Cost of living comparison

Tonga

compared to

Aruba

Oranjestad vs. Nuku'alofa Cost of Living Summary

Oranjestad is 59.0% more expensive than Nuku'alofa.

Restaurants: pay 38.5% more in Oranjestad
Groceries: pay 22.2% more in Oranjestad
Transportation: pay 78.3% more in Oranjestad
Housing: pay 39.4% more in Oranjestad
Childcare: pay 7.4 times more in Oranjestad
Entertainment and Sports: pay 7.9% less in Oranjestad
Clothing: pay 3.9 times more in Oranjestad

The cost of childcare, clothing, transportation, housing, restaurants, and groceries in Oranjestad are more expensive than in Nuku'alofa. Notably, childcare, clothing, and transportation are significantly more expensive in Oranjestad.

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Oranjestad vs. Nuku'alofa Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Oranjestad instead of Nuku'alofa, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 38.5% more for restaurants

	Nuku'alofa	Oranjestad
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.31 TOP20.00	$22.00 AWG39.63	+164.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.38 TOP25.00	$10.27 AWG18.50	-1.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.84 TOP6.83	$1.44 AWG2.60	-49.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.46 TOP5.92	$1.63 AWG2.93	-33.7%
Average			+38.5%

Nuku'alofa vs. Oranjestad - Cost of restaurants

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pay 22.2% more for groceries

	Nuku'alofa	Oranjestad
Bread 1 loaf	$1.04 TOP2.50	$2.97 AWG5.35	+185.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.50 TOP10.83	$6.25 AWG11.26	+38.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.92 TOP14.26	$7.04 AWG12.69	+18.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.09 TOP12.27	$5.33 AWG9.60	+4.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.67 TOP6.43	$4.23 AWG7.62	+58.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.26 TOP3.02	$2.10 AWG3.78	+67.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.26 TOP3.02	$1.02 AWG1.84	-18.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.32 TOP3.18	$2.27 AWG4.09	+72.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.70 TOP4.08	$1.59 AWG2.86	-6.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.44 TOP3.48	$1.01 AWG1.82	-30.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.19 TOP2.87	$0.91 AWG1.63	-24.0%
Average			+22.2%

Nuku'alofa vs. Oranjestad - Cost of groceries

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pay 78.3% more for transportation

	Nuku'alofa	Oranjestad
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.50 TOP13.25	$7.63 AWG13.75	+38.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$41.53 TOP100.00	$30.00 AWG54.04	-27.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$5,814.53 TOP14,000.00	$26,095.70 AWG47,004.88	+348.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$18.69 TOP45.00	$48.03 AWG86.51	+157.0%
Average			+78.3%

Nuku'alofa vs. Oranjestad - Cost of transportation

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pay 39.4% more for housing

	Nuku'alofa	Oranjestad
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$124.60 TOP300.00	$105.51 AWG190.04	-15.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$622.99 TOP1,500.00	$933.33 AWG1,681.17	+49.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	??	$950.00 AWG1,711.19
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$142.92 TOP344.12	$194.00 AWG349.45	+35.7%
Average			+39.4%

Nuku'alofa vs. Oranjestad - Cost of housing

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pay 7.4 times more for childcare

	Nuku'alofa	Oranjestad
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$157.82 TOP380.00	$250.00 AWG450.31	+58.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$249.19 TOP600.00	$8,606.10 AWG15,501.74	+3353.6%
Average			+639.6%

Nuku'alofa vs. Oranjestad - Cost of childcare

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pay 7.9% less for entertainment and sports

	Nuku'alofa	Oranjestad
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.32 TOP8.00	$3.00 AWG5.40	-9.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.91 TOP7.00	$4.31 AWG7.77	+48.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$10.18 TOP24.50	$10.00 AWG18.01	-1.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$31.15 TOP75.00	$62.22 AWG112.08	+99.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$41.53 TOP100.00	$11.94 AWG21.50	-71.3%
Average			-7.9%

Nuku'alofa vs. Oranjestad - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 3.9 times more for clothing

	Nuku'alofa	Oranjestad
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$14.54 TOP35.00	$60.00 AWG108.08	+312.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$17.65 TOP42.50	$50.71 AWG91.34	+187.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$20.77 TOP50.00	$108.81 AWG196.00	+424.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$29.07 TOP70.00	$102.90 AWG185.35	+253.9%
Average			+285.1%

Nuku'alofa vs. Oranjestad - 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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