Cost of living comparison
compared to
California vs. Papua New Guinea Cost of Living Summary
California is 73.7% more expensive than Papua New Guinea overall.
- Restaurants
-
pay 2.8 times more in California
- Groceries
-
pay 16.5% more in California
- Transportation
-
pay 33.2% more in California
- Housing
-
pay 2.2 times more in California
- Childcare
-
pay 3.1 times more in California
- Entertainment and Sports
-
pay 71.9% more in California
- Clothing
-
pay 7.5% more in California
California vs. Papua New Guinea Cost Breakdown
If you lived in California instead of Papua New Guinea, you would:
pay 2.8 times more for restaurants
|
Papua New Guinea
|
California
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$7.78
PGK35.37
|
$22.31
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$5.56
PGK25.27
|
$12.78
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$0.75
PGK3.41
|
$2.96
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$0.67
PGK3.03
|
$2.26
|
|
Papua New Guinea vs. California - Cost of restaurants
pay 16.5% more for groceries
|
Papua New Guinea
|
California
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$1.52
PGK6.91
|
$4.33
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$4.32
PGK19.64
|
$7.51
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$7.10
PGK32.28
|
$4.92
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$3.69
PGK16.78
|
$5.18
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$2.58
PGK11.75
|
$6.10
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$1.95
PGK8.88
|
$2.32
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$1.44
PGK6.57
|
$0.94
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$3.29
PGK14.97
|
$2.02
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$2.92
PGK13.29
|
$2.60
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.51
PGK6.88
|
$1.61
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.31
PGK5.96
|
$1.39
|
|
Papua New Guinea vs. California - Cost of groceries
pay 33.2% more for transportation
|
Papua New Guinea
|
California
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$3.78
PGK17.18
|
$5.53
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$22.22
PGK101.06
|
$64.45
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$50,004.77
PGK227K
|
$35,604.61
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$23.34
PGK106.12
|
$20.97
|
|
Papua New Guinea vs. California - Cost of transportation
pay 2.2 times more for housing
|
Papua New Guinea
|
California
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$91.68
PGK416.89
|
$69.16
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$1,603.86
PGK7,293.44
|
$2,414.89
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$555.61
PGK2,526.59
|
$2,061.17
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$89.65
PGK407.67
|
$172.98
|
|
Papua New Guinea vs. California - Cost of housing
pay 3.1 times more for childcare
|
Papua New Guinea
|
California
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$842.47
PGK3,831.07
|
$1,659.26
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$6,176.41
PGK28,086.83
|
$30,706.19
|
|
Papua New Guinea vs. California - Cost of childcare
pay 71.9% more for entertainment and sports
|
Papua New Guinea
|
California
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$3.00
PGK13.64
|
$7.15
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$2.47
PGK11.24
|
$5.63
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$6.45
PGK29.31
|
$11.42
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$61.49
PGK279.61
|
$65.06
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$8.89
PGK40.43
|
$15.07
|
|
Papua New Guinea vs. California - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 7.5% more for clothing
|
Papua New Guinea
|
California
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$32.73
PGK148.82
|
$58.89
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$31.67
PGK144.02
|
$43.96
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$136.12
PGK619.02
|
$91.63
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$163.90
PGK745.35
|
$130.37
|
|
Papua New Guinea vs. California - Cost of clothing
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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cost of living in Papua New Guinea vs. United States.
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