Cost of living comparison

Taiwan

compared to

Dominican Republic

Santiago vs. HsinChu Cost of Living Summary

Santiago is 11.8% cheaper than HsinChu.

Restaurants: pay 50.6% more in Santiago
Groceries: pay 41.6% less in Santiago
Transportation: pay 6.5% less in Santiago
Housing: pay 22.7% more in Santiago
Childcare: pay 74.5% less in Santiago
Entertainment and Sports: pay 31.9% less in Santiago
Clothing: pay 26.4% less in Santiago

The cost of restaurants and housing in Santiago are more expensive than in HsinChu. Expenses including childcare, groceries, entertainment and sports, clothing, and transportation are lower in Santiago.

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Santiago vs. HsinChu Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Santiago instead of HsinChu, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 50.6% more for restaurants

	HsinChu	Santiago
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.77 NT$120.39	$8.29 DOP502.48	+120.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.71 NT$150.49	$7.05 DOP427.11	+49.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.94 NT$29.93	$0.70 DOP42.21	-25.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.70 NT$22.21	$0.39 DOP23.87	-43.3%
Average			+50.6%

HsinChu vs. Santiago - Cost of restaurants

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pay 41.6% less for groceries

	HsinChu	Santiago
Bread 1 loaf	$1.70 NT$54.38	$1.51 DOP91.79	-11.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$18.05 NT$576.87	$3.15 DOP191.21	-82.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$10.87 NT$347.49	$4.50 DOP272.95	-58.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.78 NT$88.79	$1.48 DOP89.44	-46.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.13 NT$100.11	$1.63 DOP98.54	-48.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.21 NT$38.68	$1.45 DOP87.77	+19.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.14 NT$36.41	$0.37 DOP22.22	-67.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.49 NT$47.78	$1.24 DOP74.88	-17.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.40 NT$44.60	$0.83 DOP50.41	-40.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.07 NT$34.13	$0.91 DOP55.39	-14.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.07 NT$34.13	$1.00 DOP60.63	-6.3%
Average			-41.6%

HsinChu vs. Santiago - Cost of groceries

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pay 6.5% less for transportation

	HsinChu	Santiago
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.83 NT$122.29	$5.35 DOP324.56	+40.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$40.18 NT$1,284.16	$30.28 DOP1,835.16	-24.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$33,523.97 NT$1M	$14,922.51 DOP904K	-55.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.65 NT$180.59	$20.39 DOP1,236.11	+261.0%
Average			-6.5%

HsinChu vs. Santiago - Cost of transportation

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pay 22.7% more for housing

	HsinChu	Santiago
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$21.44 NT$685.39	$36.30 DOP2,200.21	+69.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$436.10 NT$13,938.51	$676.34 DOP40,993.95	+55.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$259.67 NT$8,299.40	$271.33 DOP16,445.79	+4.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$78.16 NT$2,498.17	$70.91 DOP4,298.15	-9.3%
Average			+22.7%

HsinChu vs. Santiago - Cost of housing

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pay 74.5% less for childcare

	HsinChu	Santiago
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$753.35 NT$24,078.05	$149.23 DOP9,044.71	-80.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$16,663.11 NT$533K	$5,471.59 DOP332K	-67.2%
Average			-74.5%

HsinChu vs. Santiago - Cost of childcare

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pay 31.9% less for entertainment and sports

	HsinChu	Santiago
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.88 NT$60.20	$2.49 DOP150.75	+32.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.98 NT$95.31	$1.80 DOP108.87	-39.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.92 NT$125.41	$4.81 DOP291.44	+22.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$51.79 NT$1,655.37	$24.87 DOP1,507.45	-52.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$10.04 NT$321.04	$4.97 DOP301.49	-50.5%
Average			-31.9%

HsinChu vs. Santiago - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 26.4% less for clothing

	HsinChu	Santiago
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$57.29 NT$1,830.93	$26.53 DOP1,607.95	-53.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$35.71 NT$1,141.20	$45.60 DOP2,763.66	+27.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$78.47 NT$2,508.13	$62.18 DOP3,768.63	-20.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$105.94 NT$3,385.98	$66.32 DOP4,019.87	-37.4%
Average			-26.4%

HsinChu vs. Santiago - 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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