Dar es Salaam vs Kampala - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Dar es Salaam	Kampala
🚶 Cost of living one person	$811	$698
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2062	$1738
🏠 One person rent	$423	$314
🏘️ Family rent	$748	$645
🍽️ Food expenses	$225	$255
🚐 Transport expenses	$106	$78.5
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$323	$178
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	34 km
🎓 Higher education	44	53
😀 Quality of life	41	44
🏙️ Population	4.72M	1.68M

The cost of living in Dar es Salaam is 16% more expensive than in Kampala. Cities ranked 6399th and 6903rd ($811 vs $698) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 1st in Tanzania and Uganda, respectively. Check Tanzania vs Uganda comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.4 months in Dar es Salaam compared to 0.3 months in Kampala. Dar es Salaam ranked 1st best city to live in Tanzania vs Kampala ranked 1st in Uganda, while ranked 6871st and 6624th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Dar es Salaam vs Kampala infographic

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

Prices in Dar es Salaam vs Kampala

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

	Dar es Salaam	Kampala
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$2.93	$2.45
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$20.1	$27.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$7.15	$8.92
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.13	$1.37
☕ Cappuccino	$2.04	$2.65
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.4	$0.49
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$427	$352
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$325	$200
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1029	$1184
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$551	$387
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$44.9	$25
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$68.6	$39
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$33	$59.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	19.47%	21.44%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3163	$1111
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5427	$976
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.29	$0.82
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$18.1	$40.8
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$10.2	$2.68
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.18	$1.45
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.1	$0.68
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.71	$1.23
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.99	$1.34
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.76	$1.78
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.55	$4.09
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.06	$4.73
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.28	$4.11
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.67	$2.64
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.05	$1.49
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.04	$1.85
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.04	$1.53
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.87	$1.44
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.42	$1.88
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.28	$0.38
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.26	$1.5
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.83	$10.9
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.46	$1.16
🚬 Cigarette pack	$1.88	$2.79
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$3.14	$4.2
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.76	$5.98
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.24	$1.49
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.96	$1.29
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$77.9	$42.5
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.94	$6.39
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$17.2	$17
💇 Haircut, simple	$4.84	$5.64
👖 Brand Jeans	$21.5	$17.5
👟 Brand Sneakers	$39.3	$33.6
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$312	$125
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$19371	$4369

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	$552
71 km or 44 mi	Stone Town	$523
179 km or 111 mi	Morogoro	$486
194 km or 120 mi	Tanga	$545
309 km or 192 mi	Mombasa	$580
395 km or 246 mi	Dodoma	$502
409 km or 254 mi	Malindi	$498
441 km or 274 mi	Moshi	$561
478 km or 297 mi	Arusha	$638
629 km or 391 mi	Machakos	$408
671 km or 417 mi	Nairobi	$760
684 km or 425 mi	Mbeya	$461
684 km or 425 mi	Thika	$589
698 km or 434 mi	Moroni	$1105
700 km or 435 mi	Pemba	$1506
774 km or 481 mi	Mzuzu	$525
783 km or 486 mi	Meru	$541
808 km or 502 mi	Nakuru	$500
836 km or 520 mi	Domoni	$1100
843 km or 524 mi	Mzimba	$566
853 km or 530 mi	Mwanza	$625
864 km or 537 mi	Nacala	$1150
899 km or 559 mi	Kisumu	$522
925 km or 575 mi	Nampula	$872
927 km or 576 mi	Eldoret	$483
931 km or 578 mi	Mamoudzou	$1465
938 km or 583 mi	Monkey Bay	$518
955 km or 594 mi	Mumias	$490
959 km or 596 mi	Mangochi	$493
969 km or 602 mi	Kasama	$748
1000 km or 621 mi	Lilongwe	$587
1007 km or 626 mi	Tororo	$602
1026 km or 637 mi	Ntcheu	$492
1044 km or 648 mi	Mbale	$605
1047 km or 651 mi	Zomba	$457
1049 km or 652 mi	Jinja	$562
1067 km or 663 mi	Ruyigi	$648
1074 km or 667 mi	Entebbe	$558
1076 km or 668 mi	Rutana	$648
1084 km or 674 mi	Muyinga	$650

Cities near Kampala

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 7 mi	Kira Town	$646
32 km or 20 mi	Entebbe	$558
70 km or 44 mi	Jinja	$562
183 km or 114 mi	Tororo	$602
197 km or 122 mi	Mbale	$605
212 km or 131 mi	Mumias	$490
246 km or 153 mi	Kisumu	$522
274 km or 171 mi	Gulu	$594
288 km or 179 mi	Kasese	$573
294 km or 183 mi	Bunia	$801
301 km or 187 mi	Eldoret	$483
317 km or 197 mi	Mwanza	$625
347 km or 216 mi	Beni	$785
350 km or 217 mi	Byumba	$613
355 km or 220 mi	Arua	$585
366 km or 227 mi	Butembo	$768
377 km or 234 mi	Kigali	$771
384 km or 238 mi	Ruhengeri	$492
393 km or 244 mi	Nakuru	$500
431 km or 268 mi	Muyinga	$650
432 km or 269 mi	Nyanza	$518
432 km or 269 mi	Gisenyi	$381
446 km or 277 mi	Kibuye	$479
452 km or 281 mi	Butare	$413
471 km or 293 mi	Ngozi	$648
494 km or 307 mi	Ruyigi	$648
503 km or 313 mi	Nairobi	$760
510 km or 317 mi	Gitega	$651
514 km or 320 mi	Cyangugu	$496
516 km or 321 mi	Juba	$513
517 km or 321 mi	Bubanza	$648
520 km or 323 mi	Bukavu	$759
523 km or 325 mi	Thika	$589
545 km or 339 mi	Bujumbura	$719
551 km or 343 mi	Rutana	$648
559 km or 348 mi	Machakos	$408
563 km or 350 mi	Uvira	$803
564 km or 351 mi	Meru	$541
583 km or 362 mi	Makamba	$647
613 km or 381 mi	Arusha	$638