Cost of living comparison

compared to

Santo Domingo vs. Managua Cost of Living Summary

Santo Domingo is 46.2% more expensive than Managua.

Restaurants: pay 19.6% more in Santo Domingo
Groceries: pay 9.6% less in Santo Domingo
Transportation: pay 2.9 times more in Santo Domingo
Housing: pay 53.3% more in Santo Domingo
Childcare: pay 56.3% more in Santo Domingo
Entertainment and Sports: pay 35.0% more in Santo Domingo
Clothing: pay 20.2% less in Santo Domingo

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

Santo Domingo vs. Managua Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 19.6% more for restaurants

	Managua	Santo Domingo
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.91 NIO180.13	$8.05 DOP502.88	+64.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.30 NIO268.05	$7.25 DOP452.59	-0.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.82 NIO30.05	$0.97 DOP60.76	+18.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.65 NIO23.85	$0.63 DOP39.22	-3.4%
Average			+19.6%

Managua vs. Santo Domingo - Cost of restaurants

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pay 9.6% less for groceries

	Managua	Santo Domingo
Bread 1 loaf	$2.41 NIO88.57	$1.50 DOP93.46	-38.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.80 NIO212.71	$3.66 DOP228.35	-36.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.68 NIO171.86	$5.00 DOP312.19	+6.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.29 NIO84.08	$2.39 DOP149.43	+4.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.87 NIO105.33	$2.47 DOP154.41	-13.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.77 NIO64.95	$1.43 DOP89.07	-19.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.39 NIO14.44	$0.38 DOP24.02	-2.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.82 NIO29.96	$1.27 DOP79.13	+55.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.01 NIO37.17	$0.83 DOP51.56	-18.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.78 NIO65.18	$1.01 DOP63.13	-43.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.00 NIO36.72	$1.01 DOP62.82	+0.5%
Average			-9.6%

Managua vs. Santo Domingo - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.9 times more for transportation

	Managua	Santo Domingo
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.05 NIO185.42	$4.69 DOP293.26	-7.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$6.01 NIO220.45	$35.35 DOP2,208.30	+488.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$22,973.64 NIO843,003.80	$29,626.22 DOP1,850,601.30	+29.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.94 NIO218.09	$20.61 DOP1,287.37	+246.8%
Average			+189.3%

Managua vs. Santo Domingo - Cost of transportation

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pay 53.3% more for housing

	Managua	Santo Domingo
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$36.87 NIO1,353.03	$34.89 DOP2,179.60	-5.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$256.67 NIO9,418.23	$642.68 DOP40,144.70	+150.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$190.00 NIO6,971.94	$337.05 DOP21,053.72	+77.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$75.42 NIO2,767.34	$68.45 DOP4,275.51	-9.2%
Average			+53.3%

Managua vs. Santo Domingo - Cost of housing

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pay 56.3% more for childcare

	Managua	Santo Domingo
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$124.17 NIO4,556.22	$225.42 DOP14,080.66	+81.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$6,000.00 NIO220,166.41	$7,865.34 DOP491,308.53	+31.1%
Average			+56.3%

Managua vs. Santo Domingo - Cost of childcare

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pay 35.0% more for entertainment and sports

	Managua	Santo Domingo
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.36 NIO49.90	$2.42 DOP150.86	+77.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.31 NIO84.64	$2.36 DOP147.29	+2.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.66 NIO97.58	$5.64 DOP352.02	+111.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$35.79 NIO1,313.28	$33.17 DOP2,071.87	-7.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.00 NIO293.56	$7.25 DOP452.59	-9.4%
Average			+35.0%

Managua vs. Santo Domingo - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 20.2% less for clothing

	Managua	Santo Domingo
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$77.43 NIO2,841.42	$58.49 DOP3,653.43	-24.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$72.50 NIO2,660.34	$48.04 DOP3,000.52	-33.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$132.64 NIO4,867.30	$87.54 DOP5,468.20	-34.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$108.16 NIO3,968.84	$120.75 DOP7,542.37	+11.6%
Average			-20.2%

Managua 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: December 2025

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