Cost of Living in Honolulu, 🇺🇸 United States - For Locals, Nomads, and Tourists

Researched Updated Oct 25, 2026 Last changed Oct 31, 2026 About costs

Cost breakdown

Digital nomad: short-term stay (1-3 months). Furnished Airbnb or coliving near center, coworking, eating out ~3x/day, travel health insurance.

Expat: long-term resident (1+ years). Renting apartment in center, mix of cooking and dining out, local health insurance, settled lifestyle.

Family: middle-class 4-person family. 2-3 bedroom in suburbs, groceries for 4, international school, car/transport, family health plan.

Local: budget-conscious local resident. Renting outside center, cooking at home, public transport, local phone plan.

Tourist: short-stay visitor (1-14 days). Hotel/Airbnb nightly, all meals at restaurants, taxis, sightseeing.

CategoryCost

Housing 1 2 13 21 $3,250 $2,450 $4,500 $1,550 $285

Utilities 1 17 — $157 $237 $157 —

Internet & Mobile 3 7 1 $45 $109 $210 $109 $5

Groceries 1 18 19 20 $130 $620 $1,250 $580 $12

Transportation 4 5 6 $285 $380 $820 $90 $48

Dining Out 25 26 27 28 32 1 $1,500 $720 $980 $280 $105

Leisure Activities 1 12 16 24 $420 $351 $6,150 $95 $75

Health Insurance 11 15 $63 $520 $1,250 $420 —

Visa & Legal Fees 14 23 $50 $50 $50 — —

Total $5,743 $5,357 $15,447 $3,281 $530

Itemized prices

Local prices converted to the selected currency.

Housing

Apartment (1 bedroom) 1 2 $2,300.00 $1,550 – $2,650 per month

Coworking Space 10 $275.00 per month

Airbnb (1 month) 1 21 13 $3,250.00 $2,400 – $4,200 per month

Coliving Space 1 21 $2,100.00 per month

Food & Dining

Coffee 25 1 $8.71 per cup

Beer 32 1 $9.67 per pint

Meal (Inexpensive) 27 1 $23.40 per meal

Fast Food Combo 26 $15.00 per meal

Apples 29 1 $7.39 per kg

Bread 20 1 $7.39 per loaf

Milk 18 1 $2.24 per liter

Rice 30 1 $5.61 per kg

Chicken Fillets 19 1 $17.60 per kg

Beef 31 1 $21.00 per kg

Wine (Mid-range) 33 1 $20.50 per bottle

Meal (Mid-range, 2 people) 28 1 $111.00 per meal

Water (1.5L bottle) 35 1 $3.48 per bottle

Transportation

Taxi Start 5 $4.80 per trip

Taxi per km 5 $3.05 per km

Monthly Transport Pass 4 $90.00 per month

Gasoline 6 34 $1.49 per liter

Ride-hailing (5km) 5 $20.00 per trip

Scooter Rental 9 $30.00 per month

Services

Mobile Plan 7 8 $45.00 per month

Internet (60 Mbps+) 1 3 $64.00 per month

Gym Membership 24 1 $69.00 per month

Tennis Court (Weekend) 16 $25.00 per hour

SIM Card (Tourist, prepaid) 7 $50.00 one-time

Entertainment

Cinema Ticket 42 43 1 $19.30 per ticket

Clothing

Jeans 39 1 $64.40 per pair

Summer Dress 40 1 $48.00 per dress

Running Shoes 41 1 $112.00 per pair

Personal Care

Haircut 36 1 $25.50 per visit

Laundry 37 $1.25 per kg

Healthcare

Doctor Visit (GP) 1 22 $172.00 per visit

Pharmacy (basic meds) 38 1 $12.90 per purchase

About these costs

Method: Researched
Last updated: Oct 25, 2026
Last changed: Oct 31, 2026

Checked against the sources below and compared with similar cities. Numbers in the list point to these sources.

