Manila vs South Tarawa - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Manila	South Tarawa
🚶 Cost of living one person	$766	$514
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2308	$1262
🏠 One person rent	$361	$228
🏘️ Family rent	$961	$423
🍽️ Food expenses	$287	$211
🚐 Transport expenses	$49.2	$21.3
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$526	$397
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	11 km	20 km
🎓 Higher education	73	1
😀 Quality of life	65	23
🏙️ Population	1.85M	63.4K

The cost of living in Manila is 49% more expensive than in South Tarawa. Cities ranked 6586th and 8525th ($766 vs $514) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 5th and 1st in the Philippines and Kiribati, respectively. Check the Philippines vs Kiribati comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.7 months in Manila compared to 0.8 months in South Tarawa. Manila ranked 3rd best city to live in the Philippines vs South Tarawa ranked 1st in Kiribati, while ranked 4165th and 8757th among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Manila vs South Tarawa infographic

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Prices in Manila vs South Tarawa

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

	Manila	South Tarawa
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$4.69	$3.49
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$24.4	$20.3
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.25	$4.84
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.02	$1.79
☕ Cappuccino	$2.73	$1.8
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.84	$0.56
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$412	$216
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$220	$149
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1498	$452
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$648	$307
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$73.8	$39.2
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$115	$59.9
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$28.1	$26.5
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	7.42%	11.84%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3093	$1450
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2849	$916
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.52	$0.4
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$12.4	$15.1
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$3.85	$6.61
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.09	$1.06
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$2.04	$1.16
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.25	$0.72
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.01	$1.15
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.14	$1.63
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.06	$7.06
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.09	$4.27
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.81	$6.89
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.97	$2.14
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.82	$1.22
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.33	$1.57
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.34	$1.08
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.66	$0.93
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.23	$0.98
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.47	$0.35
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.68	$1.2
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$8.79	$7.64
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.45	$1.39
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.1	$2.85
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.47	$3.83
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.22	$2.92
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.77	$1.53
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.67	$1.27
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$37.7	$23
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$7.39	$4.3
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$16	$15.5
💇 Haircut, simple	$5.64	$4.09
👖 Brand Jeans	$36	$29.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$74.8	$62.9
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$444	$108
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$13387	$3341

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	$770
6.1 km or 3.8 mi	Caloocan	$640
6.2 km or 3.9 mi	Mandaluyong	$746
7.3 km or 4.6 mi	Quezon	$706
7.7 km or 4.8 mi	Malabon	$623
7.9 km or 4.9 mi	Makati	$901
8.8 km or 5.4 mi	Navotas	$732
12 km or 7.2 mi	Valenzuela	$506
12 km or 7.2 mi	Pasig	$670
12 km or 7.3 mi	Taguig	$780
15 km or 9 mi	Marikina	$546
15 km or 9.3 mi	Bacoor	$538
15 km or 9.3 mi	Paranaque	$621
15 km or 9.5 mi	Cainta	$704
16 km or 9.7 mi	Meycauayan	$577
16 km or 10 mi	Las Pinas	$589
19 km or 12 mi	Imus	$518
21 km or 13 mi	Antipolo	$535
25 km or 15 mi	Muntinlupa	$676
25 km or 16 mi	San Jose del Monte	$496
26 km or 16 mi	General Trias	$457
28 km or 17 mi	San Pedro	$575
28 km or 17 mi	Binangonan	$487
30 km or 19 mi	Dasmarinas	$400
31 km or 19 mi	Binan	$539
33 km or 20 mi	Malolos	$572
34 km or 21 mi	Santa Rosa	$508
37 km or 23 mi	Trece Martires	$515
39 km or 24 mi	Cabuyao	$545
47 km or 29 mi	Calamba	$486
58 km or 36 mi	San Fernando	$610
60 km or 37 mi	Tanauan	$508
61 km or 38 mi	Santo Tomas	$504
69 km or 43 mi	San Pablo	$427
74 km or 46 mi	Angeles	$613
75 km or 47 mi	Lipa	$398
79 km or 49 mi	Olongapo	$464
81 km or 50 mi	Mabalacat	$585
94 km or 59 mi	Batangas	$508
99 km or 61 mi	Cabanatuan	$372

Cities near South Tarawa

Distance	City	Cost of living
658 km or 409 mi	Majuro	$1488
661 km or 411 mi	Djarrit	$1494
706 km or 439 mi	Yaren	$669
1302 km or 809 mi	Vaiaku	$661
1302 km or 809 mi	Funafuti	$659
1768 km or 1099 mi	Auki	$1401
1879 km or 1167 mi	Honiara	$1411
1988 km or 1235 mi	Luganville	$1946
2172 km or 1349 mi	Lautoka	$660
2190 km or 1361 mi	Nadi	$977
2190 km or 1361 mi	Port Vila	$1938
2248 km or 1397 mi	Nasinu	$810
2253 km or 1400 mi	Suva	$808
2310 km or 1435 mi	Manase	$644
2382 km or 1480 mi	Apia	$647
2712 km or 1685 mi	Dumbea	$1604
2713 km or 1686 mi	Paita	$1604
2725 km or 1693 mi	Noumea	$1652
2817 km or 1750 mi	Nukualofa	$1001
2825 km or 1756 mi	Mua	$1002
3022 km or 1878 mi	Lae	$531
3104 km or 1929 mi	Port Moresby	$547
3286 km or 2042 mi	London	$513
3357 km or 2086 mi	Saipan	$1427
3375 km or 2097 mi	Dededo	$2909
3383 km or 2102 mi	Hagatna	$2648
3611 km or 2244 mi	Cairns	$1335
3612 km or 2244 mi	Jayapura	$420
3658 km or 2273 mi	Gladstone	$1478
3665 km or 2277 mi	Townsville	$1667
3668 km or 2279 mi	Bundaberg	$1557
3672 km or 2282 mi	Hervey Bay	$1638
3673 km or 2282 mi	Rockhampton	$1411
3762 km or 2338 mi	Kauai	$2735
3779 km or 2348 mi	Sunshine Coast	$1709
3788 km or 2354 mi	Caloundra	$1683
3822 km or 2375 mi	Caboolture	$1748
3851 km or 2393 mi	Waipahu	$2620
3854 km or 2395 mi	Brisbane	$2016
3855 km or 2396 mi	Pearl	$2562