Dar es Salaam vs Male - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Dar es Salaam	Male
🚶 Cost of living one person	$799	$1320
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2068	$2817
🏠 One person rent	$363	$818
🏘️ Family rent	$605	$1403
🍽️ Food expenses	$244	$368
🚐 Transport expenses	$130	$43.1
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$288	$988
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	3 km
🎓 Higher education	45	7
😀 Quality of life	59	66
🏙️ Population	4.72M	133K

The cost of living in Dar es Salaam is 39% less expensive than in Male. Cities ranked 6675th and 4439th ($799 vs $1320) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 2nd in Tanzania and Maldives, respectively. Check Tanzania vs Maldives comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.4 months in Dar es Salaam compared to 0.7 months in Male. Dar es Salaam ranked 1st best city to live in Tanzania vs Male ranked 1st in Maldives, while ranked 6017th and 5057th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Dar es Salaam vs Male infographic

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

Prices in Dar es Salaam vs Male

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

	Dar es Salaam	Male
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$3.25	$5.55
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$19.3	$29.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$10.3	$9.82
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.02	$4.77
☕ Cappuccino	$2.09	$3.29
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.41	$1.45
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$419	$870
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$235	$609
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$737	$1575
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$422	$1116
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$55.2	$75
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$84.4	$114
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$36.1	$81.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	19.82%	14%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1361	$2585
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1189	$1897
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.27	$0.65
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$15.8	$29.1
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$14.8	$17.5
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.25	$0.93
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.13	$1.85
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.82	$1.59
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.19	$1.34
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.15	$1.78
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.75	$9.08
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.96	$6.15
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.42	$8.98
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.73	$4.03
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.97	$3.83
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.1	$4.35
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.97	$3.26
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.97	$1.53
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.44	$1.22
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.32	$0.35
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.3	$1.97
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.7	$8.87
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.98	$2.96
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.14	$13
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$3.29	$5.39
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.94	$3.83
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.28	$3.18
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1	$1.81
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$87.5	$80.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$5.52	$9.82
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$17.8	$23.2
💇 Haircut, simple	$5.61	$4.39
👖 Brand Jeans	$22.3	$42.7
👟 Brand Sneakers	$40.7	$90.5
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$435	$166
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$17749	$3575

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	$609
71 km or 44 mi	Stone Town	$567
179 km or 111 mi	Morogoro	$421
194 km or 120 mi	Tanga	$552
309 km or 192 mi	Mombasa	$596
395 km or 246 mi	Dodoma	$526
409 km or 254 mi	Malindi	$548
441 km or 274 mi	Moshi	$533
478 km or 297 mi	Arusha	$612
629 km or 391 mi	Machakos	$420
671 km or 417 mi	Nairobi	$811
684 km or 425 mi	Mbeya	$495
684 km or 425 mi	Thika	$460
698 km or 434 mi	Moroni	$1207
700 km or 435 mi	Pemba	$1511
774 km or 481 mi	Mzuzu	$527
783 km or 486 mi	Meru	$549
808 km or 502 mi	Nakuru	$503
836 km or 520 mi	Domoni	$1207
843 km or 524 mi	Mzimba	$565
853 km or 530 mi	Mwanza	$656
864 km or 537 mi	Nacala	$1168
899 km or 559 mi	Kisumu	$543
925 km or 575 mi	Nampula	$935
927 km or 576 mi	Eldoret	$528
931 km or 578 mi	Mamoudzou	$1624
938 km or 583 mi	Monkey Bay	$519
955 km or 594 mi	Mumias	$511
959 km or 596 mi	Mangochi	$496
969 km or 602 mi	Kasama	$888
1000 km or 621 mi	Lilongwe	$592
1007 km or 626 mi	Tororo	$623
1026 km or 637 mi	Ntcheu	$493
1044 km or 648 mi	Mbale	$654
1047 km or 651 mi	Zomba	$458
1049 km or 652 mi	Jinja	$582
1067 km or 663 mi	Ruyigi	$687
1074 km or 667 mi	Entebbe	$578
1076 km or 668 mi	Rutana	$688
1084 km or 674 mi	Muyinga	$687

Cities near Male

Distance	City	Cost of living
5.4 km or 3.4 mi	Hulhumale	$1445
610 km or 379 mi	Thiruvananthapuram	$344
618 km or 384 mi	Varkala	$308
621 km or 386 mi	Nagercoil	$279
624 km or 388 mi	Kollam	$253
687 km or 427 mi	Tirunelveli	$270
688 km or 428 mi	Kottayam	$300
713 km or 443 mi	Kochi	$382
714 km or 444 mi	Ernakulam	$351
724 km or 450 mi	Thoothukudi	$296
761 km or 473 mi	Beruwala	$590
763 km or 474 mi	Colombo	$646
766 km or 476 mi	Thrissur	$356
771 km or 479 mi	Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte	$626
772 km or 479 mi	Galle	$512
777 km or 483 mi	Negombo	$469
788 km or 490 mi	Gampaha	$420
803 km or 499 mi	Matara	$479
814 km or 506 mi	Malappuram	$286
817 km or 507 mi	Madurai	$347
825 km or 513 mi	Kozhikode	$321
843 km or 524 mi	Dindigul	$310
849 km or 528 mi	Coimbatore	$326
862 km or 535 mi	Kandy	$440
879 km or 546 mi	Kannur	$317
892 km or 554 mi	Anuradhapura	$535
899 km or 559 mi	Tiruppur	$347
922 km or 573 mi	Erode	$286
935 km or 581 mi	Tiruchirappalli	$300
964 km or 599 mi	Thanjavur	$275
968 km or 602 mi	Mysore	$346
977 km or 607 mi	Salem	$295
979 km or 608 mi	Mangalore	$400
983 km or 611 mi	Trincomalee	$530
1027 km or 638 mi	Udupi	$283
1076 km or 669 mi	Bangalore	$524
1087 km or 675 mi	Cuddalore	$300
1093 km or 679 mi	Tumkur	$355
1106 km or 688 mi	Shimoga	$340
1108 km or 688 mi	Pondicherry	$327