Cost of Living in Tainan, 🇹🇼 Taiwan - For Locals, Nomads, and Tourists

Researched Updated Oct 25, 2026 Last changed Oct 31, 2026 About costs

Cost breakdown

Digital nomad: short-term stay (1-3 months). Furnished Airbnb or coliving near center, coworking, eating out ~3x/day, travel health insurance.

Expat: long-term resident (1+ years). Renting apartment in center, mix of cooking and dining out, local health insurance, settled lifestyle.

Family: middle-class 4-person family. 2-3 bedroom in suburbs, groceries for 4, international school, car/transport, family health plan.

Local: budget-conscious local resident. Renting outside center, cooking at home, public transport, local phone plan.

Tourist: short-stay visitor (1-14 days). Hotel/Airbnb nightly, all meals at restaurants, taxis, sightseeing.

CategoryCost

Housing 9 10 12 $524 $401 $616 $345 $68

Utilities 33 34 $68 $86 $108 $55 —

Internet & Mobile 5 6 19 $59 $46 $65 $46 $1

Groceries 25 26 27 28 29 30 32 $115 $245 $545 $217 $6

Transportation 1 4 13 $166 $86 $185 $37 $17

Dining Out 35 36 44 24 $348 $148 $235 $82 $14

Leisure Activities 16 18 20 22 $104 $140 $1,053 $38 $6

Health Insurance 14 16 $63 $77 $308 $25 $2

Visa & Legal Fees 15 $15 $31 $62 — $2

Total $1,462 $1,260 $3,177 $845 $116

Itemized prices

Local prices converted to the selected currency.

Housing

Apartment (1 bedroom) 9 10 11 12 $283.56 $179 – $416 per month

Coworking Space 7 8 $61.64 per month

Airbnb (1 month) 9 12 $523.96 $432 – $616 per month

Coliving Space 11 $215.75 per month

Food & Dining

Coffee 23 $3.29 per cup

Beer 31 $3.15 per pint

Meal (Inexpensive) 35 24 36 $4.62 per meal

Fast Food Combo 17 $4.41 per meal

Apples 29 $3.53 per kg

Bread 30 $1.77 per loaf

Milk 25 $3.08 per liter

Rice 26 $2.78 per kg

Chicken Fillets 27 $12.50 per kg

Beef 28 $21.20 per kg

Wine (Mid-range) 47 $13.80 per bottle

Meal (Mid-range, 2 people) 45 46 $25.15 per meal

Water (1.5L bottle) 32 $0.92 per bottle

Transportation

Taxi Start 2 3 $2.62 per trip

Taxi per km 2 3 $0.77 per km

Monthly Transport Pass 1 $12.30 per month

Gasoline 4 $1.01 per liter

Ride-hailing (5km) 2 3 $5.51 per trip

Scooter Rental 13 $120.20 per month

Services

Mobile Plan 6 $18.46 per month

Internet (60 Mbps+) 19 $27.71 per month

Gym Membership 18 $27.37 per month

Tennis Court (Weekend) 22 $7.70 per hour

SIM Card (Tourist, prepaid) 5 $30.82 one-time

Entertainment

Cinema Ticket 20 $10.17 per ticket

Clothing

Jeans 40 $88.60 per pair

Summer Dress 40 $26.20 per dress

Running Shoes 39 $105.00 per pair

Personal Care

Haircut 42 $9.68 per visit

Laundry 43 $3.70 per kg

Healthcare

Doctor Visit (GP) 21 $22.81 per visit

Pharmacy (basic meds) 41 $12.40 per purchase

About these costs

Method: Researched
Last updated: Oct 25, 2026
Last changed: Oct 31, 2026
Exchange rate: 1 USD = 32.445 TWD on Oct 19, 2026

Checked against the sources below and compared with similar cities. Numbers in the list point to these sources.

