Kaohsiung vs South Tarawa - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Kaohsiung	South Tarawa
🚶 Cost of living one person	$999	$538
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2645	$1303
🏠 One person rent	$382	$233
🏘️ Family rent	$672	$392
🍽️ Food expenses	$413	$226
🚐 Transport expenses	$77.9	$22.7
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1411	$164
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	7 km	20 km
🎓 Higher education	80	1
😀 Quality of life	87	28
🏙️ Population	2.72M	63.4K

The cost of living in Kaohsiung is 86% more expensive than in South Tarawa. Cities ranked 5666th and 8474th ($999 vs $538) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd and 2nd in Taiwan and Kiribati, respectively. Check Taiwan vs Kiribati comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.4 months in Kaohsiung compared to 0.3 months in South Tarawa. Kaohsiung ranked 5th best city to live in Taiwan vs South Tarawa ranked 1st in Kiribati, while ranked 364th 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/kaohsiung/south-tarawa.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Kaohsiung vs South Tarawa infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/kaohsiung/south-tarawa" target="_blank">Kaohsiung vs South Tarawa - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Kaohsiung vs South Tarawa

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

	Kaohsiung	South Tarawa
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$3.78	$4
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$31.6	$22.3
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.07	$5.15
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.59	$1.82
☕ Cappuccino	$2.91	$1.93
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.93	$0.63
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$404	$226
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$289	$151
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$745	$412
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$535	$274
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$46.1	$41
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$71.6	$63.8
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$24	$26.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	2.43%	12.43%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4856	$1374
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3306	$845
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.8	$0.41
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$12.8	$15.9
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$8.47	$7.47
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.98	$1.01
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$3.42	$1.22
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.08	$0.76
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.91	$1.21
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.85	$1.73
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.4	$7.22
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.09	$4.59
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.6	$7.22
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.54	$2.38
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.89	$1.25
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.61	$1.67
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.6	$1.16
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.13	$1.04
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.19	$1.04
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.67	$0.39
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.74	$1.24
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$13.8	$8
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.76	$1.46
🚬 Cigarette pack	$4.48	$2.98
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$12.8	$3.96
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.95	$3.05
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.32	$1.6
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.15	$1.27
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$36.6	$24.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$9.53	$4.49
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$69.3	$19.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$8.74	$4.22
👖 Brand Jeans	$100	$31.4
👟 Brand Sneakers	$88.5	$65.8
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$450	$131
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$11481	$4200

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Kaohsiung

Distance	City	Cost of living
42 km or 26 mi	Tainan	$910
88 km or 55 mi	Taitung	$841
97 km or 60 mi	Chiayi	$910
124 km or 77 mi	Douliu	$889
150 km or 93 mi	Nantou	$879
163 km or 101 mi	Changhua	$888
175 km or 108 mi	Taichung	$957
224 km or 139 mi	Miaoli	$709
253 km or 157 mi	Hsinchu	$937
257 km or 160 mi	Zhubei	$882
265 km or 165 mi	Taoyuan	$941
280 km or 174 mi	Yilan	$796
285 km or 177 mi	Kinmen	$903
291 km or 181 mi	New Taipei	$1108
298 km or 185 mi	Taipei	$1257
301 km or 187 mi	Jinjiang	$630
307 km or 191 mi	Xiamen	$723
309 km or 192 mi	Quanzhou	$634
315 km or 196 mi	Keelung	$997
340 km or 211 mi	Putian	$668
341 km or 212 mi	Zhangzhou	$696
379 km or 235 mi	Shantou	$602
393 km or 244 mi	Chaozhou	$465
398 km or 247 mi	Fuzhou	$656
416 km or 258 mi	Jieyang	$464
430 km or 267 mi	Puning	$589
432 km or 268 mi	Longyan	$698
437 km or 271 mi	Ishigaki	$1067
457 km or 284 mi	Ningde	$654
466 km or 289 mi	Meizhou	$673
487 km or 302 mi	Sanming	$634
497 km or 309 mi	Nanping	$682
510 km or 317 mi	Shanwei	$943
562 km or 349 mi	Miyakojima	$1064
575 km or 357 mi	Rui'an	$705
575 km or 357 mi	Tuguegarao	$416
587 km or 365 mi	Heyuan	$765
600 km or 373 mi	Wenzhou	$763
605 km or 376 mi	Huizhou	$621
616 km or 382 mi	Wuyishan	$610

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