Dar es Salaam vs Male - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Dar es Salaam	Male
🚶 Cost of living one person	$811	$1304
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2062	$3010
🏠 One person rent	$423	$814
🏘️ Family rent	$748	$1624
🍽️ Food expenses	$225	$358
🚐 Transport expenses	$106	$42
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$323	$1263
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	3 km
🎓 Higher education	44	7
😀 Quality of life	41	62
🏙️ Population	4.72M	133K

The cost of living in Dar es Salaam is 38% less expensive than in Male. Cities ranked 6399th and 4205th ($811 vs $1304) 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 1 months in Male. Dar es Salaam ranked 1st best city to live in Tanzania vs Male ranked 1st in Maldives, while ranked 6871st and 4917th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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	$2.93	$5.5
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$20.1	$27.5
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$7.15	$9.82
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.13	$4.57
☕ Cappuccino	$2.04	$3.15
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.4	$1.21
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$427	$824
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$325	$636
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1029	$1648
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$551	$1401
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$44.9	$63.2
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$68.6	$96.6
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$33	$77.4
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	19.47%	11.65%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3163	$2651
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5427	$2231
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.29	$0.55
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$18.1	$25.8
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$10.2	$17.7
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.18	$0.93
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.1	$1.93
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.71	$1.59
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.99	$1.67
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.76	$1.81
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.55	$9.95
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.06	$5.82
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.28	$8.7
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.67	$3.91
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.05	$3.8
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.04	$3.73
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.04	$3.43
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.87	$1.54
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.42	$1.28
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.28	$0.36
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.26	$1.97
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.83	$9.79
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.46	$2.71
🚬 Cigarette pack	$1.88	$7.83
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$3.14	$5.32
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.76	$3.74
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.24	$3.13
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.96	$1.8
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$77.9	$73.9
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.94	$8.87
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$17.2	$22
💇 Haircut, simple	$4.84	$4.33
👖 Brand Jeans	$21.5	$51.8
👟 Brand Sneakers	$39.3	$90.1
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$312	$163
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$19371	$3201

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

$349

$907

$6.64K

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 Male

Distance	City	Cost of living
5.4 km or 3.4 mi	Hulhumale	$1651
610 km or 379 mi	Thiruvananthapuram	$333
618 km or 384 mi	Varkala	$287
621 km or 386 mi	Nagercoil	$275
624 km or 388 mi	Kollam	$244
687 km or 427 mi	Tirunelveli	$273
688 km or 428 mi	Kottayam	$306
713 km or 443 mi	Kochi	$383
714 km or 444 mi	Ernakulam	$346
724 km or 450 mi	Thoothukudi	$296
761 km or 473 mi	Beruwala	$580
763 km or 474 mi	Colombo	$631
766 km or 476 mi	Thrissur	$294
771 km or 479 mi	Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte	$627
772 km or 479 mi	Galle	$498
777 km or 483 mi	Negombo	$467
788 km or 490 mi	Gampaha	$429
803 km or 499 mi	Matara	$502
814 km or 506 mi	Malappuram	$306
817 km or 507 mi	Madurai	$310
825 km or 513 mi	Kozhikode	$325
843 km or 524 mi	Dindigul	$316
849 km or 528 mi	Coimbatore	$339
862 km or 535 mi	Kandy	$425
879 km or 546 mi	Kannur	$344
892 km or 554 mi	Anuradhapura	$582
899 km or 559 mi	Tiruppur	$300
922 km or 573 mi	Erode	$295
935 km or 581 mi	Tiruchirappalli	$314
964 km or 599 mi	Thanjavur	$302
968 km or 602 mi	Mysore	$311
977 km or 607 mi	Salem	$304
979 km or 608 mi	Mangalore	$412
983 km or 611 mi	Trincomalee	$546
1027 km or 638 mi	Udupi	$280
1076 km or 669 mi	Bangalore	$533
1087 km or 675 mi	Cuddalore	$306
1093 km or 679 mi	Tumkur	$351
1106 km or 688 mi	Shimoga	$342
1108 km or 688 mi	Pondicherry	$360