Cost of living comparison

Nicaragua

compared to

Moldova

Moldova vs. Nicaragua Cost of Living Summary

Moldova is 3.2% more expensive than Nicaragua overall.

Restaurants: pay 26.0% more in Moldova
Groceries: pay 34.7% less in Moldova
Transportation: pay 37.4% more in Moldova
Housing: pay 29.7% more in Moldova
Childcare: pay 8.6% less in Moldova
Entertainment and Sports: pay 12.4% less in Moldova
Clothing: pay 35.0% less in Moldova

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

Planning a move to Moldova? Get up to 5 free, no-obligation quotes from vetted international movers. Get free quotes →

Moldova vs. Nicaragua Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Moldova instead of Nicaragua, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 26.0% more for restaurants

	Nicaragua	Moldova
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$7.07 NIO260.53	$9.35 MDL167.98	+32.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.94 NIO255.89	$8.74 MDL157.06	+25.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.86 NIO31.77	$1.02 MDL18.32	+18.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.62 NIO22.88	$0.67 MDL12.05	+8.0%
Average			+26.0%

Nicaragua vs. Moldova - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 34.7% less for groceries

	Nicaragua	Moldova
Bread 1 loaf	$1.71 NIO62.93	$0.51 MDL9.13	-70.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.70 NIO136.25	$3.87 MDL69.59	+4.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.65 NIO171.26	$4.41 MDL79.21	-5.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.34 NIO86.37	$2.31 MDL41.48	-1.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.55 NIO93.99	$2.20 MDL39.50	-13.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.82 NIO67.08	$0.45 MDL8.11	-75.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.27 NIO10.03	$0.93 MDL16.65	+240.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.82 NIO30.09	$0.87 MDL15.67	+6.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.11 NIO40.73	$1.04 MDL18.65	-6.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.68 NIO61.77	$0.31 MDL5.63	-81.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.01 NIO37.13	$0.23 MDL4.22	-76.7%
Average			-34.7%

Nicaragua vs. Moldova - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 37.4% more for transportation

	Nicaragua	Moldova
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.05 NIO186.17	$6.15 MDL110.50	+21.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$6.01 NIO221.41	$17.07 MDL306.73	+184.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$22,973.64 NIO847K	$32,274.90 MDL580K	+40.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$13.49 NIO497.29	$4.30 MDL77.27	-68.1%
Average			+37.4%

Nicaragua vs. Moldova - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 29.7% more for housing

	Nicaragua	Moldova
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$32.47 NIO1,196.57	$10.64 MDL191.11	-67.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$293.80 NIO10,827.86	$414.42 MDL7,445.70	+41.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$247.83 NIO9,133.78	$301.91 MDL5,424.26	+21.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$69.20 NIO2,550.23	$134.34 MDL2,413.65	+94.1%
Average			+29.7%

Nicaragua vs. Moldova - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 8.6% less for childcare

	Nicaragua	Moldova
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$235.82 NIO8,690.94	$219.48 MDL3,943.33	-6.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$6,060.00 NIO223K	$5,438.11 MDL97,703.64	-10.3%
Average			-8.6%

Nicaragua vs. Moldova - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 12.4% less for entertainment and sports

	Nicaragua	Moldova
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.40 NIO51.60	$1.50 MDL26.88	+6.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.60 NIO95.82	$1.77 MDL31.77	-32.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.73 NIO100.51	$3.38 MDL60.81	+24.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$32.54 NIO1,199.31	$31.66 MDL568.73	-2.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$9.00 NIO331.69	$6.45 MDL115.91	-28.3%
Average			-12.4%

Nicaragua vs. Moldova - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 35.0% less for clothing

	Nicaragua	Moldova
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$59.88 NIO2,206.90	$52.78 MDL948.25	-11.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$65.00 NIO2,395.54	$38.13 MDL685.02	-41.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$122.64 NIO4,519.99	$92.27 MDL1,657.83	-24.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$144.83 NIO5,337.49	$66.57 MDL1,196.02	-54.0%
Average			-35.0%

Nicaragua vs. Moldova - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

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

Compare further: Nicaragua vs. Moldova

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Moldova?

Quality of Life Comparison · 20 statistics

Make 2.7 times more money in Moldova

Size Comparison · See true size

Nicaragua is about 3.9 times bigger than Moldova.

Moving from Nicaragua to Moldova · Cost, visas & climate

Compare cost of living, salary and climate.

More cost comparisons

Nicaragua vs.

Costa Rica

Nicaragua vs.

United States

Nicaragua vs.

Spain

Nicaragua vs.

Panama

Nicaragua vs.

Canada

Nicaragua vs.

Guatemala

Nicaragua vs.

El Salvador

Nicaragua vs.

Honduras

Share this

Compare by city

For example, try comparing the cost of living in Managua vs. Chisinau

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Add prices for Nicaragua

Add prices for Moldova

Ask the Elsewhere Community

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Moldova or Nicaragua. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.