Addis Ababa vs Meru - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Addis Ababa	Meru
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1180	$541
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2653	$1478
🏠 One person rent	$710	$181
🏘️ Family rent	$1338	$382
🍽️ Food expenses	$322	$266
🚐 Transport expenses	$63.8	$37.9
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$207	$433
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	9 km	69 km
🎓 Higher education	32	29
😀 Quality of life	39	27
🏙️ Population	5.7M	42.7K

The cost of living in Addis Ababa is 118% more expensive than in Meru. Cities ranked 4540th and 8317th ($1180 vs $541) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 4th in Ethiopia and Kenya, respectively. Check Ethiopia vs Kenya comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.2 months in Addis Ababa compared to 0.8 months in Meru. Addis Ababa ranked 1st best city to live in Ethiopia vs Meru ranked 9th in Kenya, while ranked 7025th and 8421st among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Addis Ababa vs Meru infographic

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Prices in Addis Ababa vs Meru

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

	Addis Ababa	Meru
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$4.24	$5.38
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$34.7	$38.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$6.27	$6.67
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1	$2.32
☕ Cappuccino	$1.18	$2.3
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.75	$0.72
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$637	$199
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$444	$104
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1854	$516
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$859	$263
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$97.4	$20.2
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$150	$30.9
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$130	$37.9
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	16.49%	14.83%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2510	$1127
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1875	$1251
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.5	$0.87
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$9.91	$28.3
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$3.57	$14
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.29	$1.07
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.53	$0.93
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.17	$0.27
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.12	$1.65
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.45	$1.54
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.38	$11.2
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.1	$6.35
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.2	$4.98
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.04	$2.97
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.07	$0.77
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.38	$0.76
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.87	$0.78
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.67	$1.09
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.74	$1.17
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.42	$0.26
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$0.7	$1.34
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$8.46	$12
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.1	$2.13
🚬 Cigarette pack	$4	$3.07
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$2.94	$2.56
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$1.22	$3.57
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$0.49	$1.17
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.7	$1.14
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$84.2	$34.3
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$5.72	$6.2
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$12	$20.5
💇 Haircut, simple	$2.13	$3.52
👖 Brand Jeans	$49.1	$19
👟 Brand Sneakers	$109	$59.8
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$86.3	$189
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$3446	$8023

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

$349

$907

$6.64K

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Addis Ababa

Distance	City	Cost of living
222 km or 138 mi	Awasa	$886
254 km or 158 mi	Dessie	$838
258 km or 161 mi	Jimma	$654
320 km or 199 mi	Bahir Dar	$752
349 km or 217 mi	Dire Dawa	$756
374 km or 232 mi	Harar	$718
421 km or 261 mi	Gondar	$897
447 km or 278 mi	Jijiga	$764
460 km or 286 mi	Dikhil	$542
495 km or 308 mi	Ali Sabieh	$542
498 km or 309 mi	Borama	$518
502 km or 312 mi	Mekelle	$662
561 km or 348 mi	Djibouti City	$571
568 km or 353 mi	Ad-Damazin	$836
587 km or 365 mi	Hargeisa	$660
595 km or 370 mi	Obock	$540
651 km or 405 mi	Mendefera	$487
666 km or 414 mi	El-Gadarif	$943
701 km or 436 mi	Asmara	$520
735 km or 457 mi	Massawa	$486
752 km or 467 mi	Keren	$488
758 km or 471 mi	Kassala	$1006
761 km or 473 mi	Zabid	$482
767 km or 476 mi	Taiz	$507
780 km or 485 mi	Malakal	$496
789 km or 490 mi	Al Hudaydah	$505
805 km or 500 mi	Aden	$503
806 km or 501 mi	Kosti	$860
807 km or 502 mi	Ibb	$496
851 km or 529 mi	Bor	$506
853 km or 530 mi	Baidoa	$706
870 km or 541 mi	Dhamar	$486
914 km or 568 mi	Sayyan	$481
914 km or 568 mi	Juba	$513
920 km or 572 mi	Sanaa	$546
989 km or 615 mi	Khartoum North	$877
995 km or 618 mi	Khartoum	$888
995 km or 618 mi	Gulu	$594
1005 km or 625 mi	Meru	$541
1006 km or 625 mi	Omdurman	$908

Cities near Meru

Distance	City	Cost of living
138 km or 85 mi	Thika	$589
175 km or 109 mi	Nairobi	$760
179 km or 111 mi	Machakos	$408
180 km or 112 mi	Nakuru	$500
268 km or 167 mi	Eldoret	$483
323 km or 201 mi	Kisumu	$522
354 km or 220 mi	Mumias	$490
378 km or 235 mi	Moshi	$561
392 km or 244 mi	Tororo	$602
395 km or 245 mi	Arusha	$638
403 km or 250 mi	Mbale	$605
455 km or 283 mi	Malindi	$498
496 km or 308 mi	Jinja	$562
508 km or 316 mi	Mombasa	$580
559 km or 347 mi	Kira Town	$646
564 km or 351 mi	Kampala	$698
577 km or 359 mi	Entebbe	$558
591 km or 367 mi	Tanga	$545
600 km or 373 mi	Mwanza	$625
666 km or 414 mi	Gulu	$594
712 km or 442 mi	Stone Town	$523
712 km or 443 mi	Zanzibar	$552
732 km or 455 mi	Dodoma	$502
749 km or 465 mi	Baidoa	$706
764 km or 475 mi	Morogoro	$486
783 km or 486 mi	Dar es Salaam	$811
784 km or 487 mi	Awasa	$886
819 km or 509 mi	Arua	$585
840 km or 522 mi	Bunia	$801
852 km or 529 mi	Jimma	$654
852 km or 530 mi	Kasese	$573
858 km or 533 mi	Juba	$513
862 km or 536 mi	Byumba	$613
873 km or 542 mi	Kigali	$771
875 km or 544 mi	Muyinga	$650
883 km or 549 mi	Mogadishu	$711
907 km or 563 mi	Ruhengeri	$492
911 km or 566 mi	Ruyigi	$648
911 km or 566 mi	Beni	$785
918 km or 570 mi	Nyanza	$518