Medan vs Port Moresby - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Medan	Port Moresby
🚶 Cost of living one person	$453	$562
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1141	$1375
🏠 One person rent	$189	$238
🏘️ Family rent	$310	$399
🍽️ Food expenses	$170	$228
🚐 Transport expenses	$32.3	$37.3
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$216	$218
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	9 km
🎓 Higher education	55	16
😀 Quality of life	47	50
🏙️ Population	2.11M	317K

The cost of living in Medan is 19% less expensive than in Port Moresby. Cities ranked 8852nd and 8303rd ($453 vs $562) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 44th and 1st in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, respectively. Check Indonesia vs Papua New Guinea comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.5 months in Medan compared to 0.4 months in Port Moresby. Medan ranked 15th best city to live in Indonesia vs Port Moresby ranked 1st in Papua New Guinea, while ranked 6943rd and 6661st among best cities to live in the world.

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<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/medan/port-moresby.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Medan vs Port Moresby infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/medan/port-moresby" target="_blank">Medan vs Port Moresby - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Medan vs Port Moresby

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

	Medan	Port Moresby
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$1.64	$4.05
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$10.7	$22.9
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$3.06	$5.25
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.01	$1.86
☕ Cappuccino	$1.7	$1.97
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.37	$0.67
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$173	$229
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$109	$157
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$311	$417
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$196	$283
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$43.2	$42.1
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$67.1	$64.6
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$24	$24.4
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	9.17%	12.25%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1152	$1376
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$558	$854
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.28	$0.43
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$6.85	$17.6
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$2.7	$7.61
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.7	$1.04
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.18	$1.22
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.11	$0.81
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.89	$1.2
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.32	$1.76
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.98	$7.44
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.29	$4.51
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.36	$7.42
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.44	$2.33
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.03	$1.27
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.47	$1.6
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.85	$1.19
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.8	$1.05
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.62	$1.04
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.3	$0.39
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.01	$1.26
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$8.72	$7.89
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.81	$1.43
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.56	$3.2
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$1.79	$3.97
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$2.16	$3.1
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$0.74	$1.53
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.7	$1.25
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$17.9	$23.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$3.24	$4.6
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$13.1	$20.5
💇 Haircut, simple	$2.48	$4.43
👖 Brand Jeans	$47.2	$32.9
👟 Brand Sneakers	$96.2	$67.7
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$114	$155
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$7769	$4989

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Medan

Distance	City	Cost of living
21 km or 13 mi	Binjai	$449
67 km or 41 mi	Tebing Tinggi	$449
90 km or 56 mi	Pematangsiantar	$459
119 km or 74 mi	Langsa	$439
148 km or 92 mi	Tanjungbalai	$470
238 km or 148 mi	Lhokseumawe	$429
264 km or 164 mi	Teluk Intan	$678
264 km or 164 mi	Taiping	$555
264 km or 164 mi	Padangsidempuan	$530
268 km or 166 mi	George Town	$762
269 km or 167 mi	Butterworth	$720
286 km or 178 mi	Ipoh	$677
298 km or 185 mi	Sungai Petani	$637
307 km or 191 mi	Gunungsitoli	$527
317 km or 197 mi	Klang	$743
322 km or 200 mi	Ko Lipe	$747
324 km or 201 mi	Langkawi	$616
325 km or 202 mi	Shah Alam	$741
331 km or 206 mi	Alor Setar	$545
332 km or 206 mi	Subang Jaya	$798
332 km or 206 mi	Petaling Jaya	$783
341 km or 212 mi	Kuala Lumpur	$992
342 km or 212 mi	Cyberjaya	$654
345 km or 215 mi	Putrajaya	$610
352 km or 219 mi	Kangar	$592
378 km or 235 mi	Seremban	$617
381 km or 237 mi	Dumai	$488
422 km or 262 mi	Hat Yai	$588
426 km or 265 mi	Banda Aceh	$407
431 km or 268 mi	Malacca	$707
445 km or 277 mi	Ko Lanta	$806
466 km or 289 mi	Pekanbaru	$466
468 km or 291 mi	Muar	$759
470 km or 292 mi	Phuket	$1010
483 km or 300 mi	Kota Bharu	$531
487 km or 303 mi	Ao Nang	$784
489 km or 304 mi	Krabi	$836
515 km or 320 mi	Batu Pahat	$737
518 km or 322 mi	Kuantan	$576
529 km or 329 mi	Kuala Terengganu	$550

Cities near Port Moresby

Distance	City	Cost of living
306 km or 190 mi	Lae	$546
841 km or 523 mi	Cairns	$1851
1050 km or 652 mi	Jayapura	$492
1088 km or 676 mi	Townsville	$2015
1404 km or 872 mi	Honiara	$1502
1489 km or 925 mi	Auki	$1491
1586 km or 986 mi	Rockhampton	$1642
1656 km or 1029 mi	Gladstone	$1643
1734 km or 1077 mi	Manokwari	$474
1796 km or 1116 mi	Bundaberg	$1720
1810 km or 1125 mi	Darwin	$2065
1859 km or 1155 mi	Hervey Bay	$1883
2003 km or 1244 mi	Sorong	$496
2008 km or 1248 mi	Sunshine Coast	$1838
2026 km or 1259 mi	Caloundra	$1863
2049 km or 1273 mi	Caboolture	$1992
2071 km or 1287 mi	Toowoomba	$1720
2093 km or 1301 mi	Brisbane	$2323
2101 km or 1306 mi	Ipswich	$1825
2119 km or 1317 mi	Alice Springs	$1566
2157 km or 1341 mi	Southport	$2341
2163 km or 1344 mi	Gold Coast	$2530
2192 km or 1362 mi	Ambon	$499
2235 km or 1389 mi	Byron Bay	$2672
2273 km or 1413 mi	Luganville	$2020
2276 km or 1414 mi	Baucau	$501
2342 km or 1455 mi	Melekeok	$1174
2343 km or 1456 mi	Ngerulmud	$1173
2371 km or 1473 mi	Dili	$507
2376 km or 1477 mi	Ainaro	$500
2384 km or 1481 mi	Armidale	$1273
2397 km or 1489 mi	Coffs Harbour	$2132
2403 km or 1493 mi	Yaren	$788
2407 km or 1496 mi	Maliana	$499
2461 km or 1529 mi	Port Vila	$2036
2470 km or 1535 mi	Ternate	$421
2487 km or 1545 mi	Paita	$1851
2495 km or 1550 mi	Dumbea	$1844
2502 km or 1554 mi	Noumea	$1911
2512 km or 1561 mi	Port Macquarie	$1786