Honolulu vs South Tarawa - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Honolulu	South Tarawa
🚶 Cost of living one person	$3331	$526
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$7928	$1270
🏠 One person rent	$2072	$226
🏘️ Family rent	$3682	$370
🍽️ Food expenses	$911	$222
🚐 Transport expenses	$134	$22.1
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4111	$181
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	7 km	20 km
🎓 Higher education	58	1
😀 Quality of life	85	30
🏙️ Population	351K	63.4K

The cost of living in Honolulu is 533% more expensive than in South Tarawa. Cities ranked 79th and 8528th ($3331 vs $526) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 59th and 2nd 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 1.2 months in Honolulu compared to 0.3 months in South Tarawa. Honolulu ranked 143rd best city to live in the United States vs South Tarawa ranked 1st in Kiribati, while ranked 433rd and 8796th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Share this picture

Use the link below to embed the infographic from our site and automatically keep the data layer up to date.

If you prefer to download the image, please credit us as a source.

<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/honolulu/south-tarawa.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Honolulu vs South Tarawa infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/honolulu/south-tarawa" target="_blank">Honolulu vs South Tarawa - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

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	$23.4	$3.8
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$111	$21.7
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$15	$5.11
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$9.67	$1.82
☕ Cappuccino	$8.71	$1.95
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$4.71	$0.63
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$2390	$214
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1716	$146
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$4305	$385
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3150	$256
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$157	$41.3
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$237	$63.1
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$64	$25.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.21%	12.34%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$8773	$1342
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7272	$823
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$3.02	$0.38
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$87.3	$15.3
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$25.2	$7.19
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.33	$1.03
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$2.09	$1.22
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$6.2	$0.74
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.61	$1.19
🥚 Eggs, x12	$8.5	$1.7
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16.1	$7.3
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$18.7	$4.45
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$21	$7.14
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.39	$2.34
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.32	$1.25
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.9	$1.62
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.72	$1.14
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.07	$1.03
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.92	$1.03
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$2.32	$0.38
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$4.63	$1.2
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$20.5	$7.9
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$4.53	$1.42
🚬 Cigarette pack	$12.7	$3.16
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$12.9	$3.85
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$8.05	$3.01
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$7.05	$1.51
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.48	$1.24
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$57.9	$23.6
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$19.3	$4.41
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$172	$18.5
💇 Haircut, simple	$25.5	$4.15
👖 Brand Jeans	$64.4	$31
👟 Brand Sneakers	$112	$65.3
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$2145	$139
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$26966	$4506

Cost of living in other countries

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	$2997
16 km or 10 mi	Pearl	$2649
19 km or 12 mi	Waipahu	$2760
24 km or 15 mi	Mililani Mauka	$2676
152 km or 94 mi	Kahului	$3302
191 km or 118 mi	Kauai	$2888
267 km or 166 mi	Kailua-Kona	$3565
339 km or 211 mi	Hilo	$2463
2149 km or 1335 mi	London	$526
3662 km or 2275 mi	Djarrit	$1497
3674 km or 2283 mi	Majuro	$1499
3836 km or 2383 mi	Eureka	$2064
3840 km or 2386 mi	Ukiah	$2364
3843 km or 2388 mi	Pacifica	$3245
3847 km or 2390 mi	Daly	$3264
3848 km or 2391 mi	San Bruno	$3261
3849 km or 2392 mi	South San Francisco	$3252
3849 km or 2392 mi	Millbrae	$3276
3850 km or 2392 mi	Windsor	$2889
3852 km or 2393 mi	Rohnert Park	$2968
3852 km or 2393 mi	San Rafael	$4178
3852 km or 2394 mi	Burlingame	$3310
3853 km or 2394 mi	Petaluma	$3286
3853 km or 2394 mi	Novato	$3181
3854 km or 2395 mi	San Francisco	$4110
3855 km or 2395 mi	Santa Rosa	$2903
3855 km or 2396 mi	San Mateo	$3797
3856 km or 2396 mi	Belmont	$3577
3858 km or 2397 mi	San Carlos	$3357
3859 km or 2398 mi	South Tarawa	$526
3859 km or 2398 mi	Foster	$3588
3859 km or 2398 mi	Redwood	$3728
3860 km or 2398 mi	Monterey	$2905
3860 km or 2399 mi	Santa Cruz	$3582
3863 km or 2400 mi	Menlo Park	$3357
3864 km or 2401 mi	Seaside	$1936
3866 km or 2402 mi	Richmond	$3102
3866 km or 2402 mi	Palo Alto	$3808
3867 km or 2403 mi	San Pablo	$3086
3867 km or 2403 mi	Los Altos	$3194

Cities near South Tarawa

Distance	City	Cost of living
658 km or 409 mi	Majuro	$1499
661 km or 411 mi	Djarrit	$1497
706 km or 439 mi	Yaren	$788
1302 km or 809 mi	Vaiaku	$714
1302 km or 809 mi	Funafuti	$714
1768 km or 1099 mi	Auki	$1491
1879 km or 1167 mi	Honiara	$1502
1988 km or 1235 mi	Luganville	$2020
2172 km or 1349 mi	Lautoka	$680
2190 km or 1361 mi	Nadi	$1095
2190 km or 1361 mi	Port Vila	$2036
2248 km or 1397 mi	Nasinu	$910
2253 km or 1400 mi	Suva	$891
2310 km or 1435 mi	Manase	$790
2382 km or 1480 mi	Apia	$789
2712 km or 1685 mi	Dumbea	$1844
2713 km or 1686 mi	Paita	$1851
2725 km or 1693 mi	Noumea	$1911
2817 km or 1750 mi	Nukualofa	$1032
2825 km or 1756 mi	Mua	$1033
3022 km or 1878 mi	Lae	$546
3104 km or 1929 mi	Port Moresby	$562
3286 km or 2042 mi	London	$526
3357 km or 2086 mi	Saipan	$1435
3375 km or 2097 mi	Dededo	$2409
3383 km or 2102 mi	Hagatna	$3243
3611 km or 2244 mi	Cairns	$1851
3612 km or 2244 mi	Jayapura	$492
3658 km or 2273 mi	Gladstone	$1643
3665 km or 2277 mi	Townsville	$2015
3668 km or 2279 mi	Bundaberg	$1720
3672 km or 2282 mi	Hervey Bay	$1883
3673 km or 2282 mi	Rockhampton	$1642
3762 km or 2338 mi	Kauai	$2888
3779 km or 2348 mi	Sunshine Coast	$1838
3788 km or 2354 mi	Caloundra	$1863
3822 km or 2375 mi	Caboolture	$1992
3851 km or 2393 mi	Waipahu	$2760
3854 km or 2395 mi	Brisbane	$2323
3855 km or 2396 mi	Pearl	$2649