Compared with Taipei, Kaohsiung, Hanoi, Tokyo

TRA TPASS Tainan bus+city TR NT$399 and NT$799 monthlyOfficial
Tainan Airport taxi NT$85 / 1.25 kmOfficial
Tainan Tourism Bureau taxi meter rulesOfficial
CPC 95 unleaded NT$32.7/L, 2026-10-19Official
CHT 4G Traveller SIM NT$1,000/30-dayOfficial
Taiwan Mobile 5G 30-day NT$599 prepaidOfficial
Good Ideas Studio hot desk NT$2,000/monthListings
Roomsharer Tainan hot desk NT$2,490/monthListings
RentalBB 591-sourced Tainan 1BR/studio NT$12,500–13,500Listings
Numbeo Tainan rent bands, April 2025 contributorsIndex
Tainan 1BR rent NT$5,000–12,000 rangeSecondary
Global Health Tainan downtown 1BR NT$9,660/month tableSecondary
Federal Rental Tainan Station scooter NT$300–350/dayListings
SafetyWing Essential USD 62.72 per 4 weeksOfficial
BOCA visa-exempt entry up to 90 daysOfficial
Livingcost Tainan basket (updated 2026-06-21)Index
McDonald’s Taiwan Big Mac classic combo NT$143Secondary
World Gym Tainan FOCUS from NT$888/monthListings
HiNet 100M/40M list price NT$899/monthOfficial
VieShow 2026 table — Tainan T.S. Mall 2D NT$330Secondary
Chi Mei Hospital outpatient registration NT$140 (self-pay)Official
Tainan municipal tennis NT$60/h day, NT$250/h nightSecondary
Starbucks Caffè Americano NT$85–130 by sizeListings
CITY CAFE americano NT$35–60 by cup sizeOfficial
Carrefour Uni-President milk 1858ml NT$166Listings
Carrefour white rice 1kg NT$129Listings
Carrefour chicken breast 250g NT$118Listings
Carrefour US beef slices 150g NT$169Listings
Carrefour NZ Fuji apples 4pc NT$100Listings
Carrefour half toast loaf NT$65Listings
Carrefour Lemon Pure Malt 6×330ml NT$194Listings
Carrefour bottled water — 1500ml 12-pack NT$120Listings
Taipower residential tiered rates from 2025-10-01Official
Taiwan Water household tariff table (TWD/m³)Official
MOS Burger breakfast items NT$40–125Official
Tainan lunch boxes NT$60–180 (哈密瓜, 崎發, 杰港)Secondary
Have Salon Tainan haircut NT$600–1,000 with washListings
Tainan coin laundry wash-only NT$100Listings
Decathlon Kipride Max running shoes NT$3,499Listings
UNIQLO Taiwan men jeans from NT$990Listings
Watsons OTC packs from NT$57 (e.g. Green Oil 3g)Listings
Tainan 髮人 wash+cut from NT$300Listings
波波自助洗衣 wash NT$40–100, dry NT$10/5minListings
MOS Burger 2026 combos NT$155–230 (official menu cross-check)Secondary
Din Tai Fung menu prices (chain-wide Taiwan)Secondary
Din Tai Fung at SKM (incl. Tainan Zhongshan store)Listings
mg09 750ml reds e.g. Sea View Boy NT$560, Yellow Tail NT$299Listings

Change history

Oct 31, 2026
- Method Generated Researched
- Airbnb (1 month) 1000.31 523.96
- Apartment (1 bedroom) 453.26 283.56
- Apples 3.44 3.53
- Beef 17.19 21.2
- Beer 2.34 3.15
40 more changes
- Bread 2.03 1.77
- Chicken Fillets 8.75 12.5
- Cinema Ticket 9.38 10.17
- Coffee 2.97 3.29
- Coliving Space 562.67 215.75
- Coworking Space 131.29 61.64
- Dining Out local 125.04, nomad 562.67, expat 281.34, family 468.89, tourist 37.51 local 82, nomad 348, expat 148, family 235, tourist 13.87
- Doctor Visit (GP) 17.19 22.81
- Fast Food Combo 5.47 4.41
- Gasoline 0.98 1.01
- Groceries local 203.19, nomad 93.78, expat 265.71, family 687.71, tourist 4.69 local 217, nomad 115, expat 245, family 545, tourist 6.17
- Gym Membership 34.39 27.37
- Haircut 18.76 9.68
- Health Insurance local 25.82, nomad 75.02, expat 46.89, family 140.67, tourist 1.88 local 24.66, nomad 62.72, expat 77.05, family 308.22, tourist 2.09
- Housing local 265.71, nomad 875.27, expat 500.15, family 1000.31, tourist 68.77 local 345.2, nomad 523.96, expat 400.68, family 616.43, tourist 67.81
- Internet & Mobile local 18.72, nomad 37.51, expat 31.26, family 75.02, tourist 1.41 local 46.11, nomad 58.56, family 64.57, tourist 1.02
- Internet (60 Mbps+) 23.44 27.71
- Jeans 65.65 88.6
- Laundry 3.75 3.7
- Leisure Activities local 62.52, nomad 234.45, expat 156.3, family 375.12, tourist 18.76 local 38, nomad 104, expat 140, family 1053, tourist 5.55
- Meal (Inexpensive) 3.75 4.62
- Meal (Mid-range, 2 people) 37.51 25.15
- Milk 3.06 3.08
- Mobile Plan 18.72 18.46
- Monthly Transport Pass 12.47 12.3
- Pharmacy (basic meds) 6.88 12.4
- Rice 1.88 2.78
- Ride-hailing (5km) 5.63 5.51
- Running Shoes 87.53 105
- SIM Card (Tourist, prepaid) 15.63 30.82
- Scooter Rental 14.07 120.2
- Summer Dress 32.82 26.2
- Taxi Start 2.66 2.62
- Taxi per km 0.78 0.77
- Tennis Court (Weekend) 10.94 7.7
- Transportation local 37.51, nomad 78.15, expat 68.77, family 187.56, tourist 14.07 local 36.98, nomad 166.47, expat 86.3, family 185.08, tourist 16.52
- Utilities local 56.27, nomad 109.41, expat 87.53, family 171.93, tourist 0 local 54.9, nomad 67.81, expat 86.3, family 107.87, tourist 0
- Visa & Legal Fees local 0, nomad 50.02, expat 31.26, family 125.04 local 0, nomad 15.41, expat 30.82, family 61.64, tourist 1.54
- Water (1.5L bottle) 1.09 0.92
- Wine (Mid-range) 17.19 13.8
Meal (Mid-range, 2 people) moved from MOS combo estimate to Din Tai Fung itemized menu **NT$815** (hedonistjun.com, skm.com.tw).

Tainan cost of living