Quality of life comparison

compared to

If you lived in Dominican Republic instead of Virgin Islands, you would:

Health

live 6.9 years less

In Virgin Islands, the average life expectancy is 81 years (78 years for men, 84 years for women) as of 2024. In Dominican Republic, that number is 74 years (71 years for men, 77 years for women) as of 2024.

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Economy

be 55.5% less likely to be unemployed

In Virgin Islands, 11.4% of the labor force is unemployed as of 2025. In Dominican Republic, that number is 5.1% as of 2025.

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make 75.0% less money

Virgin Islands has a GDP per capita of $44,321 as of 2022, while in Dominican Republic, the GDP per capita is $11,059 as of 2025.

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Life

have 58.7% more children

In Virgin Islands, there are approximately 11.1 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024. In Dominican Republic, there are 17.6 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024.

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be 3.6 times more likely to die during infancy

In Virgin Islands, approximately 7.7 children (per 1,000 live births) die before they reach the age of one as of 2022. In Dominican Republic, on the other hand, 27.7 children do as of 2024.

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Basic Needs

be 40.4% more likely to have internet access

In Virgin Islands, approximately 64.8% of the population has internet access as of 2022. In Dominican Republic, about 91.0% do as of 2024.

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Geography

see 6.9 times more coastline

Virgin Islands has a total of 188 km of coastline. In Dominican Republic, that number is 1,288 km.

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Infrastructure

find 11.2% more home broadband

Virgin Islands has 10.1 fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 people as of 2022. Dominican Republic has 11.2 as of 2024.

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Sources: World Bank (2022–2025), The World Factbook (2022). How we calculate this

Compare further: Virgin Islands vs. Dominican Republic

Cost of Living Comparison · 7 categories - 2026 data
Dominican Republic is 62.7% cheaper than Virgin Islands overall
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Size Comparison · See true size
Virgin Islands is about 25 times smaller than Dominican Republic.
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Moving from Virgin Islands to Dominican Republic · UN DESA 2020
84 people born in Virgin Islands live in Dominican Republic.
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Dominican Republic: At a glance

Dominican Republic is a sovereign country in Central America/Caribbean, with a total land area of approximately 48,320 sq km. The Taino - indigenous inhabitants of Hispaniola prior to the arrival of the Europeans - divided the island into five chiefdoms and territories. Christopher COLUMBUS explored and claimed the island on his first voyage in 1492; it became a springboard for Spanish conquest of the Caribbean and the American mainland. In 1697, Spain recognized French dominion over the western third of the island, which in 1804 became Haiti. The remainder of the island, by then known as Santo Domingo, sought to gain its own independence in 1821 but was conquered and ruled by the Haitians for 22 years; it finally attained independence as the Dominican Republic in 1844. In 1861, the Dominicans voluntarily returned to the Spanish Empire, but two years later they launched a war that restored independence in 1865. A legacy of unsettled, mostly non-representative rule followed, capped by the dictatorship of Rafael Leonidas TRUJILLO from 1930 to 1961. Juan BOSCH was elected president in 1962 but was deposed in a military coup in 1963. In 1965, the United States led an intervention in the midst of a civil war sparked by an uprising to restore BOSCH. In 1966, Joaquin BALAGUER defeated BOSCH in an election to become president. BALAGUER maintained a tight grip on power for most of the next 30 years when international reaction to flawed elections forced him to curtail his term in 1996. Since then, regular competitive elections have been held in which opposition candidates have won the presidency. Former President Leonel FERNANDEZ Reyna (first term 1996-2000) won election to a new term in 2004 following a constitutional amendment allowing presidents to serve more than one term, and was later reelected to a second consecutive term. In 2012, Danilo MEDINA Sanchez was elected president.
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How big is Dominican Republic compared to Virgin Islands? See an in-depth size comparison.

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