Cost of living comparison

compared to

Santiago vs. Manila Cost of Living Summary

Santiago is 17.8% more expensive than Manila.

Restaurants: pay 11.0% more in Santiago
Groceries: pay 31.6% less in Santiago
Transportation: pay 2.7 times more in Santiago
Housing: pay 15.4% less in Santiago
Childcare: pay 14.4% less in Santiago
Entertainment and Sports: pay 7.7% less in Santiago
Clothing: pay 16.4% more in Santiago

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

Santiago vs. Manila Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 11.0% more for restaurants

	Manila	Santiago
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$6.02 ₱355.94	$5.25 DOP335.04	-12.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.30 ₱254.24	$5.65 DOP360.82	+31.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.97 ₱57.42	$0.98 DOP62.28	+0.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.50 ₱29.77	$0.63 DOP40.21	+25.0%
Average			+11.0%

Manila vs. Santiago - Cost of restaurants

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pay 31.6% less for groceries

	Manila	Santiago
Bread 1 loaf	$1.33 ₱78.84	$1.50 DOP95.80	+12.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.28 ₱252.76	$3.11 DOP198.73	-27.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.32 ₱432.73	$4.07 DOP260.16	-44.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.21 ₱130.84	$1.24 DOP79.17	-44.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.28 ₱134.98	$2.15 DOP137.19	-5.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.52 ₱89.60	$1.02 DOP64.95	-32.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.82 ₱48.61	$0.39 DOP24.62	-53.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.64 ₱96.75	$0.75 DOP47.77	-54.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.02 ₱60.52	$0.81 DOP51.55	-21.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.17 ₱69.16	$0.58 DOP37.22	-50.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.37 ₱81.25	$1.01 DOP64.39	-26.6%
Average			-31.6%

Manila vs. Santiago - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.7 times more for transportation

	Manila	Santiago
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.18 ₱247.09	$4.65 DOP297.13	+11.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$13.76 ₱813.57	$29.48 DOP1,882.52	+114.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$25,288.58 ₱1,494,934.54	$15,338.47 DOP979,361.01	-39.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$2.92 ₱172.88	$19.86 DOP1,268.01	+579.1%
Average			+166.3%

Manila vs. Santiago - Cost of transportation

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pay 15.4% less for housing

	Manila	Santiago
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$27.10 ₱1,602.13	$34.99 DOP2,234.09	+29.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$512.96 ₱30,323.92	$371.35 DOP23,710.85	-27.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$251.74 ₱14,881.48	$242.19 DOP15,463.59	-3.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$100.49 ₱5,940.52	$40.80 DOP2,605.24	-59.4%
Average			-15.4%

Manila vs. Santiago - Cost of housing

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pay 14.4% less for childcare

	Manila	Santiago
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$138.58 ₱8,192.20	$213.93 DOP13,659.51	+54.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$17,035.39 ₱1,007,046.89	$2,841.65 DOP181,439.51	-83.3%
Average			-14.4%

Manila vs. Santiago - Cost of childcare

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pay 7.7% less for entertainment and sports

	Manila	Santiago
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.46 ₱86.44	$2.42 DOP154.64	+65.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.59 ₱152.95	$1.82 DOP115.98	-29.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.27 ₱193.22	$3.23 DOP206.18	-1.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$42.13 ₱2,490.71	$23.37 DOP1,492.24	-44.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.48 ₱442.38	$5.33 DOP340.20	-28.8%
Average			-7.7%

Manila vs. Santiago - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 16.4% more for clothing

	Manila	Santiago
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$49.23 ₱2,910.08	$49.65 DOP3,170.04	+0.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$29.70 ₱1,755.55	$43.06 DOP2,749.08	+45.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$80.85 ₱4,779.65	$72.66 DOP4,639.08	-10.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$49.70 ₱2,937.78	$64.58 DOP4,123.63	+30.0%
Average			+16.4%

Manila vs. Santiago - 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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