Cost of living comparison

compared to

United States vs. Tonga Cost of Living Summary

United States is 93.0% more expensive than Tonga overall.

Restaurants
pay 49.4% more in United States
Groceries
pay 27.7% more in United States
Transportation
pay 70.7% more in United States
Housing
pay 89.4% more in United States
Childcare
pay 30.0 times more in United States
Entertainment and Sports
pay 9.4% more in United States
Clothing
pay 3.5 times more in United States

The cost of childcare, clothing, housing, transportation, restaurants, and groceries in United States are more expensive than in Tonga. Notably, childcare, clothing, and housing are significantly more expensive in United States.

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United States vs. Tonga Cost Breakdown

If you lived in United States instead of Tonga, you would:

pay 49.4% more for restaurants

 
Tonga
United States
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $8.31
TOP20.00
$19.86
 
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
 $10.38
TOP25.00
$11.42
 
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $2.84
TOP6.83
$2.67
 
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pay 27.7% more for groceries

 
Tonga
United States
Bread
1 loaf
 $1.04
TOP2.50
$3.63
 
Local cheese (8 oz) $4.50
TOP10.83
$6.52
 
Milk (1 gallon) $5.92
TOP14.26
$3.98
 
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pay 70.7% more for transportation

 
Tonga
United States
Gasoline (1 gallon) $5.50
TOP13.25
$4.01
 
Monthly public transit pass $41.53
TOP100.00
$66.70
 
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $5,814.53
TOP14,000.00
$34,164.82
 
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pay 89.4% more for housing

 
Tonga
United States
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
 $124.60
TOP300.00
$70.22
 
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $622.99
TOP1,500.00
$1,681.01
 
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center ?? $1,404.28
 
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pay 30.0 times more for childcare

 
Tonga
United States
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $157.82
TOP380.00
$1,450.99
 
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $249.19
TOP600.00
$24,361.50
 
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pay 9.4% more for entertainment and sports

 
Tonga
United States
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $3.32
TOP8.00
$6.00
 
Cappuccino in mid-range area $2.91
TOP7.00
$5.31
 
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
 $10.18
TOP24.50
$10.42
 
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pay 3.5 times more for clothing

 
Tonga
United States
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
 $14.54
TOP35.00
$53.15
 
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
 $17.65
TOP42.50
$41.88
 
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
 $20.77
TOP50.00
$89.76
 
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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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Compare further: Tonga vs. United States

Salary Calculator · Free tool
What salary would you need in United States?
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Quality of Life Comparison · 18 statistics
Make 13.8 times more money in United States
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Size Comparison · See true size
Tonga is about 13,164 times smaller than United States.
→
Moving from Tonga to United States · OECD 2023
230 people moved from Tonga to United States.
→
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