Cost of living comparison

El Salvador

compared to

Philippines

Manila vs. San Salvador Cost of Living Summary

Manila is 30.4% cheaper than San Salvador.

Restaurants: pay 23.0% less in Manila
Groceries: pay 19.5% less in Manila
Transportation: pay 42.3% less in Manila
Housing: pay 47.3% less in Manila
Childcare: pay 2.7 times more in Manila
Entertainment and Sports: pay 4.1% less in Manila
Clothing: pay 36.6% less in Manila

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

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Manila vs. San Salvador Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 23.0% less for restaurants

	San Salvador	Manila
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$6.75 SVC59.06	$5.58 ₱351.45	-17.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.00 SVC61.25	$3.98 ₱251.03	-43.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.14 SVC10.01	$1.40 ₱88.36	+22.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.83 SVC7.29	$0.85 ₱53.31	+1.6%
Average			-23.0%

San Salvador vs. Manila - Cost of restaurants

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pay 19.5% less for groceries

	San Salvador	Manila
Bread 1 loaf	$2.85 SVC24.94	$1.44 ₱90.93	-49.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.85 SVC33.72	$3.89 ₱244.77	+0.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.95 SVC60.81	$7.23 ₱455.56	+4.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.02 SVC26.39	$2.28 ₱143.70	-24.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.16 SVC27.66	$2.18 ₱137.50	-30.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.29 SVC20.07	$1.49 ₱93.83	-35.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.63 SVC5.54	$0.85 ₱53.49	+34.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.18 SVC10.35	$1.36 ₱85.76	+15.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.56 SVC13.68	$0.83 ₱51.97	-47.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.33 SVC11.65	$1.03 ₱64.97	-22.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.49 SVC13.05	$1.20 ₱75.72	-19.4%
Average			-19.5%

San Salvador vs. Manila - Cost of groceries

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pay 42.3% less for transportation

	San Salvador	Manila
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.75 SVC41.60	$4.96 ₱312.22	+4.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$37.50 SVC328.13	$12.75 ₱803.31	-66.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$25,000.00 SVC219K	$21,359.52 ₱1M	-14.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$30.00 SVC262.50	$2.54 ₱160.16	-91.5%
Average			-42.3%

San Salvador vs. Manila - Cost of transportation

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pay 47.3% less for housing

	San Salvador	Manila
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$42.50 SVC371.88	$24.14 ₱1,520.93	-43.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$898.99 SVC7,866.27	$543.82 ₱34,257.78	-39.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$770.00 SVC6,737.58	$281.50 ₱17,733.05	-63.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$99.35 SVC869.35	$94.04 ₱5,924.32	-5.3%
Average			-47.3%

San Salvador vs. Manila - Cost of housing

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pay 2.7 times more for childcare

	San Salvador	Manila
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$162.67 SVC1,423.35	$619.65 ₱39,034.94	+280.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$4,720.00 SVC41,300.50	$8,932.60 ₱563K	+89.3%
Average			+168.5%

San Salvador vs. Manila - Cost of childcare

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pay 4.1% less for entertainment and sports

	San Salvador	Manila
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.00 SVC17.50	$1.20 ₱75.31	-40.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.55 SVC31.02	$2.55 ₱160.66	-28.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.00 SVC35.00	$3.11 ₱195.81	-22.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$31.60 SVC276.50	$42.86 ₱2,700.12	+35.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.00 SVC43.75	$6.77 ₱426.76	+35.5%
Average			-4.1%

San Salvador vs. Manila - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 36.6% less for clothing

	San Salvador	Manila
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$67.15 SVC587.57	$58.27 ₱3,670.68	-13.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$47.00 SVC411.25	$27.47 ₱1,730.75	-41.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$118.33 SVC1,035.43	$76.69 ₱4,830.90	-35.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$117.00 SVC1,023.76	$57.51 ₱3,623.11	-50.8%
Average			-36.6%

San Salvador vs. Manila - 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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