Cost of living comparison

Sao Tome and Principe

compared to

District of Columbia, USA

District of Columbia vs. Sao Tome and Principe Cost of Living Summary

District of Columbia is 3.3 times more expensive than Sao Tome and Principe overall.

Restaurants: pay 48.4% more in District of Columbia
Groceries: pay 49.2% more in District of Columbia
Transportation: pay 44.8% less in District of Columbia
Housing: pay 5.7 times more in District of Columbia
Entertainment and Sports: pay 3.3 times more in District of Columbia
Clothing: pay 7.0 times more in District of Columbia

The cost of clothing, housing, entertainment and sports, groceries, and restaurants in District of Columbia are more expensive than in Sao Tome and Principe. Notably, clothing, housing, and entertainment and sports are significantly more expensive in District of Columbia.

District of Columbia vs. Sao Tome and Principe Cost Breakdown

If you lived in District of Columbia instead of Sao Tome and Principe, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 48.4% more for restaurants

	Sao Tome and Principe	District of Columbia
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$29.20 STD651K	$25.00	-14.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.68 STD260K	$12.00	+2.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.92 STD42,768	$3.20	+66.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.17 STD26,025	$2.79	+138.7%
Average			+48.4%

Sao Tome and Principe vs. District of Columbia - Cost of restaurants

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pay 49.2% more for groceries

	Sao Tome and Principe	District of Columbia
Bread 1 loaf	$1.08 STD24,088	$4.43	+309.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$10.22 STD228K	$8.04	-21.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.97 STD133K	$4.19	-29.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.09 STD114K	$4.55	-10.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$9.27 STD207K	$7.74	-16.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.12 STD47,219	$2.95	+39.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.53 STD11,805	$0.92	+73.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.85 STD41,316	$2.20	+18.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.59 STD35,414	$3.00	+88.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.19 STD26,561	$1.35	+12.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.93 STD20,658	$1.64	+76.4%
Average			+49.2%

Sao Tome and Principe vs. District of Columbia - Cost of groceries

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pay 44.8% less for transportation

	Sao Tome and Principe	District of Columbia
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.40 STD143K	$3.53	-44.8%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$77.50
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	??	$35,699.74
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	??	$16.73
Average			-44.8%

Sao Tome and Principe vs. District of Columbia - Cost of transportation

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pay 5.7 times more for housing

	Sao Tome and Principe	District of Columbia
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$72.42 STD2M	$69.41	-4.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$350.40 STD8M	$2,568.48	+633.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$233.60 STD5M	$2,088.16	+793.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	??	$146.54
Average			+474.2%

Sao Tome and Principe vs. District of Columbia - Cost of housing

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pay (unknown) more for childcare

	Sao Tome and Principe	District of Columbia
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	??	$2,650.00
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	??	$40,166.67

Sao Tome and Principe vs. District of Columbia - Cost of childcare

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pay 3.3 times more for entertainment and sports

	Sao Tome and Principe	District of Columbia
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.67 STD37,216	$8.00	+379.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.34 STD52,050	$6.07	+159.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.34 STD52,050	$13.00	+456.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$37.38 STD833K	$103.76	+177.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$21.02 STD468K	$16.75	-20.3%
Average			+230.5%

Sao Tome and Principe vs. District of Columbia - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 7.0 times more for clothing

	Sao Tome and Principe	District of Columbia
Regular jeans Levi's brand	??	$76.00
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	??	$48.40
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	??	$104.31
Men's business shoes (leather)	$19.16 STD427K	$133.22	+595.5%
Average			+595.5%

Sao Tome and Principe vs. District of Columbia - 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: April 2026

Compare further: Sao Tome and Principe vs. District of Columbia

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Quality of Life Comparison · 4 statistics

Make 38.0 times more money in District of Columbia

Size Comparison · See true size

Sao Tome and Principe is about 5 times bigger than District of Columbia.

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