Dar es Salaam vs Lilongwe - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Dar es Salaam	Lilongwe
🚶 Cost of living one person	$811	$587
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2062	$1571
🏠 One person rent	$423	$251
🏘️ Family rent	$748	$555
🍽️ Food expenses	$225	$237
🚐 Transport expenses	$106	$51.8
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$323	$275
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	22 km
🎓 Higher education	44	13
😀 Quality of life	41	20
🏙️ Population	4.72M	989K

The cost of living in Dar es Salaam is 38% more expensive than in Lilongwe. Cities ranked 6399th and 7807th ($811 vs $587) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 1st 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 6871st and 8847th among best cities to live in the world.

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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	$2.93	$4.27
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$20.1	$24.2
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$7.15	$8.14
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.13	$1.37
☕ Cappuccino	$2.04	$2.32
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.4	$0.93
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$427	$373
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$325	$114
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1029	$362
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$551	$474
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$44.9	$34.6
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$68.6	$53.6
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$33	$50.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	19.47%	12.4%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3163	$10555
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5427	$588
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.29	$0.91
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$18.1	$11.7
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$10.2	$5.67
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.18	$1.35
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.1	$0.95
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.71	$0.95
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.99	$1.29
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.76	$2.29
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.55	$13.2
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.06	$3.29
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.28	$4
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.67	$2.36
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.05	$1
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.04	$1.49
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.04	$1.32
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.87	$1.26
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.42	$1.24
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.28	$0.42
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.26	$1.15
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.83	$12.1
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.46	$0.91
🚬 Cigarette pack	$1.88	$1.57
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$3.14	$2.11
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.76	$4.11
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.24	$0.75
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.96	$0.68
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$77.9	$28.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.94	$4.17
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$17.2	$17
💇 Haircut, simple	$4.84	$3.6
👖 Brand Jeans	$21.5	$23.1
👟 Brand Sneakers	$39.3	$49.4
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$312	$349
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$19371	$2351

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 Lilongwe

Distance	City	Cost of living
123 km or 76 mi	Monkey Bay	$518
134 km or 83 mi	Ntcheu	$492
169 km or 105 mi	Mangochi	$493
228 km or 142 mi	Zomba	$457
233 km or 145 mi	Mzimba	$566
240 km or 149 mi	Blantyre	$507
243 km or 151 mi	Tete	$825
283 km or 176 mi	Mzuzu	$525
293 km or 182 mi	Mulanje	$461
506 km or 314 mi	Kasama	$748
518 km or 322 mi	Harare	$992
524 km or 326 mi	Marondera	$794
533 km or 331 mi	Chitungwiza	$873
536 km or 333 mi	Chinhoyi	$646
545 km or 339 mi	Quelimane	$675
550 km or 342 mi	Kapiri Mposhi	$687
566 km or 352 mi	Mbeya	$461
567 km or 353 mi	Mutare	$752
568 km or 353 mi	Ndola	$541
572 km or 355 mi	Chimoio	$947
603 km or 375 mi	Nampula	$872
613 km or 381 mi	Lusaka	$738
616 km or 383 mi	Mansa	$776
616 km or 383 mi	Kitwe	$917
618 km or 384 mi	Mufulira	$1018
637 km or 396 mi	Kadoma	$723
660 km or 410 mi	Chingola	$875
660 km or 410 mi	Beira	$1003
682 km or 424 mi	Kwekwe	$730
732 km or 455 mi	Lubumbashi	$1050
740 km or 460 mi	Pemba	$1506
741 km or 460 mi	Gweru	$597
744 km or 462 mi	Nacala	$1150
746 km or 464 mi	Masvingo	$854
795 km or 494 mi	Choma	$700
835 km or 519 mi	Likasi	$961
883 km or 549 mi	Bulawayo	$766
886 km or 551 mi	Dodoma	$502
902 km or 560 mi	Morogoro	$486
949 km or 590 mi	Livingstone	$688