Blantyre vs Freetown - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Blantyre	Freetown
🚶 Cost of living one person	$506	$1347
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1306	$1705
🏠 One person rent	$147	$974
🏘️ Family rent	$239	$652
🍽️ Food expenses	$210	$260
🚐 Transport expenses	$98.2	$69
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$239	$120
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	15 km
🎓 Higher education	23	22
😀 Quality of life	30	29
🏙️ Population	800K	951K

The cost of living in Blantyre is 62% less expensive than in Freetown. Cities ranked 8632nd and 4374th ($506 vs $1347) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 5th and 1st in Malawi and Sierra Leone, respectively. Check Malawi vs Sierra Leone comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.5 months in Blantyre compared to 0.1 months in Freetown. Blantyre ranked 1st best city to live in Malawi vs Freetown ranked 2nd in Sierra Leone, while ranked 8786th and 8809th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Blantyre vs Freetown infographic

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Prices in Blantyre vs Freetown

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

	Blantyre	Freetown
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$3.97	$2.91
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$12.6	$26.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$6.69	$7.27
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1	$1.21
☕ Cappuccino	$2.02	$1.65
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.82	$1.04
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$176	$856
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$81.2	$797
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$322	$1547
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$145	$168
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$21.9	$79.6
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$33.4	$123
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$25.2	$85.4
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	12.77%	12.71%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$10537	$1524
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$393	$942
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.85	$0.46
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$14.9	$17.9
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$20.1	$10.8
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.2	$1.02
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.81	$1.89
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.94	$0.53
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.41	$0.98
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.37	$1.74
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.92	$6.9
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.58	$6.12
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.17	$5.29
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.77	$3.11
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.34	$2
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.46	$0.71
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.87	$3.65
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.98	$1.7
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.35	$1.62
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.53	$0.93
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$0.72	$1.09
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$8.49	$5.76
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.92	$0.89
🚬 Cigarette pack	$1.88	$2.42
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$1.45	$1.53
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$1.28	$1.2
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$0.73	$0.78
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.69	$0.79
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$41.7	$40
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$1.44	$1.68
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$16.9	$15.2
💇 Haircut, simple	$2.96	$2.93
👖 Brand Jeans	$34	$10
👟 Brand Sneakers	$59.1	$63.4
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$357	$87.8
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$589	$3183

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Blantyre

Distance	City	Cost of living
57 km or 35 mi	Zomba	$458
60 km or 37 mi	Mulanje	$461
112 km or 70 mi	Ntcheu	$493
149 km or 92 mi	Mangochi	$496
157 km or 98 mi	Tete	$820
191 km or 119 mi	Monkey Bay	$519
240 km or 149 mi	Lilongwe	$592
307 km or 191 mi	Quelimane	$692
405 km or 252 mi	Chimoio	$916
432 km or 269 mi	Mutare	$755
450 km or 280 mi	Beira	$996
454 km or 282 mi	Marondera	$779
458 km or 285 mi	Mzimba	$565
463 km or 287 mi	Nampula	$935
478 km or 297 mi	Harare	$1021
487 km or 303 mi	Chitungwiza	$751
493 km or 307 mi	Mzuzu	$527
541 km or 336 mi	Chinhoyi	$650
611 km or 380 mi	Kadoma	$761
626 km or 389 mi	Nacala	$1168
637 km or 396 mi	Kwekwe	$716
650 km or 404 mi	Masvingo	$873
674 km or 419 mi	Pemba	$1511
685 km or 425 mi	Gweru	$587
708 km or 440 mi	Kapiri Mposhi	$748
721 km or 448 mi	Lusaka	$655
746 km or 463 mi	Kasama	$888
754 km or 469 mi	Ndola	$577
784 km or 487 mi	Mbeya	$495
803 km or 499 mi	Kitwe	$1062
811 km or 504 mi	Mufulira	$1278
837 km or 520 mi	Mansa	$912
837 km or 520 mi	Bulawayo	$658
849 km or 528 mi	Chingola	$1069
865 km or 537 mi	Choma	$687
935 km or 581 mi	Lubumbashi	$1124
991 km or 616 mi	Francistown	$587
999 km or 621 mi	Livingstone	$653
1000 km or 621 mi	Moroni	$1207
1038 km or 645 mi	Morogoro	$421

Cities near Freetown

Distance	City	Cost of living
126 km or 78 mi	Conakry	$1067
137 km or 85 mi	Forecariah	$999
174 km or 108 mi	Bo	$1283
207 km or 128 mi	Boffa	$999
235 km or 146 mi	Kenema	$1281
246 km or 153 mi	Mamou	$1021
341 km or 212 mi	Gueckedou	$1010
361 km or 224 mi	Monrovia	$536
385 km or 239 mi	Kakata	$502
439 km or 273 mi	Bafata	$872
456 km or 283 mi	Bissau	$895
480 km or 298 mi	Kankan	$1007
493 km or 306 mi	Nzerekore	$1003
514 km or 319 mi	Sanniquellie	$503
525 km or 326 mi	Kolda	$1044
527 km or 327 mi	Yekepa	$503
564 km or 350 mi	Ziguinchor	$1031
603 km or 375 mi	Greenville	$502
650 km or 404 mi	Brikama	$598
660 km or 410 mi	Lamin	$541
662 km or 412 mi	Banjul	$516
701 km or 436 mi	Kaolack	$1088
709 km or 441 mi	Bougouni	$508
736 km or 457 mi	Fatick	$1084
736 km or 458 mi	Bamako	$583
788 km or 490 mi	Koulikoro	$506
807 km or 502 mi	Thies	$1140
821 km or 510 mi	Rufisque	$1141
833 km or 518 mi	Dakar	$1221
842 km or 523 mi	Korhogo	$1099
846 km or 526 mi	Banamba	$506
846 km or 526 mi	Gagnoa	$1082
857 km or 532 mi	Louga	$1060
887 km or 551 mi	Sikasso	$514
896 km or 557 mi	Yamoussoukro	$1056
907 km or 564 mi	Bouake	$1123
911 km or 566 mi	Saint-Louis	$1062
917 km or 570 mi	Divo	$1083
935 km or 581 mi	Rosso	$630
940 km or 584 mi	Segou	$506