Cost of living comparison

Moldova

compared to

El Salvador

San Salvador vs. Chisinau Cost of Living Summary

San Salvador is 23.4% more expensive than Chisinau.

Restaurants: pay 27.1% less in San Salvador
Groceries: pay 91.9% more in San Salvador
Transportation: pay 32.3% more in San Salvador
Housing: pay 37.1% more in San Salvador
Childcare: pay 45.0% less in San Salvador
Entertainment and Sports: pay 10.2% less in San Salvador
Clothing: pay 3.1% less in San Salvador

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

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San Salvador vs. Chisinau Cost Breakdown

If you lived in San Salvador instead of Chisinau, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 27.1% less for restaurants

	Chisinau	San Salvador
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$11.22 MDL200.58	$6.75 SVC58.99	-39.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.70 MDL155.45	$7.00 SVC61.17	-19.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.21 MDL21.60	$1.14 SVC10.00	-5.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.89 MDL15.92	$0.83 SVC7.28	-6.4%
Average			-27.1%

Chisinau vs. San Salvador - Cost of restaurants

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pay 91.9% more for groceries

	Chisinau	San Salvador
Bread 1 loaf	$0.71 MDL12.71	$2.85 SVC24.91	+300.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.89 MDL87.39	$3.85 SVC33.68	-21.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.73 MDL84.61	$6.95 SVC60.74	+46.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.79 MDL49.81	$3.02 SVC26.36	+8.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.36 MDL42.13	$3.16 SVC27.62	+34.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.44 MDL7.83	$2.29 SVC20.04	+423.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.87 MDL15.60	$0.63 SVC5.53	-27.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.94 MDL16.79	$1.18 SVC10.34	+25.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.01 MDL17.97	$1.56 SVC13.66	+55.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.31 MDL5.58	$1.33 SVC11.64	+326.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.25 MDL4.40	$1.49 SVC13.03	+506.4%
Average			+91.9%

Chisinau vs. San Salvador - Cost of groceries

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pay 32.3% more for transportation

	Chisinau	San Salvador
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.44 MDL115.06	$4.75 SVC41.55	-26.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$13.52 MDL241.70	$37.50 SVC327.71	+177.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$29,507.41 MDL528K	$25,000.00 SVC218K	-15.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$4.94 MDL88.26	$30.00 SVC262.17	+507.7%
Average			+32.3%

Chisinau vs. San Salvador - Cost of transportation

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pay 37.1% more for housing

	Chisinau	San Salvador
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$10.59 MDL189.39	$42.50 SVC371.41	+301.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$679.74 MDL12,152.24	$898.99 SVC7,856.30	+32.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$435.34 MDL7,782.96	$770.00 SVC6,729.04	+76.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$185.85 MDL3,322.64	$99.35 SVC868.25	-46.5%
Average			+37.1%

Chisinau vs. San Salvador - Cost of housing

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pay 45.0% less for childcare

	Chisinau	San Salvador
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$434.06 MDL7,759.94	$162.67 SVC1,421.55	-62.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$5,841.67 MDL104K	$4,720.00 SVC41,248.16	-19.2%
Average			-45.0%

Chisinau vs. San Salvador - Cost of childcare

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pay 10.2% less for entertainment and sports

	Chisinau	San Salvador
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.24 MDL40.12	$2.00 SVC17.48	-10.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.16 MDL38.67	$3.55 SVC30.98	+63.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.42 MDL61.18	$4.00 SVC34.96	+16.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$41.67 MDL745.01	$31.60 SVC276.15	-24.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.41 MDL150.43	$5.00 SVC43.70	-40.6%
Average			-10.2%

Chisinau vs. San Salvador - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 3.1% less for clothing

	Chisinau	San Salvador
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$79.80 MDL1,426.62	$67.15 SVC586.82	-15.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$47.07 MDL841.43	$47.00 SVC410.73	-0.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$114.14 MDL2,040.51	$118.33 SVC1,034.12	+3.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$115.56 MDL2,065.97	$117.00 SVC1,022.46	+1.2%
Average			-3.1%

Chisinau vs. San Salvador - 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 November 2026). How we calculate this

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