Cost of living comparison

Sao Tome and Principe

compared to

Dominican Republic

Santo Domingo vs. Sao Tome Cost of Living Summary

Santo Domingo is 11.6% more expensive than Sao Tome.

Restaurants: pay 9.8% less in Santo Domingo
Groceries: pay 36.4% less in Santo Domingo
Transportation: pay 11.0% less in Santo Domingo
Housing: pay 55.3% more in Santo Domingo
Childcare: pay 92.9% more in Santo Domingo
Entertainment and Sports: pay 11.2% less in Santo Domingo
Clothing: pay 2.1 times more in Santo Domingo

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

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Santo Domingo vs. Sao Tome Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 9.8% less for restaurants

	Sao Tome	Santo Domingo
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.96 STD200K	$9.95 DOP611.16	+11.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.89 STD176K	$7.54 DOP463.46	-4.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.84 STD41,004	$1.04 DOP63.95	-43.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.25 STD27,770	$0.57 DOP35.01	-54.3%
Average			-9.8%

Sao Tome vs. Santo Domingo - Cost of restaurants

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pay 36.4% less for groceries

	Sao Tome	Santo Domingo
Bread 1 loaf	$1.00 STD22,187	$1.51 DOP93.03	+52.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$9.80 STD218K	$3.62 DOP222.50	-63.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.87 STD131K	$5.19 DOP318.59	-11.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.85 STD108K	$2.34 DOP143.71	-51.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$8.89 STD198K	$2.53 DOP155.32	-71.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.70 STD37,881	$1.45 DOP88.96	-14.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.79 STD17,644	$0.37 DOP22.53	-53.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.63 STD36,419	$1.24 DOP75.89	-24.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.57 STD34,958	$0.83 DOP51.09	-47.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.31 STD29,299	$0.91 DOP56.14	-30.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.08 STD23,986	$1.00 DOP61.45	-7.1%
Average			-36.4%

Sao Tome vs. Santo Domingo - Cost of groceries

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pay 11.0% less for transportation

	Sao Tome	Santo Domingo
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.46 STD144K	$5.38 DOP330.30	-16.7%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$18.24 DOP1,120.45
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$24,634.18 STD549M	$23,212.79 DOP1M	-5.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$22.43 STD500K	$21.22 DOP1,303.80	-5.4%
Average			-11.0%

Sao Tome vs. Santo Domingo - Cost of transportation

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pay 55.3% more for housing

	Sao Tome	Santo Domingo
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$66.91 STD1M	$36.30 DOP2,230.04	-45.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$284.91 STD6M	$721.96 DOP44,352.33	+153.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$195.02 STD4M	$350.20 DOP21,513.82	+79.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$174.83 STD4M	$70.91 DOP4,356.44	-59.4%
Average			+55.3%

Sao Tome vs. Santo Domingo - Cost of housing

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pay 92.9% more for childcare

	Sao Tome	Santo Domingo
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$228.62 STD5M	$252.26 DOP15,497.20	+10.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$2,194.77 STD49M	$7,399.96 DOP455K	+237.2%
Average			+92.9%

Sao Tome vs. Santo Domingo - Cost of childcare

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pay 11.2% less for entertainment and sports

	Sao Tome	Santo Domingo
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.70 STD37,799	$2.49 DOP152.79	+46.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.26 STD50,442	$2.27 DOP139.64	+0.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.26 STD50,420	$5.32 DOP326.97	+135.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$33.92 STD756K	$29.64 DOP1,820.74	-12.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$20.16 STD449K	$7.46 DOP458.37	-63.0%
Average			-11.2%

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

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pay 2.1 times more for clothing

	Sao Tome	Santo Domingo
Regular jeans Levi's brand	??	$45.80 DOP2,813.91
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$75.02 STD2M	$46.66 DOP2,866.62	-37.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	??	$87.04 DOP5,346.99
Men's business shoes (leather)	$18.36 STD409K	$124.34 DOP7,638.61	+577.1%
Average			+105.2%

Sao Tome vs. Santo Domingo - 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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