Manila vs Medan - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Manila	Medan
🚶 Cost of living one person	$790	$466
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1963	$1207
🏠 One person rent	$379	$186
🏘️ Family rent	$637	$296
🍽️ Food expenses	$287	$170
🚐 Transport expenses	$50.3	$35.1
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$386	$223
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	11 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	74	55
😀 Quality of life	65	62
🏙️ Population	1.85M	2.11M

The cost of living in Manila is 70% more expensive than in Medan. Cities ranked 6703rd and 8825th ($790 vs $466) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 5th and 48th in the Philippines and Indonesia, respectively. Check the Philippines vs Indonesia comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.5 months in Manila compared to 0.5 months in Medan. Manila ranked 3rd best city to live in the Philippines vs Medan ranked 7th in Indonesia, while ranked 5220th and 5663rd among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Manila vs Medan infographic

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Prices in Manila vs Medan

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

	Manila	Medan
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$5.15	$1.81
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$24.2	$10.5
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.27	$3.14
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.96	$1.51
☕ Cappuccino	$2.7	$1.73
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.97	$0.41
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$458	$172
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$232	$86.9
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$815	$312
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$416	$156
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$74.3	$48.9
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$114	$75.4
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$27.5	$32.9
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	7.47%	9.2%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3756	$1333
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2382	$604
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.6	$0.3
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$13.2	$9.61
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$3.9	$2.24
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.06	$0.82
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$2.1	$1.18
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.22	$1.12
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.04	$0.83
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.27	$1.5
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.83	$9.38
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.01	$3.74
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.84	$6.83
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.97	$2.23
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.83	$1.01
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.61	$1.47
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.3	$0.89
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.56	$0.7
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.01	$1.25
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.42	$0.31
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.55	$1.12
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$9.04	$6.66
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.44	$1.34
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.2	$2.39
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.39	$1.98
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.16	$2.35
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.74	$0.81
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.65	$0.76
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$40.3	$22.9
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$7.44	$3.44
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$16.1	$14
💇 Haircut, simple	$5.63	$2.72
👖 Brand Jeans	$46	$64.6
👟 Brand Sneakers	$80	$114
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$139	$124
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$16980	$10637

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Manila

Distance	City	Cost of living
5.7 km or 3.5 mi	Pasay	$785
6.1 km or 3.8 mi	Caloocan	$568
6.2 km or 3.9 mi	Mandaluyong	$742
7.3 km or 4.6 mi	Quezon	$717
7.7 km or 4.8 mi	Malabon	$674
7.9 km or 4.9 mi	Makati	$1009
8.8 km or 5.4 mi	Navotas	$657
12 km or 7.2 mi	Valenzuela	$432
12 km or 7.2 mi	Pasig	$642
12 km or 7.3 mi	Taguig	$807
15 km or 9 mi	Marikina	$555
15 km or 9.3 mi	Bacoor	$540
15 km or 9.3 mi	Paranaque	$651
15 km or 9.5 mi	Cainta	$760
16 km or 9.7 mi	Meycauayan	$561
16 km or 10 mi	Las Pinas	$628
19 km or 12 mi	Imus	$536
21 km or 13 mi	Antipolo	$570
25 km or 15 mi	Muntinlupa	$692
25 km or 16 mi	San Jose del Monte	$511
26 km or 16 mi	General Trias	$519
28 km or 17 mi	San Pedro	$617
28 km or 17 mi	Binangonan	$525
30 km or 19 mi	Dasmarinas	$414
31 km or 19 mi	Binan	$613
33 km or 20 mi	Malolos	$630
34 km or 21 mi	Santa Rosa	$575
37 km or 23 mi	Trece Martires	$542
39 km or 24 mi	Cabuyao	$616
47 km or 29 mi	Calamba	$489
58 km or 36 mi	San Fernando	$609
60 km or 37 mi	Tanauan	$535
61 km or 38 mi	Santo Tomas	$531
69 km or 43 mi	San Pablo	$477
74 km or 46 mi	Angeles	$624
75 km or 47 mi	Lipa	$425
79 km or 49 mi	Olongapo	$471
81 km or 50 mi	Mabalacat	$598
94 km or 59 mi	Batangas	$532
99 km or 61 mi	Cabanatuan	$448

Cities near Medan

Distance	City	Cost of living
21 km or 13 mi	Binjai	$460
67 km or 41 mi	Tebing Tinggi	$461
90 km or 56 mi	Pematangsiantar	$472
119 km or 74 mi	Langsa	$449
148 km or 92 mi	Tanjungbalai	$488
238 km or 148 mi	Lhokseumawe	$423
264 km or 164 mi	Teluk Intan	$654
264 km or 164 mi	Taiping	$552
264 km or 164 mi	Padangsidempuan	$563
268 km or 166 mi	George Town	$754
269 km or 167 mi	Butterworth	$701
286 km or 178 mi	Ipoh	$657
298 km or 185 mi	Sungai Petani	$653
307 km or 191 mi	Gunungsitoli	$554
317 km or 197 mi	Klang	$704
322 km or 200 mi	Ko Lipe	$756
324 km or 201 mi	Langkawi	$592
325 km or 202 mi	Shah Alam	$681
331 km or 206 mi	Alor Setar	$509
332 km or 206 mi	Subang Jaya	$789
332 km or 206 mi	Petaling Jaya	$731
341 km or 212 mi	Kuala Lumpur	$866
342 km or 212 mi	Cyberjaya	$609
345 km or 215 mi	Putrajaya	$584
352 km or 219 mi	Kangar	$570
378 km or 235 mi	Seremban	$643
381 km or 237 mi	Dumai	$519
422 km or 262 mi	Hat Yai	$592
426 km or 265 mi	Banda Aceh	$386
431 km or 268 mi	Malacca	$689
445 km or 277 mi	Ko Lanta	$807
466 km or 289 mi	Pekanbaru	$503
468 km or 291 mi	Muar	$771
470 km or 292 mi	Phuket	$1014
483 km or 300 mi	Kota Bharu	$517
487 km or 303 mi	Ao Nang	$773
489 km or 304 mi	Krabi	$854
515 km or 320 mi	Batu Pahat	$788
518 km or 322 mi	Kuantan	$552
529 km or 329 mi	Kuala Terengganu	$534