Cost of living comparison

compared to

Santo Domingo vs. Cartagena Cost of Living Summary

Santo Domingo is 18.5% more expensive than Cartagena.

Restaurants: pay 1.1% more in Santo Domingo
Groceries: pay 9.4% more in Santo Domingo
Transportation: pay 24.4% more in Santo Domingo
Housing: pay 13.1% less in Santo Domingo
Childcare: pay 17.9% more in Santo Domingo
Entertainment and Sports: pay 91.6% more in Santo Domingo
Clothing: pay 1.8% less in Santo Domingo

The cost of entertainment and sports, transportation, childcare, groceries, and restaurants in Santo Domingo are more expensive than in Cartagena. Expenses including housing and clothing are lower in Santo Domingo. Notably, entertainment and sports is significantly more expensive in Santo Domingo.

Santo Domingo vs. Cartagena Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Santo Domingo instead of Cartagena, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 1.1% more for restaurants

	Cartagena	Santo Domingo
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$6.08 COP22,715.62	$8.05 DOP502.88	+32.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.99 COP37,308.58	$7.25 DOP452.59	-27.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.88 COP3,304.04	$0.97 DOP60.76	+10.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.70 COP2,624.90	$0.63 DOP39.22	-10.6%
Average			+1.1%

Cartagena vs. Santo Domingo - Cost of restaurants

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pay 9.4% more for groceries

	Cartagena	Santo Domingo
Bread 1 loaf	$2.01 COP7,522.37	$1.50 DOP93.46	-25.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.71 COP13,854.92	$3.66 DOP228.35	-1.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.75 COP17,746.46	$5.00 DOP312.19	+5.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.30 COP8,602.94	$2.39 DOP149.43	+3.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.95 COP11,005.17	$2.47 DOP154.41	-16.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.56 COP5,841.66	$1.43 DOP89.07	-8.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.94 COP3,507.62	$0.38 DOP24.02	-59.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.72 COP2,674.56	$1.27 DOP79.13	+76.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.78 COP2,923.02	$0.83 DOP51.56	+5.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.76 COP2,849.94	$1.01 DOP63.13	+32.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.53 COP1,973.04	$1.01 DOP62.82	+90.4%
Average			+9.4%

Cartagena vs. Santo Domingo - Cost of groceries

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pay 24.4% more for transportation

	Cartagena	Santo Domingo
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.99 COP14,904.28	$4.69 DOP293.26	+17.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$30.54 COP114,061.42	$35.35 DOP2,208.30	+15.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$22,645.31 COP84,579,446.12	$29,626.22 DOP1,850,601.30	+30.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$15.45 COP57,716.72	$20.61 DOP1,287.37	+33.4%
Average			+24.4%

Cartagena vs. Santo Domingo - Cost of transportation

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pay 13.1% less for housing

	Cartagena	Santo Domingo
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$26.66 COP99,562.09	$34.89 DOP2,179.60	+30.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$776.41 COP2,899,866.72	$642.68 DOP40,144.70	-17.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$451.77 COP1,687,354.70	$337.05 DOP21,053.72	-25.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$115.21 COP430,309.35	$68.45 DOP4,275.51	-40.6%
Average			-13.1%

Cartagena vs. Santo Domingo - Cost of housing

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pay 17.9% more for childcare

	Cartagena	Santo Domingo
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$151.40 COP565,474.01	$225.42 DOP14,080.66	+48.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$9,058.12 COP33,831,778.45	$7,865.34 DOP491,308.53	-13.2%
Average			+17.9%

Cartagena vs. Santo Domingo - Cost of childcare

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pay 91.6% more for entertainment and sports

	Cartagena	Santo Domingo
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$0.91 COP3,383.18	$2.42 DOP150.86	+166.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.68 COP6,283.04	$2.36 DOP147.29	+40.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.46 COP9,182.91	$5.64 DOP352.02	+129.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$37.46 COP139,918.57	$33.17 DOP2,071.87	-11.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.11 COP11,599.47	$7.25 DOP452.59	+133.3%
Average			+91.6%

Cartagena vs. Santo Domingo - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 1.8% less for clothing

	Cartagena	Santo Domingo
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$51.76 COP193,324.45	$58.49 DOP3,653.43	+13.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$41.41 COP154,659.56	$48.04 DOP3,000.52	+16.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$133.72 COP499,421.49	$87.54 DOP5,468.20	-34.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$120.77 COP451,090.38	$120.75 DOP7,542.37
Average			-1.8%

Cartagena vs. Santo Domingo - 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: November 2025

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