Dar es Salaam vs Lilongwe - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 10, 2024

	Dar es Salaam	Lilongwe
🚶 Cost of living one person	$722	$582
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2042	$1336
🏠 One person rent	$353	$260
🏘️ Family rent	$883	$352
🍽️ Food expenses	$215	$216
🚐 Transport expenses	$106	$57.3
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$274	$278
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	22 km
🎓 Higher education	44	13
😀 Quality of life	55	20
🏙️ Population	4.72M	989K

The cost of living in Dar es Salaam is 24% more expensive than in Lilongwe. Cities ranked 6805th and 7990th ($722 vs $582) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 2nd and 2nd in Tanzania and Malawi, respectively. Check Tanzania vs Malawi comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.4 months in Dar es Salaam compared to 0.5 months in Lilongwe. Dar es Salaam ranked 1st best city to live in Tanzania vs Lilongwe ranked 4th in Malawi, while ranked 5882nd and 8861st among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Dar es Salaam vs Lilongwe infographic

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

Prices in Dar es Salaam vs Lilongwe

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

	Dar es Salaam	Lilongwe
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$2.56	$3.23
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$18.3	$25.7
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$7.34	$3.86
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.91	$0.93
☕ Cappuccino	$2.51	$2.43
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.4	$0.92
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$441	$375
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$238	$113
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1146	$363
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$697	$202
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$37.8	$44.9
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$58.5	$68.5
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$37.2	$49.9
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	18.16%	12.6%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5041	$10490
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5974	$589
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.24	$0.93
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$19.3	$11.6
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$10.2	$6.99
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.14	$1.4
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.09	$1.22
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.78	$1.08
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.16	$1.19
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.67	$2.56
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.27	$13.3
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.74	$3.05
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.11	$5.01
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.52	$2.24
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.04	$1.32
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.95	$2.6
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.98	$1.13
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.8	$1.57
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.33	$1.24
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.25	$0.29
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.17	$1.15
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$7.4	$12.1
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.95	$0.95
🚬 Cigarette pack	$1.84	$1.59
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$2.96	$2.13
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.55	$4.05
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.16	$0.75
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.9	$0.67
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$55.2	$33.7
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$3.68	$4.11
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$16.1	$17.2
💇 Haircut, simple	$3.31	$3.63
👖 Brand Jeans	$10.4	$23
👟 Brand Sneakers	$51.1	$49.3
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$315	$350
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$8603	$2358

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	$736
71 km or 44 mi	Stone Town	$675
179 km or 111 mi	Morogoro	$639
194 km or 120 mi	Tanga	$601
309 km or 192 mi	Mombasa	$560
395 km or 246 mi	Dodoma	$564
409 km or 254 mi	Malindi	$502
441 km or 274 mi	Moshi	$548
478 km or 297 mi	Arusha	$543
629 km or 391 mi	Machakos	$482
671 km or 417 mi	Nairobi	$745
684 km or 425 mi	Mbeya	$433
684 km or 425 mi	Thika	$571
698 km or 434 mi	Moroni	$1091
700 km or 435 mi	Pemba	$1500
774 km or 481 mi	Mzuzu	$534
783 km or 486 mi	Meru	$535
808 km or 502 mi	Nakuru	$493
836 km or 520 mi	Domoni	$1093
843 km or 524 mi	Mzimba	$574
853 km or 530 mi	Mwanza	$466
864 km or 537 mi	Nacala	$1394
899 km or 559 mi	Kisumu	$518
925 km or 575 mi	Nampula	$1190
927 km or 576 mi	Eldoret	$460
931 km or 578 mi	Mamoudzou	$1549
938 km or 583 mi	Monkey Bay	$526
955 km or 594 mi	Mumias	$483
959 km or 596 mi	Mangochi	$516
969 km or 602 mi	Kasama	$1079
1000 km or 621 mi	Lilongwe	$582
1007 km or 626 mi	Tororo	$581
1026 km or 637 mi	Ntcheu	$515
1044 km or 648 mi	Mbale	$583
1047 km or 651 mi	Zomba	$498
1049 km or 652 mi	Jinja	$511
1067 km or 663 mi	Ruyigi	$509
1074 km or 667 mi	Entebbe	$559
1076 km or 668 mi	Rutana	$509
1084 km or 674 mi	Muyinga	$509

Cities near Lilongwe

Distance	City	Cost of living
123 km or 76 mi	Monkey Bay	$526
134 km or 83 mi	Ntcheu	$515
169 km or 105 mi	Mangochi	$516
228 km or 142 mi	Zomba	$498
233 km or 145 mi	Mzimba	$574
240 km or 149 mi	Blantyre	$591
243 km or 151 mi	Tete	$834
283 km or 176 mi	Mzuzu	$534
293 km or 182 mi	Mulanje	$500
506 km or 314 mi	Kasama	$1079
518 km or 322 mi	Harare	$1012
524 km or 326 mi	Marondera	$810
533 km or 331 mi	Chitungwiza	$890
536 km or 333 mi	Chinhoyi	$830
545 km or 339 mi	Quelimane	$670
550 km or 342 mi	Kapiri Mposhi	$894
566 km or 352 mi	Mbeya	$433
567 km or 353 mi	Mutare	$662
568 km or 353 mi	Ndola	$1139
572 km or 355 mi	Chimoio	$953
603 km or 375 mi	Nampula	$1190
613 km or 381 mi	Lusaka	$685
616 km or 383 mi	Mansa	$1017
616 km or 383 mi	Kitwe	$1116
618 km or 384 mi	Mufulira	$1090
637 km or 396 mi	Kadoma	$729
660 km or 410 mi	Chingola	$1028
660 km or 410 mi	Beira	$1000
682 km or 424 mi	Kwekwe	$731
732 km or 455 mi	Lubumbashi	$1007
740 km or 460 mi	Pemba	$1500
741 km or 460 mi	Gweru	$761
744 km or 462 mi	Nacala	$1394
746 km or 464 mi	Masvingo	$871
795 km or 494 mi	Choma	$725
835 km or 519 mi	Likasi	$939
883 km or 549 mi	Bulawayo	$756
886 km or 551 mi	Dodoma	$564
902 km or 560 mi	Morogoro	$639
949 km or 590 mi	Livingstone	$670