Cost of living comparison

Dominican Republic

compared to

Nicaragua

Managua vs. Santo Domingo Cost of Living Summary

Managua is 20.5% cheaper than Santo Domingo.

Restaurants: pay 1.1% more in Managua
Groceries: pay 14.0% more in Managua
Transportation: pay 28.7% less in Managua
Housing: pay 45.7% less in Managua
Childcare: pay 12.5% less in Managua
Entertainment and Sports: pay 5.3% less in Managua
Clothing: pay 31.5% more in Managua

The cost of clothing, groceries, and restaurants in Managua are more expensive than in Santo Domingo. Expenses including housing, transportation, childcare, and entertainment and sports are lower in Managua.

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Managua vs. Santo Domingo Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Managua instead of Santo Domingo, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 1.1% more for restaurants

	Santo Domingo	Managua
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$9.95 DOP611.16	$10.00 NIO368.55	+0.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.54 DOP463.46	$7.61 NIO280.46	+0.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.04 DOP63.95	$0.88 NIO32.54	-15.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.57 DOP35.01	$0.71 NIO26.22	+24.8%
Average			+1.1%

Santo Domingo vs. Managua - Cost of restaurants

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pay 14.0% more for groceries

	Santo Domingo	Managua
Bread 1 loaf	$1.51 DOP93.03	$2.37 NIO87.46	+56.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.62 DOP222.50	$5.80 NIO213.64	+60.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.19 DOP318.59	$4.68 NIO172.61	-9.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.34 DOP143.71	$2.37 NIO87.18	+1.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.53 DOP155.32	$2.87 NIO105.79	+13.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.45 DOP88.96	$1.82 NIO67.08	+25.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.37 DOP22.53	$0.27 NIO10.03	-25.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.24 DOP75.89	$0.82 NIO30.09	-33.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.83 DOP51.09	$1.11 NIO41.05	+33.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.91 DOP56.14	$1.79 NIO65.90	+95.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.00 DOP61.45	$1.01 NIO37.13	+0.7%
Average			+14.0%

Santo Domingo vs. Managua - Cost of groceries

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pay 28.7% less for transportation

	Santo Domingo	Managua
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.38 DOP330.30	$5.06 NIO186.38	-5.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$18.24 DOP1,120.45	$6.01 NIO221.41	-67.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$23,212.79 DOP1M	$22,973.64 NIO847K	-1.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$21.22 DOP1,303.80	$14.69 NIO541.39	-30.8%
Average			-28.7%

Santo Domingo vs. Managua - Cost of transportation

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pay 45.7% less for housing

	Santo Domingo	Managua
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$36.30 DOP2,230.04	$32.47 NIO1,196.57	-10.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$721.96 DOP44,352.33	$256.40 NIO9,449.50	-64.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$350.20 DOP21,513.82	$181.00 NIO6,670.67	-48.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$70.91 DOP4,356.44	$115.83 NIO4,268.74	+63.3%
Average			-45.7%

Santo Domingo vs. Managua - Cost of housing

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pay 12.5% less for childcare

	Santo Domingo	Managua
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$252.26 DOP15,497.20	$235.82 NIO8,690.94	-6.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$7,399.96 DOP455K	$6,060.00 NIO223K	-18.1%
Average			-12.5%

Santo Domingo vs. Managua - Cost of childcare

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pay 5.3% less for entertainment and sports

	Santo Domingo	Managua
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.49 DOP152.79	$1.50 NIO55.28	-39.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.27 DOP139.64	$2.60 NIO95.82	+14.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$5.32 DOP326.97	$2.73 NIO100.51	-48.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$29.64 DOP1,820.74	$34.79 NIO1,282.16	+17.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.46 DOP458.37	$9.00 NIO331.69	+20.6%
Average			-5.3%

Santo Domingo vs. Managua - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 31.5% more for clothing

	Santo Domingo	Managua
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$45.80 DOP2,813.91	$59.88 NIO2,206.90	+30.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$46.66 DOP2,866.62	$65.00 NIO2,395.54	+39.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$87.04 DOP5,346.99	$122.64 NIO4,519.99	+40.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$124.34 DOP7,638.61	$144.83 NIO5,337.49	+16.5%
Average			+31.5%

Santo Domingo vs. Managua - 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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