Cost of living comparison

Dominican Republic

compared to

Taiwan

HsinChu vs. Santiago Cost of Living Summary

HsinChu is 13.4% more expensive than Santiago.

Restaurants: pay 33.6% less in HsinChu
Groceries: pay 71.2% more in HsinChu
Transportation: pay 7.0% more in HsinChu
Housing: pay 18.5% less in HsinChu
Childcare: pay 3.9 times more in HsinChu
Entertainment and Sports: pay 46.9% more in HsinChu
Clothing: pay 35.9% more in HsinChu

The cost of childcare, groceries, entertainment and sports, clothing, and transportation in HsinChu are more expensive than in Santiago. Expenses including restaurants and housing are lower in HsinChu. Notably, childcare is significantly more expensive in HsinChu.

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HsinChu vs. Santiago Cost Breakdown

If you lived in HsinChu instead of Santiago, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 33.6% less for restaurants

	Santiago	HsinChu
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.29 DOP502.48	$3.77 NT$120.39	-54.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.05 DOP427.11	$4.71 NT$150.49	-33.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.70 DOP42.21	$0.94 NT$29.93	+34.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.39 DOP23.87	$0.70 NT$22.21	+76.5%
Average			-33.6%

Santiago vs. HsinChu - Cost of restaurants

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pay 71.2% more for groceries

	Santiago	HsinChu
Bread 1 loaf	$1.51 DOP91.79	$1.70 NT$54.38	+12.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.15 DOP191.21	$18.05 NT$576.87	+472.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.50 DOP272.95	$10.87 NT$347.49	+141.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.48 DOP89.44	$2.78 NT$88.79	+88.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.63 DOP98.54	$3.13 NT$100.11	+92.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.45 DOP87.77	$1.21 NT$38.68	-16.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.37 DOP22.22	$1.14 NT$36.41	+210.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.24 DOP74.88	$1.49 NT$47.78	+21.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.83 DOP50.41	$1.40 NT$44.60	+67.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.91 DOP55.39	$1.07 NT$34.13	+16.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.00 DOP60.63	$1.07 NT$34.13	+6.8%
Average			+71.2%

Santiago vs. HsinChu - Cost of groceries

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pay 7.0% more for transportation

	Santiago	HsinChu
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.35 DOP324.56	$3.83 NT$122.29	-28.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$30.28 DOP1,835.16	$40.18 NT$1,284.16	+32.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$14,922.51 DOP904K	$33,523.97 NT$1M	+124.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$20.39 DOP1,236.11	$5.65 NT$180.59	-72.3%
Average			+7.0%

Santiago vs. HsinChu - Cost of transportation

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pay 18.5% less for housing

	Santiago	HsinChu
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$36.30 DOP2,200.21	$21.44 NT$685.39	-40.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$676.34 DOP40,993.95	$436.10 NT$13,938.51	-35.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$271.33 DOP16,445.79	$259.67 NT$8,299.40	-4.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$70.91 DOP4,298.15	$78.16 NT$2,498.17	+10.2%
Average			-18.5%

Santiago vs. HsinChu - Cost of housing

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pay 3.9 times more for childcare

	Santiago	HsinChu
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$149.23 DOP9,044.71	$753.35 NT$24,078.05	+404.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$5,471.59 DOP332K	$16,663.11 NT$533K	+204.5%
Average			+292.1%

Santiago vs. HsinChu - Cost of childcare

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pay 46.9% more for entertainment and sports

	Santiago	HsinChu
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.49 DOP150.75	$1.88 NT$60.20	-24.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.80 DOP108.87	$2.98 NT$95.31	+66.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.81 DOP291.44	$3.92 NT$125.41	-18.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$24.87 DOP1,507.45	$51.79 NT$1,655.37	+108.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.97 DOP301.49	$10.04 NT$321.04	+101.9%
Average			+46.9%

Santiago vs. HsinChu - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 35.9% more for clothing

	Santiago	HsinChu
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$26.53 DOP1,607.95	$57.29 NT$1,830.93	+115.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$45.60 DOP2,763.66	$35.71 NT$1,141.20	-21.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$62.18 DOP3,768.63	$78.47 NT$2,508.13	+26.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$66.32 DOP4,019.87	$105.94 NT$3,385.98	+59.7%
Average			+35.9%

Santiago vs. HsinChu - 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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