Cost of living comparison

compared to

Nuku'alofa vs. San Salvador Cost of Living Summary

Nuku'alofa is 39.0% more expensive than San Salvador.

Restaurants: pay 96.6% more in Nuku'alofa
Groceries: pay 16.3% more in Nuku'alofa
Transportation: pay 26.5% more in Nuku'alofa
Housing: pay 76.9% more in Nuku'alofa
Childcare: pay 49.5% less in Nuku'alofa
Entertainment and Sports: pay 2.8 times more in Nuku'alofa
Clothing: pay 74.0% less in Nuku'alofa

The cost of entertainment and sports, restaurants, housing, transportation, and groceries in Nuku'alofa are more expensive than in San Salvador. Expenses including clothing and childcare are lower in Nuku'alofa. Notably, entertainment and sports, restaurants, and housing are significantly more expensive in Nuku'alofa.

Nuku'alofa vs. San Salvador Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Nuku'alofa instead of San Salvador, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 96.6% more for restaurants

	San Salvador	Nuku'alofa
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$7.00 SVC61.08	$8.31 TOP20.00	+18.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.00 SVC61.08	$10.38 TOP25.00	+48.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.14 SVC9.90	$2.84 TOP6.83	+150.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.91 SVC7.95	$2.46 TOP5.92	+169.6%
Average			+96.6%

San Salvador vs. Nuku'alofa - Cost of restaurants

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pay 16.3% more for groceries

	San Salvador	Nuku'alofa
Bread 1 loaf	$1.95 SVC17.01	$1.04 TOP2.50	-46.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.77 SVC32.86	$4.50 TOP10.83	+19.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.84 SVC59.68	$5.92 TOP14.26	-13.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.01 SVC26.26	$5.09 TOP12.27	+69.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.99 SVC26.05	$2.67 TOP6.43	-10.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.77 SVC15.46	$1.26 TOP3.02	-29.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.76 SVC6.60	$1.26 TOP3.02	+66.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.17 SVC10.17	$1.32 TOP3.18	+13.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.22 SVC10.61	$1.70 TOP4.08	+39.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.97 SVC8.44	$1.44 TOP3.48	+49.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.98 SVC8.51	$1.19 TOP2.87	+22.3%
Average			+16.3%

San Salvador vs. Nuku'alofa - Cost of groceries

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pay 26.5% more for transportation

	San Salvador	Nuku'alofa
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.82 SVC33.34	$5.50 TOP13.25	+44.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$15.00 SVC130.88	$41.53 TOP100.00	+176.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$25,500.00 SVC222,494.28	$5,814.53 TOP14,000.00	-77.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$29.93 SVC261.12	$18.69 TOP45.00	-37.6%
Average			+26.5%

San Salvador vs. Nuku'alofa - Cost of transportation

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pay 76.9% more for housing

	San Salvador	Nuku'alofa
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$43.33 SVC378.09	$124.60 TOP300.00	+187.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$900.00 SVC7,852.74	$622.99 TOP1,500.00	-30.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$758.33 SVC6,616.66	??
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$82.16 SVC716.84	$142.92 TOP344.12	+74.0%
Average			+76.9%

San Salvador vs. Nuku'alofa - Cost of housing

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pay 49.5% less for childcare

	San Salvador	Nuku'alofa
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$162.67 SVC1,419.31	$157.82 TOP380.00	-3.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$6,420.00 SVC56,016.21	$249.19 TOP600.00	-96.1%
Average			-49.5%

San Salvador vs. Nuku'alofa - Cost of childcare

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pay 2.8 times more for entertainment and sports

	San Salvador	Nuku'alofa
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.00 SVC17.45	$3.32 TOP8.00	+66.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.25 SVC28.35	$2.91 TOP7.00	-10.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.00 SVC34.90	$10.18 TOP24.50	+154.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$30.80 SVC268.74	$31.15 TOP75.00	+1.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.25 SVC45.81	$41.53 TOP100.00	+691.1%
Average			+180.4%

San Salvador vs. Nuku'alofa - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 74.0% less for clothing

	San Salvador	Nuku'alofa
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$62.60 SVC546.20	$14.54 TOP35.00	-76.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$45.83 SVC399.91	$17.65 TOP42.50	-61.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$131.80 SVC1,149.99	$20.77 TOP50.00	-84.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$109.17 SVC952.51	$29.07 TOP70.00	-73.4%
Average			-74.0%

San Salvador vs. Nuku'alofa - 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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