Cost of living comparison

El Salvador

compared to

Maldives

Male vs. San Salvador Cost of Living Summary

Male is 1.4% cheaper than San Salvador.

Restaurants: pay 0.5% less in Male
Groceries: pay 7.6% less in Male
Transportation: pay 9.7% less in Male
Housing: pay 0.2% less in Male
Childcare: pay 14.9% less in Male
Entertainment and Sports: pay 97.0% more in Male
Clothing: pay 32.7% less in Male

Expenses including clothing, childcare, transportation, groceries, restaurants, and housing are lower in Male. Notably, entertainment and sports is significantly more expensive in Male.

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Male vs. San Salvador Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Male instead of San Salvador, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 0.5% less for restaurants

	San Salvador	Male
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$6.75 SVC58.99	$6.00 MVR92.74	-11.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.00 SVC61.17	$9.73 MVR150.39	+39.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.14 SVC10.00	$1.63 MVR25.12	+42.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.83 SVC7.28	$0.30 MVR4.59	-64.4%
Average			-0.5%

San Salvador vs. Male - Cost of restaurants

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pay 7.6% less for groceries

	San Salvador	Male
Bread 1 loaf	$2.85 SVC24.91	$1.65 MVR25.57	-41.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.85 SVC33.68	$5.34 MVR82.43	+38.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.95 SVC60.74	$7.69 MVR118.80	+10.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.02 SVC26.36	$1.92 MVR29.70	-36.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.16 SVC27.62	$2.77 MVR42.73	-12.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.29 SVC20.04	$1.80 MVR27.83	-21.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.63 SVC5.53	$1.39 MVR21.40	+118.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.18 SVC10.34	$1.85 MVR28.65	+56.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.56 SVC13.66	$1.22 MVR18.84	-22.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.33 SVC11.64	$0.93 MVR14.40	-30.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.49 SVC13.03	$0.86 MVR13.30	-42.3%
Average			-7.6%

San Salvador vs. Male - Cost of groceries

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pay 9.7% less for transportation

	San Salvador	Male
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.75 SVC41.55	$3.81 MVR58.81	-19.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$37.50 SVC327.71	$30.82 MVR476.23	-17.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$25,000.00 SVC218K	$32,446.46 MVR501K	+29.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$30.00 SVC262.17	$17.52 MVR270.70	-41.6%
Average			-9.7%

San Salvador vs. Male - Cost of transportation

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pay 0.2% less for housing

	San Salvador	Male
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$42.50 SVC371.41	$73.00 MVR1,127.92	+71.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$898.99 SVC7,856.30	$951.14 MVR14,695.19	+5.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$770.00 SVC6,729.04	$699.92 MVR10,813.71	-9.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$99.35 SVC868.25	$90.98 MVR1,405.60	-8.4%
Average			-0.2%

San Salvador vs. Male - Cost of housing

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pay 14.9% less for childcare

	San Salvador	Male
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$162.67 SVC1,421.55	$184.98 MVR2,857.90	+13.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$4,720.00 SVC41,248.16	$3,004.83 MVR46,424.59	-36.3%
Average			-14.9%

San Salvador vs. Male - Cost of childcare

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pay 97.0% more for entertainment and sports

	San Salvador	Male
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.00 SVC17.48	$4.87 MVR75.19	+143.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.55 SVC30.98	$3.55 MVR54.84	+0.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.00 SVC34.96	$14.93 MVR230.60	+273.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$31.60 SVC276.15	$70.81 MVR1,093.98	+124.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.00 SVC43.70	$9.73 MVR150.39	+94.7%
Average			+97.0%

San Salvador vs. Male - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 32.7% less for clothing

	San Salvador	Male
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$67.15 SVC586.82	$39.51 MVR610.48	-41.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$47.00 SVC410.73	$49.64 MVR766.88	+5.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$118.33 SVC1,034.12	$87.13 MVR1,346.11	-26.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$117.00 SVC1,022.46	$52.52 MVR811.39	-55.1%
Average			-32.7%

San Salvador vs. Male - 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 November 2026). How we calculate this

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