Hawaii vs. South Dakota Cost of Living Summary

Hawaii is 74.9% more expensive than South Dakota.

Restaurants
pay 74.4% more in Hawaii
Groceries
pay 2.1 times more in Hawaii
Transportation
pay 48.4% more in Hawaii
Housing
pay 82.7% more in Hawaii
Childcare
pay 2.4 times more in Hawaii
Entertainment and Sports
pay 42.7% more in Hawaii
Clothing
pay 12.0% more in Hawaii

The cost of childcare, groceries, housing, restaurants, transportation, and entertainment and sports in Hawaii are more expensive than in South Dakota. Notably, childcare, groceries, and housing are significantly more expensive in Hawaii.

Hawaii vs. South Dakota Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Hawaii instead of South Dakota, you would:

pay 74.4% more for restaurants

 
South Dakota
Hawaii
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $13.00
 
$30.50
 
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$10.33
 
$14.21
 
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $2.53
 
$3.38
 

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pay 2.1 times more for groceries

 
South Dakota
Hawaii
Bread
1 loaf
$2.80
 
$7.91
 
Local cheese (8 oz) $5.94
 
$9.88
 
Milk (1 gallon) $3.55
 
$7.39
 

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pay 48.4% more for transportation

 
South Dakota
Hawaii
Gasoline (1 gallon) $3.52
 
$5.07
 
Monthly public transit pass $30.00
 
$75.40
 
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $35,246.50
 
$35,814.00
 

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pay 82.7% more for housing

 
South Dakota
Hawaii
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
$58.99
 
$73.95
 
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $1,145.83
 
$2,389.72
 
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $1,105.14
 
$2,073.89
 

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pay 2.4 times more for childcare

 
South Dakota
Hawaii
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $833.31
 
$1,779.83
 
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $7,800.00
 
$21,749.17
 

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pay 42.7% more for entertainment and sports

 
South Dakota
Hawaii
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $4.00
 
$7.67
 
Cappuccino in mid-range area $4.71
 
$7.08
 
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$9.54
 
$13.25
 

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pay 12.0% more for clothing

 
South Dakota
Hawaii
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
$46.56
 
$61.60
 
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
$43.33
 
$43.66
 
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
$91.03
 
$98.78
 

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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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