Cost of living comparison
compared to
California vs. Virgin Islands Cost of Living Summary
California is 3.0% cheaper than Virgin Islands overall.
California vs. Virgin Islands Cost Breakdown
If you lived in California instead of Virgin Islands, you would:
pay 3.5% less for restaurants
|
Virgin Islands
|
California
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$23.12
|
$22.31
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$12.83
|
$12.78
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$3.25
|
$2.96
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.47
|
$2.26
|
|
Virgin Islands vs. California - Cost of restaurants
pay 40.6% less for groceries
|
Virgin Islands
|
California
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$6.72
|
$4.33
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$5.66
|
$7.51
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$10.73
|
$4.92
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$9.63
|
$5.18
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$8.79
|
$6.10
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$3.90
|
$2.32
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$5.00
|
$0.94
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$3.75
|
$2.02
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$5.89
|
$2.60
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$0.87
|
$1.61
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$3.07
|
$1.39
|
|
Virgin Islands vs. California - Cost of groceries
pay 11.9% less for transportation
|
Virgin Islands
|
California
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$5.03
|
$5.53
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$60.00
|
$64.45
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$50,000.00
|
$35,604.61
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$44.85
|
$20.97
|
|
Virgin Islands vs. California - Cost of transportation
pay 38.6% more for housing
|
Virgin Islands
|
California
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$100.17
|
$69.16
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$1,283.33
|
$2,414.89
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$1,200.00
|
$2,061.17
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$395.95
|
$172.98
|
|
Virgin Islands vs. California - Cost of housing
pay 38.3% more for childcare
|
Virgin Islands
|
California
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$1,500.00
|
$1,659.26
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$17,750.00
|
$30,706.19
|
|
Virgin Islands vs. California - Cost of childcare
pay 8.6% less for entertainment and sports
|
Virgin Islands
|
California
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$6.38
|
$7.15
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$6.17
|
$5.63
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$5.00
|
$11.42
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$181.25
|
$65.06
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$11.00
|
$15.07
|
|
Virgin Islands vs. California - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 32.1% less for clothing
|
Virgin Islands
|
California
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$82.50
|
$58.89
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$81.00
|
$43.96
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$145.00
|
$91.63
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$150.00
|
$130.37
|
|
Virgin Islands vs. California - Cost of clothing
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
Change currency:
Compare further: Virgin Islands vs. California
Salary Calculator · Free tool
What salary would you need in California?
→
Quality of Life Comparison · 3 statistics
Make 89.6% more money in California
→
Size Comparison · See true size
Virgin Islands is about 211 times smaller than California.
→
Moving from Virgin Islands to California · Cost, visas & climate
Compare cost of living, salary and climate.
→
Compare countries by overall cost of living
See the
cost of living in Virgin Islands vs. United States.
This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Virgin Islands and United States.
Help us improve these prices
MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate.
Learn more
Ask the Elsewhere Community
Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about California or Virgin Islands. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.