Dar es Salaam vs Houston - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Dar es Salaam	Houston
🚶 Cost of living one person	$763	$2265
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1979	$5394
🏠 One person rent	$357	$1281
🏘️ Family rent	$606	$2031
🍽️ Food expenses	$228	$603
🚐 Transport expenses	$121	$201
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$245	$4606
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	17 km
🎓 Higher education	46	100
😀 Quality of life	58	95
🏙️ Population	4.72M	2.3M

The cost of living in Dar es Salaam is 66% less expensive than in Houston. Cities ranked 6912th and 1354th ($763 vs $2265) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 1137th in Tanzania and the United States, respectively. Check Tanzania vs the United States comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.3 months in Dar es Salaam compared to 2 months in Houston. Dar es Salaam ranked 1st best city to live in Tanzania vs Houston ranked 1st in the United States, while ranked 6157th and 16th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/dar-es-salaam/houston.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Dar es Salaam vs Houston infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/dar-es-salaam/houston" target="_blank">Dar es Salaam vs Houston - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Dar es Salaam vs Houston

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

	Dar es Salaam	Houston
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$3.09	$18.7
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$18.3	$73.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.63	$10.8
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.96	$6.31
☕ Cappuccino	$1.97	$5.52
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.38	$2.74
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$478	$1411
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$220	$1003
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$856	$2380
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$401	$1609
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$51.3	$132
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$80.1	$204
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$34.1	$63.9
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	18.26%	6.39%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1540	$2542
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1090	$1944
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.25	$1.24
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$14.9	$71.3
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$13.8	$21.8
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.12	$0.72
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.03	$0.9
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.79	$3.19
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.11	$3.69
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.98	$5.06
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.16	$11.4
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.38	$11.5
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.07	$16.1
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.6	$3.95
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.95	$1.67
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.93	$3.76
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.9	$2.92
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.9	$2.58
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.3	$2.6
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.29	$1.51
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.25	$3.17
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.92	$14.5
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.88	$3.31
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.11	$9.24
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$3.09	$9.34
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.78	$8
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.21	$3.92
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.95	$2.21
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$75.3	$43.9
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$5.24	$14.9
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$16.9	$149
💇 Haircut, simple	$4.78	$22.6
👖 Brand Jeans	$19.2	$46.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$44.3	$101
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$496	$1729
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$15015	$22380

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Dar es Salaam

Distance	City	Cost of living
71 km or 44 mi	Zanzibar	$588
71 km or 44 mi	Stone Town	$551
179 km or 111 mi	Morogoro	$408
194 km or 120 mi	Tanga	$544
309 km or 192 mi	Mombasa	$604
395 km or 246 mi	Dodoma	$506
409 km or 254 mi	Malindi	$553
441 km or 274 mi	Moshi	$523
478 km or 297 mi	Arusha	$602
629 km or 391 mi	Machakos	$419
671 km or 417 mi	Nairobi	$797
684 km or 425 mi	Mbeya	$469
684 km or 425 mi	Thika	$455
698 km or 434 mi	Moroni	$1233
700 km or 435 mi	Pemba	$1521
774 km or 481 mi	Mzuzu	$527
783 km or 486 mi	Meru	$542
808 km or 502 mi	Nakuru	$508
836 km or 520 mi	Domoni	$1237
843 km or 524 mi	Mzimba	$530
853 km or 530 mi	Mwanza	$623
864 km or 537 mi	Nacala	$1181
899 km or 559 mi	Kisumu	$533
925 km or 575 mi	Nampula	$935
927 km or 576 mi	Eldoret	$520
931 km or 578 mi	Mamoudzou	$1652
938 km or 583 mi	Monkey Bay	$521
955 km or 594 mi	Mumias	$505
959 km or 596 mi	Mangochi	$496
969 km or 602 mi	Kasama	$1002
1000 km or 621 mi	Lilongwe	$591
1007 km or 626 mi	Tororo	$624
1026 km or 637 mi	Ntcheu	$495
1044 km or 648 mi	Mbale	$651
1047 km or 651 mi	Zomba	$458
1049 km or 652 mi	Jinja	$593
1067 km or 663 mi	Ruyigi	$693
1074 km or 667 mi	Entebbe	$563
1076 km or 668 mi	Rutana	$691
1084 km or 674 mi	Muyinga	$691

Cities near Houston

Distance	City	Cost of living
22 km or 14 mi	Pasadena	$2228
25 km or 15 mi	Pearland	$2150
25 km or 16 mi	Missouri	$2094
27 km or 17 mi	Deer Park	$2260
29 km or 18 mi	Sugar Land	$2071
32 km or 20 mi	Spring	$2112
33 km or 21 mi	Friendswood	$2136
35 km or 22 mi	La Porte	$2297
40 km or 25 mi	Baytown	$2386
41 km or 25 mi	League	$2102
42 km or 26 mi	Alvin	$2072
47 km or 29 mi	Rosenberg	$2114
48 km or 30 mi	The Woodlands	$2738
59 km or 37 mi	Texas City	$2048
62 km or 38 mi	Conroe	$1836
76 km or 47 mi	Galveston	$1897
81 km or 50 mi	Lake Jackson	$2112
108 km or 67 mi	Huntsville	$2022
126 km or 78 mi	Beaumont	$1605
129 km or 80 mi	College Station	$1913
138 km or 86 mi	Bryan	$2000
140 km or 87 mi	Port Arthur	$1900
186 km or 115 mi	Lufkin	$1887
188 km or 117 mi	Victoria	$2226
203 km or 126 mi	Sulphur	$1971
215 km or 134 mi	Lake Charles	$1904
217 km or 135 mi	Nacogdoches	$1510
229 km or 142 mi	Pflugerville	$2115
234 km or 145 mi	Austin	$2444
236 km or 146 mi	Round Rock	$2027
239 km or 149 mi	Temple	$2153
242 km or 150 mi	Kyle	$2237
242 km or 150 mi	Georgetown	$2125
247 km or 153 mi	San Marcos	$2229
249 km or 155 mi	Cedar Park	$2171
250 km or 156 mi	Seguin	$2200
254 km or 158 mi	Leander	$2187
261 km or 162 mi	Waco	$2285
262 km or 163 mi	Harker Heights	$2059
264 km or 164 mi	New Braunfels	$2221