Honolulu vs South Tarawa - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Honolulu	South Tarawa
🚶 Cost of living one person	$3241	$538
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$7578	$1303
🏠 One person rent	$2025	$233
🏘️ Family rent	$3537	$392
🍽️ Food expenses	$870	$226
🚐 Transport expenses	$131	$22.7
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4156	$164
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	7 km	20 km
🎓 Higher education	58	1
😀 Quality of life	85	28
🏙️ Population	351K	63.4K

The cost of living in Honolulu is 502% more expensive than in South Tarawa. Cities ranked 117th and 8474th ($3241 vs $538) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 83rd 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 1.3 months in Honolulu compared to 0.3 months in South Tarawa. Honolulu ranked 139th best city to live in the United States vs South Tarawa ranked 1st in Kiribati, while ranked 438th and 8872nd among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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<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	$21.1	$4
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$105	$22.3
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$15	$5.15
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$9.56	$1.82
☕ Cappuccino	$7.91	$1.93
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$4.21	$0.63
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$2262	$226
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1695	$151
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$4086	$412
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3027	$274
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$151	$41
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$232	$63.8
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$65.8	$26.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.45%	12.43%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$8726	$1374
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7721	$845
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$3.03	$0.41
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$86.5	$15.9
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$24.5	$7.47
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.23	$1.01
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$2.02	$1.22
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$5.83	$0.76
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.63	$1.21
🥚 Eggs, x12	$7.87	$1.73
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16	$7.22
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$18	$4.59
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$20	$7.22
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.89	$2.38
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.66	$1.25
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.31	$1.67
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.65	$1.16
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.58	$1.04
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.96	$1.04
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$2.15	$0.39
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$4.61	$1.24
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$17.9	$8
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$4.5	$1.46
🚬 Cigarette pack	$12.4	$2.98
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$12.8	$3.96
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$8.01	$3.05
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$7.04	$1.6
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.53	$1.27
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$60	$24.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$19.3	$4.49
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$174	$19.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$25.7	$4.22
👖 Brand Jeans	$61.8	$31.4
👟 Brand Sneakers	$113	$65.8
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1887	$131
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$23744	$4200

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	$2925
16 km or 10 mi	Pearl	$2610
19 km or 12 mi	Waipahu	$2700
24 km or 15 mi	Mililani Mauka	$2643
152 km or 94 mi	Kahului	$3147
191 km or 118 mi	Kauai	$2821
267 km or 166 mi	Kailua-Kona	$3544
339 km or 211 mi	Hilo	$2467
2149 km or 1335 mi	London	$539
3662 km or 2275 mi	Djarrit	$1510
3674 km or 2283 mi	Majuro	$1507
3836 km or 2383 mi	Eureka	$2088
3840 km or 2386 mi	Ukiah	$2588
3843 km or 2388 mi	Pacifica	$3255
3847 km or 2390 mi	Daly	$3252
3848 km or 2391 mi	San Bruno	$3264
3849 km or 2392 mi	South San Francisco	$3245
3849 km or 2392 mi	Millbrae	$3282
3850 km or 2392 mi	Windsor	$2840
3852 km or 2393 mi	Rohnert Park	$2948
3852 km or 2393 mi	San Rafael	$4102
3852 km or 2394 mi	Burlingame	$3346
3853 km or 2394 mi	Petaluma	$3309
3853 km or 2394 mi	Novato	$3182
3854 km or 2395 mi	San Francisco	$4040
3855 km or 2395 mi	Santa Rosa	$2802
3855 km or 2396 mi	San Mateo	$3831
3856 km or 2396 mi	Belmont	$3593
3858 km or 2397 mi	San Carlos	$3359
3859 km or 2398 mi	South Tarawa	$538
3859 km or 2398 mi	Foster	$3604
3859 km or 2398 mi	Redwood	$3771
3860 km or 2398 mi	Monterey	$2873
3860 km or 2399 mi	Santa Cruz	$3489
3863 km or 2400 mi	Menlo Park	$3395
3864 km or 2401 mi	Seaside	$1923
3866 km or 2402 mi	Richmond	$3083
3866 km or 2402 mi	Palo Alto	$3805
3867 km or 2403 mi	San Pablo	$3058
3867 km or 2403 mi	Los Altos	$3254

Cities near South Tarawa

Distance	City	Cost of living
658 km or 409 mi	Majuro	$1507
661 km or 411 mi	Djarrit	$1510
706 km or 439 mi	Yaren	$783
1302 km or 809 mi	Vaiaku	$714
1302 km or 809 mi	Funafuti	$718
1768 km or 1099 mi	Auki	$1422
1879 km or 1167 mi	Honiara	$1422
1988 km or 1235 mi	Luganville	$2062
2172 km or 1349 mi	Lautoka	$633
2190 km or 1361 mi	Nadi	$1039
2190 km or 1361 mi	Port Vila	$2068
2248 km or 1397 mi	Nasinu	$857
2253 km or 1400 mi	Suva	$879
2310 km or 1435 mi	Manase	$790
2382 km or 1480 mi	Apia	$791
2712 km or 1685 mi	Dumbea	$1865
2713 km or 1686 mi	Paita	$1865
2725 km or 1693 mi	Noumea	$1928
2817 km or 1750 mi	Nukualofa	$1035
2825 km or 1756 mi	Mua	$1033
3022 km or 1878 mi	Lae	$558
3104 km or 1929 mi	Port Moresby	$572
3286 km or 2042 mi	London	$539
3357 km or 2086 mi	Saipan	$1415
3375 km or 2097 mi	Dededo	$2401
3383 km or 2102 mi	Hagatna	$3009
3611 km or 2244 mi	Cairns	$1695
3612 km or 2244 mi	Jayapura	$506
3658 km or 2273 mi	Gladstone	$1640
3665 km or 2277 mi	Townsville	$1839
3668 km or 2279 mi	Bundaberg	$1727
3672 km or 2282 mi	Hervey Bay	$1864
3673 km or 2282 mi	Rockhampton	$1635
3762 km or 2338 mi	Kauai	$2821
3779 km or 2348 mi	Sunshine Coast	$1835
3788 km or 2354 mi	Caloundra	$1864
3822 km or 2375 mi	Caboolture	$1988
3851 km or 2393 mi	Waipahu	$2700
3854 km or 2395 mi	Brisbane	$2269
3855 km or 2396 mi	Pearl	$2610