Cost of living comparison

Dominican Republic

compared to

Sao Tome and Principe

Sao Tome vs. Santo Domingo Cost of Living Summary

Sao Tome is 10.4% cheaper than Santo Domingo.

Restaurants: pay 10.9% more in Sao Tome
Groceries: pay 57.1% more in Sao Tome
Transportation: pay 12.4% more in Sao Tome
Housing: pay 35.6% less in Sao Tome
Childcare: pay 48.2% less in Sao Tome
Entertainment and Sports: pay 12.7% more in Sao Tome
Clothing: pay 51.3% less in Sao Tome

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

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Sao Tome vs. Santo Domingo Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Sao Tome instead of Santo Domingo, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 10.9% more for restaurants

	Santo Domingo	Sao Tome
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$9.95 DOP611.16	$8.96 STD200K	-10.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.54 DOP463.46	$7.89 STD176K	+4.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.04 DOP63.95	$1.84 STD41,004	+76.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.57 DOP35.01	$1.25 STD27,770	+118.7%
Average			+10.9%

Santo Domingo vs. Sao Tome - Cost of restaurants

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pay 57.1% more for groceries

	Santo Domingo	Sao Tome
Bread 1 loaf	$1.51 DOP93.03	$1.00 STD22,187	-34.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.62 DOP222.50	$9.80 STD218K	+170.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.19 DOP318.59	$5.87 STD131K	+13.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.34 DOP143.71	$4.85 STD108K	+107.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.53 DOP155.32	$8.89 STD198K	+251.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.45 DOP88.96	$1.70 STD37,881	+17.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.37 DOP22.53	$0.79 STD17,644	+116.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.24 DOP75.89	$1.63 STD36,419	+32.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.83 DOP51.09	$1.57 STD34,958	+88.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.91 DOP56.14	$1.31 STD29,299	+43.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.00 DOP61.45	$1.08 STD23,986	+7.6%
Average			+57.1%

Santo Domingo vs. Sao Tome - Cost of groceries

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pay 12.4% more for transportation

	Santo Domingo	Sao Tome
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.38 DOP330.30	$6.46 STD144K	+20.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$18.24 DOP1,120.45	??
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$23,212.79 DOP1M	$24,634.18 STD549M	+6.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$21.22 DOP1,303.80	$22.43 STD500K	+5.7%
Average			+12.4%

Santo Domingo vs. Sao Tome - Cost of transportation

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pay 35.6% less for housing

	Santo Domingo	Sao Tome
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$36.30 DOP2,230.04	$66.91 STD1M	+84.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$721.96 DOP44,352.33	$284.91 STD6M	-60.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$350.20 DOP21,513.82	$195.02 STD4M	-44.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$70.91 DOP4,356.44	$174.83 STD4M	+146.5%
Average			-35.6%

Santo Domingo vs. Sao Tome - Cost of housing

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pay 48.2% less for childcare

	Santo Domingo	Sao Tome
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$252.26 DOP15,497.20	$228.62 STD5M	-9.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$7,399.96 DOP455K	$2,194.77 STD49M	-70.3%
Average			-48.2%

Santo Domingo vs. Sao Tome - Cost of childcare

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pay 12.7% more for entertainment and sports

	Santo Domingo	Sao Tome
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.49 DOP152.79	$1.70 STD37,799	-31.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.27 DOP139.64	$2.26 STD50,442	-0.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$5.32 DOP326.97	$2.26 STD50,420	-57.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$29.64 DOP1,820.74	$33.92 STD756K	+14.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.46 DOP458.37	$20.16 STD449K	+170.1%
Average			+12.7%

Santo Domingo vs. Sao Tome - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 51.3% less for clothing

	Santo Domingo	Sao Tome
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$45.80 DOP2,813.91	??
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$46.66 DOP2,866.62	$75.02 STD2M	+60.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$87.04 DOP5,346.99	??
Men's business shoes (leather)	$124.34 DOP7,638.61	$18.36 STD409K	-85.2%
Average			-51.3%

Santo Domingo vs. Sao Tome - 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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