)	$5 / trip