Honolulu vs South Tarawa - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Honolulu	South Tarawa
🚶 Cost of living one person	$3173	$533
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$7419	$1272
🏠 One person rent	$1978	$235
🏘️ Family rent	$3525	$392
🍽️ Food expenses	$855	$220
🚐 Transport expenses	$129	$22.3
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4215	$181
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	7 km	20 km
🎓 Higher education	62	1
😀 Quality of life	88	25
🏙️ Population	351K	63.4K

The cost of living in Honolulu is 495% more expensive than in South Tarawa. Cities ranked 122nd and 8428th ($3173 vs $533) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 90th and 1st in the United States and Kiribati, respectively. Check the United States vs Kiribati comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.3 months in Honolulu compared to 0.3 months in South Tarawa. Honolulu ranked 103rd best city to live in the United States vs South Tarawa ranked 1st in Kiribati, while ranked 322nd and 8954th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Honolulu vs South Tarawa infographic

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Prices in Honolulu vs South Tarawa

Prices for goods and services in Honolulu and South Tarawa are partly crowdsourced by our visitors, just like yourself. Please consider telling us about your city.

	Honolulu	South Tarawa
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$19.7	$3.73
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$90.1	$21.8
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$14.9	$5.03
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$8.31	$1.8
☕ Cappuccino	$6.89	$1.9
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.63	$0.61
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1983	$226
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1696	$155
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3566	$405
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3123	$280
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$160	$39.7
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$248	$61.5
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$65	$26.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.5%	12.18%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$9387	$1457
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7920	$926
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$3.02	$0.42
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$79.4	$16.3
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$25.3	$6.92
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.23	$1.07
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$2.04	$1.21
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$5.77	$0.74
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.8	$1.21
🥚 Eggs, x12	$8.01	$1.7
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16.1	$7.34
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$19.5	$4.41
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$20.6	$7.25
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.07	$2.21
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.32	$1.24
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.97	$1.63
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.62	$1.12
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.14	$1.03
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.93	$1.04
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$2.14	$0.36
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$4.59	$1.23
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$19.2	$7.85
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$4.28	$1.43
🚬 Cigarette pack	$12.9	$2.9
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$12.7	$3.83
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$7.95	$2.92
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$6.99	$1.54
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.53	$1.27
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$51.8	$24.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$18.1	$4.54
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$172	$18.2
💇 Haircut, simple	$25.6	$3.66
👖 Brand Jeans	$61.4	$30.8
👟 Brand Sneakers	$116	$66.5
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1645	$113
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$20539	$3644

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Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Honolulu

Distance	City	Cost of living
15 km or 9.1 mi	East Honolulu	$2892
16 km or 10 mi	Pearl	$2637
19 km or 12 mi	Waipahu	$2700
24 km or 15 mi	Mililani Mauka	$2631
152 km or 94 mi	Kahului	$3155
191 km or 118 mi	Kauai	$2825
267 km or 166 mi	Kailua-Kona	$3515
339 km or 211 mi	Hilo	$2402
2149 km or 1335 mi	London	$532
3662 km or 2275 mi	Djarrit	$1502
3674 km or 2283 mi	Majuro	$1496
3836 km or 2383 mi	Eureka	$2064
3840 km or 2386 mi	Ukiah	$2778
3843 km or 2388 mi	Pacifica	$3218
3847 km or 2390 mi	Daly	$3223
3848 km or 2391 mi	San Bruno	$3230
3849 km or 2392 mi	South San Francisco	$3227
3849 km or 2392 mi	Millbrae	$3285
3850 km or 2392 mi	Windsor	$2864
3852 km or 2393 mi	Rohnert Park	$2946
3852 km or 2393 mi	San Rafael	$3797
3852 km or 2394 mi	Burlingame	$3317
3853 km or 2394 mi	Petaluma	$3297
3853 km or 2394 mi	Novato	$3094
3854 km or 2395 mi	San Francisco	$4110
3855 km or 2395 mi	Santa Rosa	$2884
3855 km or 2396 mi	San Mateo	$3756
3856 km or 2396 mi	Belmont	$3553
3858 km or 2397 mi	San Carlos	$3382
3859 km or 2398 mi	South Tarawa	$533
3859 km or 2398 mi	Foster	$3634
3859 km or 2398 mi	Redwood	$3890
3860 km or 2398 mi	Monterey	$2858
3860 km or 2399 mi	Santa Cruz	$3719
3863 km or 2400 mi	Menlo Park	$3359
3864 km or 2401 mi	Seaside	$1905
3866 km or 2402 mi	Richmond	$3026
3866 km or 2402 mi	Palo Alto	$3765
3867 km or 2403 mi	San Pablo	$3014
3867 km or 2403 mi	Los Altos	$3182

Cities near South Tarawa

Distance	City	Cost of living
658 km or 409 mi	Majuro	$1496
661 km or 411 mi	Djarrit	$1502
706 km or 439 mi	Yaren	$733
1302 km or 809 mi	Vaiaku	$684
1302 km or 809 mi	Funafuti	$683
1768 km or 1099 mi	Auki	$1417
1879 km or 1167 mi	Honiara	$1419
1988 km or 1235 mi	Luganville	$1882
2172 km or 1349 mi	Lautoka	$596
2190 km or 1361 mi	Nadi	$997
2190 km or 1361 mi	Port Vila	$1884
2248 km or 1397 mi	Nasinu	$818
2253 km or 1400 mi	Suva	$836
2310 km or 1435 mi	Manase	$751
2382 km or 1480 mi	Apia	$753
2712 km or 1685 mi	Dumbea	$1811
2713 km or 1686 mi	Paita	$1807
2725 km or 1693 mi	Noumea	$1878
2817 km or 1750 mi	Nukualofa	$1024
2825 km or 1756 mi	Mua	$1022
3022 km or 1878 mi	Lae	$548
3104 km or 1929 mi	Port Moresby	$566
3286 km or 2042 mi	London	$532
3357 km or 2086 mi	Saipan	$1437
3375 km or 2097 mi	Dededo	$2406
3383 km or 2102 mi	Hagatna	$2786
3611 km or 2244 mi	Cairns	$1513
3612 km or 2244 mi	Jayapura	$507
3658 km or 2273 mi	Gladstone	$1503
3665 km or 2277 mi	Townsville	$1683
3668 km or 2279 mi	Bundaberg	$1595
3672 km or 2282 mi	Hervey Bay	$1712
3673 km or 2282 mi	Rockhampton	$1482
3762 km or 2338 mi	Kauai	$2825
3779 km or 2348 mi	Sunshine Coast	$1697
3788 km or 2354 mi	Caloundra	$1710
3822 km or 2375 mi	Caboolture	$1798
3851 km or 2393 mi	Waipahu	$2700
3854 km or 2395 mi	Brisbane	$2065
3855 km or 2396 mi	Pearl	$2637