Cost of living comparison

Northern Mariana Islands

compared to

District of Columbia, USA

District of Columbia vs. Northern Mariana Islands Cost of Living Summary

District of Columbia is 2.4 times more expensive than Northern Mariana Islands overall.

Restaurants: pay 2.1 times more in District of Columbia
Groceries: pay 5.3% more in District of Columbia
Transportation: pay 20.3% less in District of Columbia
Housing: pay 2.6 times more in District of Columbia
Childcare: pay 6.7 times more in District of Columbia
Entertainment and Sports: pay 69.9% more in District of Columbia
Clothing: pay 91.4% more in District of Columbia

The cost of childcare, housing, restaurants, clothing, entertainment and sports, and groceries in District of Columbia are more expensive than in Northern Mariana Islands. Notably, childcare, housing, and restaurants are significantly more expensive in District of Columbia.

District of Columbia vs. Northern Mariana Islands Cost Breakdown

If you lived in District of Columbia instead of Northern Mariana Islands, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 2.1 times more for restaurants

	Northern Mariana Islands	District of Columbia
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$11.50	$25.00	+117.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$12.00	$12.00
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.67	$3.20	+92.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.32	$2.79	+111.8%
Average			+107.1%

Northern Mariana Islands vs. District of Columbia - Cost of restaurants

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pay 5.3% more for groceries

	Northern Mariana Islands	District of Columbia
Bread 1 loaf	$3.33	$4.43	+32.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	??	$8.04
Milk (1 gallon)	$8.44	$4.19	-50.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$6.33	$4.55	-28.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$6.00	$7.74	+29.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.99	$2.95	-1.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.00	$0.92	-7.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.99	$2.20	-26.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	??	$3.00
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.95	$1.35	+42.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.03	$1.64	+58.2%
Average			+5.3%

Northern Mariana Islands vs. District of Columbia - Cost of groceries

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pay 20.3% less for transportation

	Northern Mariana Islands	District of Columbia
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.49	$3.53	-35.6%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$77.50
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$36,999.00	$35,699.74	-3.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$21.41	$16.73	-21.9%
Average			-20.3%

Northern Mariana Islands vs. District of Columbia - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.6 times more for housing

	Northern Mariana Islands	District of Columbia
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$60.00	$69.41	+15.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$625.00	$2,568.48	+311.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$450.00	$2,088.16	+364.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$254.42	$146.54	-42.4%
Average			+162.1%

Northern Mariana Islands vs. District of Columbia - Cost of housing

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pay 6.7 times more for childcare

	Northern Mariana Islands	District of Columbia
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	??	$2,650.00
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$6,000.00	$40,166.67	+569.4%
Average			+569.4%

Northern Mariana Islands vs. District of Columbia - Cost of childcare

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pay 69.9% more for entertainment and sports

	Northern Mariana Islands	District of Columbia
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$6.00	$8.00	+33.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$5.12	$6.07	+18.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	??	$13.00
Monthly membership at local gym	$47.50	$103.76	+118.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.00	$16.75	+109.4%
Average			+69.9%

Northern Mariana Islands vs. District of Columbia - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 91.4% more for clothing

	Northern Mariana Islands	District of Columbia
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$30.00	$76.00	+153.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$40.00	$48.40	+21.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$70.00	$104.31	+49.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$55.00	$133.22	+142.2%
Average			+91.4%

Northern Mariana Islands vs. District of Columbia - 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: April 2026

Compare further: Northern Mariana Islands vs. District of Columbia

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Quality of Life Comparison · 2 statistics

Be 3.6 times more likely to have internet access in District of Columbia

Size Comparison · See true size

Northern Mariana Islands is about 2.6 times bigger than District of Columbia.

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