Compared with Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Hanoi

Livingcost Honolulu groceries, meals, utilities, transport June 2026Index
Zumper Urban Honolulu 1BR USD 2,300 Oct 2026Listings
Hawaiian Telcom Fioptics from USD 30/mo promoOfficial
TheBus HOLO monthly pass USD 90Official
Charley’s Taxi flag USD 4.80; USD 4.90/mile day rateOfficial
AAA Hawaii regular USD 5.6586/gal Oct 2026Index
T-Mobile prepaid unlimited USD 45/mo with AutoPayOfficial
Visible unlimited USD 25/moOfficial
Biki Voyager bikeshare USD 30/mo unlimited 45-min ridesOfficial
Hawaii Coworking open desk USD 275/moListings
SafetyWing Essential USD 62.72 per 4 weeksOfficial
Punahou K–12 tuition USD 34,230/yr 2026–27Official
Booking.com Waikiki mid-range hotels roughly USD 250–290/night Oct 2026Secondary
CBP ESTA programme for Visa Waiver travellersOfficial
KFF employer single premium benchmarkSecondary
City park tennis free; USTA private lesson USD 85/hrSecondary
HECO Oahu residential avg 40.54¢/kWh 2025Official
Foodland Ala Moana Sunhearth whole milk USD 8.49/galListings
Foodland Foster Farms chicken breast USD 7.99/lbListings
Foodland Love’s whole wheat bread loaf USD 7.39Listings
Furnished Finder Honolulu 1BR furnished USD 2,400/mo utilities includedListings
MinuteClinic Virtual Care USD 89 cash payOfficial
State Dept B visitor visa application USD 185Official
YMCA of Honolulu adult membership USD 69/moOfficial
Starbucks Waikiki Caffè Latte USD 6.35+Listings
McDonald's Nimitz Hwy combo meals USD 12.99–14.39+Listings
K & K Kitchen plate lunches from USD 13.25+Listings
Doraku Sushi Wafu ribeye steak USD 30Listings
Foodland Fuji apples from USD 2.49/lbListings
Foodland Dynasty jasmine rice 5 lb USD 8.99Listings
Foodland Big Island ground beef USD 8.99/lbListings
Foodland Kona Big Wave 19.2 oz can USD 5.59Listings
Foodland Barefoot Pinot Grigio 750 ml USD 7.99Listings
EIA US regular gasoline USD 4.284/gal week of 19 Oct 2026Official
Foodland Blue Hi purified water 1.5 L USD 2.39Listings
Fresha Honolulu men's haircuts from USD 40 (Salon Ava wash & cut)Listings
Sheridan Laundry drop-off wash-dry-fold USD 2.25/lbListings
CVS NyQuil Severe 12 oz USD 16.99Official
Target Levi's 501 jeans USD 52.49 sale / USD 74.99 listListings
Target Wild Fable summer mini dress USD 40Listings
Target Mizuno Wave Rider 29 running shoes USD 99.99 saleListings
Fever Regal Dole Cannery premiere voucher USD 9.99Listings
Regal Dole Cannery Honolulu showtimes and ticketingOfficial

Change history

Oct 31, 2026
- Method Generated Researched
- Airbnb (1 month) 4000 3250
- Apartment (1 bedroom) 2200 2300
- Apples 4 7.39
- Beef 18 21
- Beer 8 9.67
39 more changes
- Bread 4.5 7.39
- Chicken Fillets 11 17.6
- Cinema Ticket 16 19.3
- Coffee 5.5 8.71
- Coliving Space 2000 2100
- Coworking Space 350 275
- Dining Out local 200, nomad 1200, expat 600, family 800, tourist 80 local 280, nomad 1500, expat 720, family 980, tourist 105
- Doctor Visit (GP) 200 172
- Fast Food Combo 11 15
- Gasoline 1.3 1.49
- Groceries local 450, nomad 150, expat 500, family 1000, tourist 0 local 580, nomad 130, expat 620, family 1250, tourist 12
- Gym Membership 65 69
- Haircut 35 25.5
- Health Insurance local 100, nomad 200, expat 250, family 600, tourist 10 local 420, nomad 63, expat 520, family 1250, tourist 0
- Housing local 1300, nomad 3000, expat 2200, family 3500, tourist 180 local 1550, nomad 3250, expat 2450, family 4500, tourist 285
- Internet & Mobile local 80, nomad 100, expat 90, family 120, tourist 5 local 109, nomad 45, family 210, tourist 5
- Internet (60 Mbps+) 85 64
- Jeans 70 64.4
- Laundry 4 1.25
- Leisure Activities local 50, nomad 400, expat 300, family 400, tourist 60 local 95, nomad 420, expat 351, family 6150, tourist 75
- Meal (Inexpensive) 18 23.4
- Meal (Mid-range, 2 people) 100 111
- Milk 2.8 2.24
- Mobile Plan 50 45
- Monthly Transport Pass 75 90
- Pharmacy (basic meds) 12 12.9
- Rice 3.5 5.61
- Ride-hailing (5km) 18 20
- Running Shoes 120 112
- SIM Card (Tourist, prepaid) 40 50
- Scooter Rental 40 30
- Summer Dress 50 48
- Taxi Start 3.8 4.8
- Taxi per km 2.5 3.05
- Transportation local 80, nomad 200, expat 150, family 400, tourist 40 local 90, nomad 285, expat 380, family 820, tourist 48
- Utilities local 180, nomad 0, expat 200, family 300, tourist 0 local 157, nomad 0, family 237, tourist 0
- Visa & Legal Fees local 0, nomad 50, expat 80, family 120 local 0, nomad 50, expat 50, family 50
- Water (1.5L bottle) 2.5 3.48
- Wine (Mid-range) 18 20.5
Lint retry — Coffee, Beer, Meal (Inexpensive), Fast Food Combo, Apples, Rice, Beef, Wine (Mid-range), Gasoline, Cinema Ticket, Jeans, Summer Dress, Running Shoes, Dining Out, Meal (Mid-range, 2 people), Water (1.5L bottle), Haircut, Laundry, and Pharmacy (basic meds) now cite Foodland, Seamless, Target, CVS, Fresha, Sheridan Laundry, Regal/Fever, and EIA operator/listing pages (seamless.com, shop.foodland.com, eia.gov)

Honolulu cost of living