Cost of living comparison

Aruba

compared to

Puerto Rico

San Juan vs. Oranjestad Cost of Living Summary

San Juan is 12.9% more expensive than Oranjestad.

Restaurants: pay 8.2% less in San Juan
Groceries: pay 25.0% more in San Juan
Transportation: pay 15.5% less in San Juan
Housing: pay 25.6% more in San Juan
Childcare: pay 2.2 times more in San Juan
Entertainment and Sports: pay 14.3% less in San Juan
Clothing: pay 5.8% more in San Juan

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

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San Juan vs. Oranjestad Cost Breakdown

If you lived in San Juan instead of Oranjestad, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 8.2% less for restaurants

	Oranjestad	San Juan
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$22.00 AWG39.63	$19.13	-13.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.27 AWG18.50	$9.19	-10.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.44 AWG2.60	$1.87	+29.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.63 AWG2.93	$1.48	-9.4%
Average			-8.2%

Oranjestad vs. San Juan - Cost of restaurants

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pay 25.0% more for groceries

	Oranjestad	San Juan
Bread 1 loaf	$2.97 AWG5.35	$3.63	+22.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.25 AWG11.26	$6.27	+0.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.04 AWG12.69	$8.20	+16.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.33 AWG9.60	$7.41	+38.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.23 AWG7.62	$4.37	+3.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.10 AWG3.78	$2.30	+9.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.02 AWG1.84	$1.18	+15.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.27 AWG4.09	$2.20	-2.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.59 AWG2.86	$2.18	+37.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.01 AWG1.82	$1.71	+70.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.91 AWG1.63	$1.79	+97.8%
Average			+25.0%

Oranjestad vs. San Juan - Cost of groceries

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pay 15.5% less for transportation

	Oranjestad	San Juan
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$7.63 AWG13.75	$4.60	-39.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$30.00 AWG54.04	$30.00
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$26,095.70 AWG47,004.88	$40,000.00	+53.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$48.03 AWG86.51	$14.50	-69.8%
Average			-15.5%

Oranjestad vs. San Juan - Cost of transportation

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pay 25.6% more for housing

	Oranjestad	San Juan
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$105.51 AWG190.04	$69.79	-33.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$933.33 AWG1,681.17	$1,813.12	+94.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$950.00 AWG1,711.19	$834.00	-12.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$194.00 AWG349.45	$245.59	+26.6%
Average			+25.6%

Oranjestad vs. San Juan - Cost of housing

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pay 2.2 times more for childcare

	Oranjestad	San Juan
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$250.00 AWG450.31	$821.00	+228.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$8,606.10 AWG15,501.74	$12,527.31	+45.6%
Average			+118.6%

Oranjestad vs. San Juan - Cost of childcare

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pay 14.3% less for entertainment and sports

	Oranjestad	San Juan
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.00 AWG5.40	$3.00
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.31 AWG7.77	$3.60	-16.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$10.00 AWG18.01	$12.00	+20.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$62.22 AWG112.08	$40.99	-34.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$11.94 AWG21.50	$10.50	-12.0%
Average			-14.3%

Oranjestad vs. San Juan - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 5.8% more for clothing

	Oranjestad	San Juan
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$60.00 AWG108.08	$56.25	-6.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$50.71 AWG91.34	$61.25	+20.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$108.81 AWG196.00	$108.75	-0.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$102.90 AWG185.35	$113.75	+10.5%
Average			+5.8%

Oranjestad vs. San Juan - 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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