Adelaide vs Lilongwe - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Adelaide	Lilongwe
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2117	$592
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4412	$1419
🏠 One person rent	$1269	$250
🏘️ Family rent	$1846	$390
🍽️ Food expenses	$544	$241
🚐 Transport expenses	$174	$51.8
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3276	$105
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	5 km	22 km
🎓 Higher education	50	12
😀 Quality of life	94	25
🏙️ Population	1.39M	989K

The cost of living in Adelaide is 258% more expensive than in Lilongwe. Cities ranked 1686th and 7884th ($2117 vs $592) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 10th and 1st in Australia and Malawi, respectively. Check Australia vs Malawi comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.5 months in Adelaide compared to 0.2 months in Lilongwe. Adelaide ranked 5th best city to live in Australia vs Lilongwe ranked 7th in Malawi, while ranked 65th and 8966th among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Adelaide vs Lilongwe infographic

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Prices in Adelaide vs Lilongwe

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

	Adelaide	Lilongwe
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$15.1	$4.27
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$75.5	$24.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.61	$8.09
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$7.27	$1.55
☕ Cappuccino	$3.66	$2.34
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.52	$1.43
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1334	$374
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1047	$114
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1976	$603
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1526	$207
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$117	$34.2
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$182	$53.6
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$47.7	$50.6
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.31%	12.87%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7414	$10587
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4859	$593
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.85	$0.92
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$75.3	$11.6
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$17.3	$5.7
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.16	$1.34
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.46	$1.06
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.35	$1.07
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.94	$1.42
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.69	$2.27
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.4	$13.4
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.42	$3.25
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.5	$4.01
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.08	$2.38
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.6	$1.24
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.01	$1.5
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.17	$1.34
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.57	$1.26
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.14	$1.24
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.16	$0.42
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.46	$1.13
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$13.1	$12
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$4.34	$0.92
🚬 Cigarette pack	$20.9	$1.57
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$8.2	$2.12
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.83	$4.05
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.41	$0.75
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.26	$0.66
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$37.5	$29.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$13.9	$4.17
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$50	$17
💇 Haircut, simple	$16	$3.59
👖 Brand Jeans	$73.9	$23
👟 Brand Sneakers	$108	$49.5
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$876	$353
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$6919	$2356

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Adelaide

Distance	City	Cost of living
253 km or 157 mi	Whyalla	$1911
337 km or 209 mi	Mildura	$1771
377 km or 235 mi	Mount Gambier	$1753
518 km or 322 mi	Warrnambool	$1718
551 km or 342 mi	Bendigo	$1362
555 km or 345 mi	Ballarat	$1464
618 km or 384 mi	Melton	$1738
623 km or 387 mi	Sunbury	$1768
627 km or 390 mi	Geelong	$2058
633 km or 393 mi	Tarneit	$1673
636 km or 395 mi	Shepparton	$1662
637 km or 396 mi	Hoppers Crossing	$1697
655 km or 407 mi	Melbourne	$2308
658 km or 409 mi	South Yarra	$1681
683 km or 424 mi	Dandenong	$1736
686 km or 426 mi	Griffith	$1667
686 km or 426 mi	Frankston	$1728
694 km or 431 mi	Cranbourne	$1674
695 km or 432 mi	Berwick	$1706
709 km or 440 mi	Pakenham	$1725
797 km or 496 mi	Traralgon	$1813
800 km or 497 mi	Wagga Wagga	$1458
959 km or 596 mi	Canberra	$2019
971 km or 603 mi	Devonport	$1786
974 km or 605 mi	Dubbo	$1747
985 km or 612 mi	Orange	$1364
1016 km or 631 mi	Goulburn	$1678
1025 km or 637 mi	Bathurst	$1568
1040 km or 646 mi	Launceston	$1660
1125 km or 699 mi	Wollongong	$1580
1138 km or 707 mi	Blacktown	$1599
1143 km or 710 mi	Kellyville	$1888
1146 km or 712 mi	Parramatta	$2292
1162 km or 722 mi	Hobart	$2127
1163 km or 723 mi	Sydney	$2640
1173 km or 729 mi	Dee Why	$2181
1234 km or 767 mi	Newcastle	$1839
1318 km or 819 mi	Armidale	$1184
1330 km or 826 mi	Alice Springs	$1455
1387 km or 862 mi	Port Macquarie	$1633

Cities near Lilongwe

Distance	City	Cost of living
123 km or 76 mi	Monkey Bay	$519
134 km or 83 mi	Ntcheu	$493
169 km or 105 mi	Mangochi	$496
228 km or 142 mi	Zomba	$458
233 km or 145 mi	Mzimba	$565
240 km or 149 mi	Blantyre	$506
243 km or 151 mi	Tete	$820
283 km or 176 mi	Mzuzu	$527
293 km or 182 mi	Mulanje	$461
506 km or 314 mi	Kasama	$888
518 km or 322 mi	Harare	$1021
524 km or 326 mi	Marondera	$779
533 km or 331 mi	Chitungwiza	$751
536 km or 333 mi	Chinhoyi	$650
545 km or 339 mi	Quelimane	$692
550 km or 342 mi	Kapiri Mposhi	$748
566 km or 352 mi	Mbeya	$495
567 km or 353 mi	Mutare	$755
568 km or 353 mi	Ndola	$577
572 km or 355 mi	Chimoio	$916
603 km or 375 mi	Nampula	$935
613 km or 381 mi	Lusaka	$655
616 km or 383 mi	Mansa	$912
616 km or 383 mi	Kitwe	$1062
618 km or 384 mi	Mufulira	$1278
637 km or 396 mi	Kadoma	$761
660 km or 410 mi	Chingola	$1069
660 km or 410 mi	Beira	$996
682 km or 424 mi	Kwekwe	$716
732 km or 455 mi	Lubumbashi	$1124
740 km or 460 mi	Pemba	$1511
741 km or 460 mi	Gweru	$587
744 km or 462 mi	Nacala	$1168
746 km or 464 mi	Masvingo	$873
795 km or 494 mi	Choma	$687
835 km or 519 mi	Likasi	$1032
883 km or 549 mi	Bulawayo	$658
886 km or 551 mi	Dodoma	$526
902 km or 560 mi	Morogoro	$421
949 km or 590 mi	Livingstone	$653