Cost of living comparison

compared to

Northern Mariana Islands vs. Papua New Guinea Cost of Living Summary

Northern Mariana Islands is 29.0% more expensive than Papua New Guinea overall.

Restaurants: pay 65.4% more in Northern Mariana Islands
Groceries: pay 25.5% more in Northern Mariana Islands
Transportation: pay 27.2% more in Northern Mariana Islands
Housing: pay 9.2% more in Northern Mariana Islands
Childcare: pay 51.2% more in Northern Mariana Islands
Entertainment and Sports: pay 36.1% more in Northern Mariana Islands
Clothing: pay 11.6% less in Northern Mariana Islands

The cost of restaurants, childcare, entertainment and sports, transportation, groceries, and housing in Northern Mariana Islands are more expensive than in Papua New Guinea.

Northern Mariana Islands vs. Papua New Guinea Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Northern Mariana Islands instead of Papua New Guinea, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 65.4% more for restaurants

	Papua New Guinea	Northern Mariana Islands
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$17.87 PGK76.12	$11.50	-35.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.92 PGK25.23	$12.00	+102.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.80 PGK3.42	$1.67	+107.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.70 PGK3.00	$1.32	+86.9%
Average			+65.4%

Papua New Guinea vs. Northern Mariana Islands - Cost of restaurants

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pay 25.5% more for groceries

	Papua New Guinea	Northern Mariana Islands
Bread 1 loaf	$1.55 PGK6.62	$3.33	+114.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.60 PGK15.35	??
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.76 PGK33.06	$8.44	+8.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.00 PGK17.05	$6.33	+58.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.63 PGK15.46	$6.00	+65.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.99 PGK8.47	$2.99	+50.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.32 PGK5.63	$1.00	-24.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.73 PGK11.64	$2.99	+9.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.62 PGK6.92	??
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.58 PGK6.73	$0.95	-40.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.18 PGK5.03	$1.03	-12.4%
Average			+25.5%

Papua New Guinea vs. Northern Mariana Islands - Cost of groceries

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pay 27.2% more for transportation

	Papua New Guinea	Northern Mariana Islands
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.22 PGK17.96	$5.49	+30.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$23.69 PGK100.90	??
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$22,387.96 PGK95,354.79	$36,999.00	+65.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$24.88 PGK105.95	$21.41	-13.9%
Average			+27.2%

Papua New Guinea vs. Northern Mariana Islands - Cost of transportation

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pay 9.2% more for housing

	Papua New Guinea	Northern Mariana Islands
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$165.84 PGK706.33	$60.00	-63.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$2,652.44 PGK11,297.25	$625.00	-76.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$758.54 PGK3,230.79	$450.00	-40.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$80.08 PGK341.06	$254.42	+217.7%
Average			+9.2%

Papua New Guinea vs. Northern Mariana Islands - Cost of housing

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pay 51.2% more for childcare

	Papua New Guinea	Northern Mariana Islands
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$631.76 PGK2,690.79	??
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$3,968.24 PGK16,901.51	$6,000.00	+51.2%
Average			+51.2%

Papua New Guinea vs. Northern Mariana Islands - Cost of childcare

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pay 36.1% more for entertainment and sports

	Papua New Guinea	Northern Mariana Islands
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.98 PGK12.67	$6.00	+101.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.56 PGK10.89	$5.12	+100.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$6.96 PGK29.63	??
Monthly membership at local gym	$73.52 PGK313.14	$47.50	-35.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$10.30 PGK43.87	$8.00	-22.3%
Average			+36.1%

Papua New Guinea vs. Northern Mariana Islands - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 11.6% less for clothing

	Papua New Guinea	Northern Mariana Islands
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$31.15 PGK132.69	$30.00	-3.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$36.48 PGK155.39	$40.00	+9.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$76.40 PGK325.42	$70.00	-8.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$97.73 PGK416.23	$55.00	-43.7%
Average			-11.6%

Papua New Guinea vs. Northern Mariana Islands - 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: December 2025

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