Manama vs Sao Tome - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Manama	Sao Tome
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1280	$900
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$3260	$2253
🏠 One person rent	$675	$312
🏘️ Family rent	$1427	$626
🍽️ Food expenses	$394	$464
🚐 Transport expenses	$110	$37.2
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$2298	$252
😷 Air quality	Bad	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	8 km	6 km
🎓 Higher education	46	1
😀 Quality of life	74	22
🏙️ Population	298K	65.5K

The cost of living in Manama is 42% more expensive than in Sao Tome. Cities ranked 4263rd and 6047th ($1280 vs $900) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 2nd in Bahrain and Sao Tome and Principe, respectively. Check Bahrain vs Sao Tome and Principe comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.8 months in Manama compared to 0.3 months in Sao Tome. Manama ranked 1st best city to live in Bahrain vs Sao Tome ranked 1st in Sao Tome and Principe, while ranked 1311th and 8798th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Manama vs Sao Tome infographic

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Prices in Manama vs Sao Tome

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

	Manama	Sao Tome
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$6.92	$18.3
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$57	$32.7
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$7.22	$8.94
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$9.31	$1.49
☕ Cappuccino	$5.26	$1.57
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.85	$1.72
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$715	$283
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$512	$187
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1691	$608
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1155	$473
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$80.4	$40.2
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$123	$61.1
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$41.8	$65.5
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	8.7%	7.35%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2589	$1445
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2299	$123
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.86	$1.11
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$34.8	$48.1
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$36.6	$7.07
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.55	$1.51
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.82	$1.23
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.45	$0.93
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.39	$2.09
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.68	$4.54
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.57	$18.3
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.39	$13.6
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.6	$22.6
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.39	$3.12
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.07	$1.06
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.73	$3.7
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.22	$3.13
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.83	$2.36
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.95	$1.84
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.67	$1.17
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.81	$1.25
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$20.1	$6.27
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.04	$1.18
🚬 Cigarette pack	$6.44	$2.12
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.44	$3.96
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.98	$3
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.8	$1.53
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.36	$1.28
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$78.5	$33.5
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$10.6	$19
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$39.8	$17.7
💇 Haircut, simple	$4.78	$4.28
👖 Brand Jeans	$43.8	$31.9
👟 Brand Sneakers	$90	$63.8
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$377	$126
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$9896	$3685

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Manama

Distance	City	Cost of living
5.9 km or 3.7 mi	Isa Town	$1243
10 km or 6.2 mi	Riffa	$1223
44 km or 27 mi	Dhahran	$1068
54 km or 33 mi	Dammam	$1056
98 km or 61 mi	Qatif	$897
110 km or 68 mi	Al Khor	$1709
126 km or 78 mi	Al-Mubarraz	$804
126 km or 78 mi	Jubail	$901
139 km or 87 mi	Doha	$1779
307 km or 191 mi	Bushehr	$551
345 km or 214 mi	Borazjan	$546
376 km or 233 mi	Al Wafrah	$1210
388 km or 241 mi	Jahrom	$547
392 km or 244 mi	Kazerun	$557
421 km or 262 mi	Madinat Zayed	$1721
424 km or 263 mi	Shiraz	$589
426 km or 265 mi	Riyadh	$1637
427 km or 265 mi	Abu Dhabi	$1828
428 km or 266 mi	Fasa	$548
435 km or 270 mi	Kuwait City	$1393
461 km or 287 mi	Marvdasht	$563
467 km or 290 mi	Al-Faw	$736
485 km or 301 mi	Dubai	$2379
488 km or 303 mi	Behbahan	$536
491 km or 305 mi	Sharjah	$1494
498 km or 309 mi	Umm Qasr	$740
498 km or 310 mi	Ajman	$2240
501 km or 312 mi	Bandar-e Mahshahr	$548
503 km or 312 mi	Umm al-Quwain	$1196
504 km or 313 mi	Yasuj	$529
510 km or 317 mi	Abadan	$547
524 km or 326 mi	Khorramshahr	$544
543 km or 337 mi	Az Zubayr	$723
547 km or 340 mi	Basra	$904
555 km or 345 mi	Ras al-Khaimah	$1540
565 km or 351 mi	Al Ain	$1844
573 km or 356 mi	Bandar Abbas	$634
589 km or 366 mi	Fujairah	$1239
597 km or 371 mi	Ahvaz	$597
617 km or 383 mi	Sirjan	$514

Cities near Sao Tome

Distance	City	Cost of living
8.3 km or 5.1 mi	Trindade	$900
256 km or 159 mi	Port-Gentil	$625
303 km or 188 mi	Libreville	$668
375 km or 233 mi	Bata	$1121
443 km or 275 mi	Malabo	$741
492 km or 306 mi	Port Harcourt	$679
494 km or 307 mi	Limbe	$655
509 km or 316 mi	Buea	$601
529 km or 328 mi	Douala	$1265
537 km or 333 mi	Aba	$621
543 km or 337 mi	Calabar	$384
565 km or 351 mi	Kumba	$764
574 km or 356 mi	Owerri	$1611
584 km or 363 mi	Umuahia	$883
587 km or 365 mi	Warri	$881
649 km or 403 mi	Onitsha	$972
653 km or 406 mi	Awka	$805
660 km or 410 mi	Yaounde	$747
677 km or 421 mi	Benin	$558
684 km or 425 mi	Enugu	$462
702 km or 436 mi	Bafoussam	$555
730 km or 454 mi	Bamenda	$553
772 km or 480 mi	Owo	$651
774 km or 481 mi	Lagos	$1113
788 km or 490 mi	Akure	$634
806 km or 501 mi	Pointe-Noire	$569
822 km or 511 mi	Porto-Novo	$670
824 km or 512 mi	Cotonou	$709
827 km or 514 mi	Ado Ekiti	$666
829 km or 515 mi	Ife	$779
845 km or 525 mi	Ibadan	$776
846 km or 526 mi	Abeokuta	$1030
861 km or 535 mi	Osogbo	$695
884 km or 549 mi	Kayes	$523
889 km or 552 mi	Lome	$755
890 km or 553 mi	Oyo	$677
892 km or 555 mi	Cabinda	$676
907 km or 564 mi	Madingou	$519
924 km or 574 mi	Gamboma	$522
926 km or 575 mi	Abomey	$590