Cost of living comparison
compared to
California vs. Timor-Leste Cost of Living Summary
California is 87.8% more expensive than Timor-Leste overall.
- Restaurants
-
pay 2.3 times more in California
- Groceries
-
pay 2.1 times more in California
- Transportation
-
pay 10.2% less in California
- Housing
-
pay 99.2% more in California
- Childcare
-
pay 89.6% more in California
- Entertainment and Sports
-
pay 2.6 times more in California
- Clothing
-
pay 34.6% more in California
The cost of entertainment and sports, restaurants, groceries, housing, childcare, and clothing in California are more expensive than in Timor-Leste. Notably, entertainment and sports, restaurants, and groceries are significantly more expensive in California.
California vs. Timor-Leste Cost Breakdown
If you lived in California instead of Timor-Leste, you would:
pay 2.3 times more for restaurants
|
Timor-Leste
|
California
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$5.00
|
$21.84
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$8.00
|
$12.33
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$1.58
|
$2.79
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$1.42
|
$2.17
|
|
Timor-Leste vs. California - Cost of restaurants
pay 2.1 times more for groceries
|
Timor-Leste
|
California
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$3.00
|
$4.20
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$1.00
|
$6.77
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$9.27
|
$4.73
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$2.70
|
$5.14
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$4.31
|
$6.05
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$1.59
|
$2.30
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.83
|
$0.92
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$0.91
|
$1.91
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$1.13
|
$2.38
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$0.91
|
$1.50
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$0.57
|
$1.41
|
|
Timor-Leste vs. California - Cost of groceries
pay 10.2% less for transportation
|
Timor-Leste
|
California
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$5.34
|
$4.72
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass | ?? |
$63.04
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) | ?? |
$30,529.84
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$23.50
|
$21.43
|
|
Timor-Leste vs. California - Cost of transportation
pay 99.2% more for housing
|
Timor-Leste
|
California
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
?? |
$67.96
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$1,125.00
|
$2,385.40
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$866.67
|
$2,043.56
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$114.71
|
$171.94
|
|
Timor-Leste vs. California - Cost of housing
pay 89.6% more for childcare
|
Timor-Leste
|
California
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly | ?? |
$1,633.13
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$16,000.00
|
$30,339.97
|
|
Timor-Leste vs. California - Cost of childcare
pay 2.6 times more for entertainment and sports
|
Timor-Leste
|
California
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$2.00
|
$7.31
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$3.83
|
$5.58
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$2.75
|
$10.92
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$50.00
|
$68.02
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$5.50
|
$14.99
|
|
Timor-Leste vs. California - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 34.6% more for clothing
|
Timor-Leste
|
California
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$60.00
|
$56.47
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$30.00
|
$40.47
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$80.00
|
$87.50
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$60.00
|
$119.94
|
|
Timor-Leste vs. California - Cost of clothing
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: December 2025
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