Cost of living comparison

Saint Lucia

compared to

Aruba

Oranjestad vs. Castries Cost of Living Summary

Oranjestad is 42.7% more expensive than Castries.

Restaurants: pay 62.5% more in Oranjestad
Groceries: pay 16.8% less in Oranjestad
Transportation: pay 16.0% more in Oranjestad
Housing: pay 2.3 times more in Oranjestad
Childcare: pay 17.5% more in Oranjestad
Entertainment and Sports: pay 41.3% more in Oranjestad
Clothing: pay 10.1% less in Oranjestad

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

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Oranjestad vs. Castries Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Oranjestad instead of Castries, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 62.5% more for restaurants

	Castries	Oranjestad
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$9.25 EC$25.00	$22.00 AWG39.66	+137.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.33 EC$22.50	$10.27 AWG18.51	+23.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.94 EC$5.25	$1.44 AWG2.60	-25.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.97 EC$2.62	$1.63 AWG2.94	+67.7%
Average			+62.5%

Castries vs. Oranjestad - Cost of restaurants

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pay 16.8% less for groceries

	Castries	Oranjestad
Bread 1 loaf	$1.86 EC$5.02	$2.97 AWG5.35	+59.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.61 EC$15.17	$6.25 AWG11.27	+11.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.75 EC$20.95	$7.04 AWG12.69	-9.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.61 EC$12.47	$5.33 AWG9.61	+15.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.10 EC$11.09	$4.23 AWG7.63	+3.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$3.89 EC$10.50	$2.10 AWG3.78	-46.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.75 EC$2.02	$1.02 AWG1.84	+36.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$3.70 EC$10.00	$2.27 AWG4.09	-38.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$6.66 EC$18.00	$1.59 AWG2.86	-76.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.54 EC$4.17	$1.01 AWG1.82	-34.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.93 EC$2.50	$0.91 AWG1.64	-1.9%
Average			-16.8%

Castries vs. Oranjestad - Cost of groceries

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pay 16.0% more for transportation

	Castries	Oranjestad
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.83 EC$15.75	$7.63 AWG13.76	+31.0%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$30.00 AWG54.08
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$25,901.46 EC$70,000.00	$26,095.70 AWG47,037.50	+0.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	??	$48.03 AWG86.58
Average			+16.0%

Castries vs. Oranjestad - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.3 times more for housing

	Castries	Oranjestad
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$48.60 EC$131.33	$105.51 AWG190.18	+117.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$456.36 EC$1,233.33	$933.33 AWG1,682.33	+104.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$345.35 EC$933.33	$950.00 AWG1,712.38	+175.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$94.32 EC$254.90	$194.00 AWG349.69	+105.7%
Average			+131.1%

Castries vs. Oranjestad - Cost of housing

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pay 17.5% more for childcare

	Castries	Oranjestad
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$212.76 EC$575.00	$250.00 AWG450.62	+17.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	??	$8,606.10 AWG15,512.50
Average			+17.5%

Castries vs. Oranjestad - Cost of childcare

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pay 41.3% more for entertainment and sports

	Castries	Oranjestad
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.78 EC$7.50	$3.00 AWG5.41	+8.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.70 EC$10.00	$4.31 AWG7.77	+16.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$9.25 EC$25.00	$10.00 AWG18.02	+8.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$41.63 EC$112.50	$62.22 AWG112.16	+49.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.55 EC$15.00	$11.94 AWG21.52	+115.1%
Average			+41.3%

Castries vs. Oranjestad - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 10.1% less for clothing

	Castries	Oranjestad
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$83.25 EC$225.00	$60.00 AWG108.15	-27.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$50.88 EC$137.50	$50.71 AWG91.40	-0.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$111.01 EC$300.00	$108.81 AWG196.13	-2.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$111.01 EC$300.00	$102.90 AWG185.47	-7.3%
Average			-10.1%

Castries vs. Oranjestad - Cost of clothing

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We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated October 2026). How we calculate this

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