Freetown vs Lilongwe - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Freetown	Lilongwe
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1347	$592
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1705	$1419
🏠 One person rent	$974	$250
🏘️ Family rent	$652	$390
🍽️ Food expenses	$260	$241
🚐 Transport expenses	$69	$51.8
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$120	$105
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	15 km	22 km
🎓 Higher education	22	12
😀 Quality of life	29	25
🏙️ Population	951K	989K

The cost of living in Freetown is 128% more expensive than in Lilongwe. Cities ranked 4374th and 7884th ($1347 vs $592) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 1st in Sierra Leone and Malawi, respectively. Check Sierra Leone vs Malawi comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.1 months in Freetown compared to 0.2 months in Lilongwe. Freetown ranked 2nd best city to live in Sierra Leone vs Lilongwe ranked 7th in Malawi, while ranked 8809th and 8966th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Freetown vs Lilongwe infographic

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Prices in Freetown vs Lilongwe

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

	Freetown	Lilongwe
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$2.91	$4.27
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$26.6	$24.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$7.27	$8.09
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.21	$1.55
☕ Cappuccino	$1.65	$2.34
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.04	$1.43
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$856	$374
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$797	$114
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1547	$603
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$168	$207
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$79.6	$34.2
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$123	$53.6
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$85.4	$50.6
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	12.71%	12.87%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1524	$10587
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$942	$593
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.46	$0.92
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$17.9	$11.6
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$10.8	$5.7
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.02	$1.34
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.89	$1.06
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.53	$1.07
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.98	$1.42
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.74	$2.27
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.9	$13.4
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.12	$3.25
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.29	$4.01
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.11	$2.38
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2	$1.24
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.71	$1.5
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.65	$1.34
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.7	$1.26
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.62	$1.24
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.93	$0.42
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.09	$1.13
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$5.76	$12
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.89	$0.92
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.42	$1.57
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$1.53	$2.12
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$1.2	$4.05
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$0.78	$0.75
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.79	$0.66
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$40	$29.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$1.68	$4.17
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$15.2	$17
💇 Haircut, simple	$2.93	$3.59
👖 Brand Jeans	$10	$23
👟 Brand Sneakers	$63.4	$49.5
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$87.8	$353
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$3183	$2356

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Freetown

Distance	City	Cost of living
126 km or 78 mi	Conakry	$1067
137 km or 85 mi	Forecariah	$999
174 km or 108 mi	Bo	$1283
207 km or 128 mi	Boffa	$999
235 km or 146 mi	Kenema	$1281
246 km or 153 mi	Mamou	$1021
341 km or 212 mi	Gueckedou	$1010
361 km or 224 mi	Monrovia	$536
385 km or 239 mi	Kakata	$502
439 km or 273 mi	Bafata	$872
456 km or 283 mi	Bissau	$895
480 km or 298 mi	Kankan	$1007
493 km or 306 mi	Nzerekore	$1003
514 km or 319 mi	Sanniquellie	$503
525 km or 326 mi	Kolda	$1044
527 km or 327 mi	Yekepa	$503
564 km or 350 mi	Ziguinchor	$1031
603 km or 375 mi	Greenville	$502
650 km or 404 mi	Brikama	$598
660 km or 410 mi	Lamin	$541
662 km or 412 mi	Banjul	$516
701 km or 436 mi	Kaolack	$1088
709 km or 441 mi	Bougouni	$508
736 km or 457 mi	Fatick	$1084
736 km or 458 mi	Bamako	$583
788 km or 490 mi	Koulikoro	$506
807 km or 502 mi	Thies	$1140
821 km or 510 mi	Rufisque	$1141
833 km or 518 mi	Dakar	$1221
842 km or 523 mi	Korhogo	$1099
846 km or 526 mi	Banamba	$506
846 km or 526 mi	Gagnoa	$1082
857 km or 532 mi	Louga	$1060
887 km or 551 mi	Sikasso	$514
896 km or 557 mi	Yamoussoukro	$1056
907 km or 564 mi	Bouake	$1123
911 km or 566 mi	Saint-Louis	$1062
917 km or 570 mi	Divo	$1083
935 km or 581 mi	Rosso	$630
940 km or 584 mi	Segou	$506

Cities near Lilongwe

Distance	City	Cost of living
123 km or 76 mi	Monkey Bay	$519
134 km or 83 mi	Ntcheu	$493
169 km or 105 mi	Mangochi	$496
228 km or 142 mi	Zomba	$458
233 km or 145 mi	Mzimba	$565
240 km or 149 mi	Blantyre	$506
243 km or 151 mi	Tete	$820
283 km or 176 mi	Mzuzu	$527
293 km or 182 mi	Mulanje	$461
506 km or 314 mi	Kasama	$888
518 km or 322 mi	Harare	$1021
524 km or 326 mi	Marondera	$779
533 km or 331 mi	Chitungwiza	$751
536 km or 333 mi	Chinhoyi	$650
545 km or 339 mi	Quelimane	$692
550 km or 342 mi	Kapiri Mposhi	$748
566 km or 352 mi	Mbeya	$495
567 km or 353 mi	Mutare	$755
568 km or 353 mi	Ndola	$577
572 km or 355 mi	Chimoio	$916
603 km or 375 mi	Nampula	$935
613 km or 381 mi	Lusaka	$655
616 km or 383 mi	Mansa	$912
616 km or 383 mi	Kitwe	$1062
618 km or 384 mi	Mufulira	$1278
637 km or 396 mi	Kadoma	$761
660 km or 410 mi	Chingola	$1069
660 km or 410 mi	Beira	$996
682 km or 424 mi	Kwekwe	$716
732 km or 455 mi	Lubumbashi	$1124
740 km or 460 mi	Pemba	$1511
741 km or 460 mi	Gweru	$587
744 km or 462 mi	Nacala	$1168
746 km or 464 mi	Masvingo	$873
795 km or 494 mi	Choma	$687
835 km or 519 mi	Likasi	$1032
883 km or 549 mi	Bulawayo	$658
886 km or 551 mi	Dodoma	$526
902 km or 560 mi	Morogoro	$421
949 km or 590 mi	Livingstone	$653