Houston vs Lilongwe - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Houston	Lilongwe
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2265	$587
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5664	$1571
🏠 One person rent	$1305	$251
🏘️ Family rent	$2467	$555
🍽️ Food expenses	$581	$237
🚐 Transport expenses	$212	$51.8
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4390	$275
😷 Air quality	Good	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	16 km	22 km
🎓 Higher education	100	13
😀 Quality of life	91	20
🏙️ Population	2.3M	989K

The cost of living in Houston is 286% more expensive than in Lilongwe. Cities ranked 1229th and 7807th ($2265 vs $587) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1115th and 1st in the United States and Malawi, respectively. Check the United States vs Malawi comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.9 months in Houston compared to 0.5 months in Lilongwe. Houston ranked 14th best city to live in the United States vs Lilongwe ranked 4th in Malawi, while ranked 97th and 8847th among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Houston vs Lilongwe infographic

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Prices in Houston vs Lilongwe

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

	Houston	Lilongwe
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$17.2	$4.27
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$76	$24.2
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$10.3	$8.14
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$5.88	$1.37
☕ Cappuccino	$5.4	$2.32
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.71	$0.93
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1390	$373
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1037	$114
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2766	$362
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2058	$474
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$132	$34.6
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$202	$53.6
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$65.6	$50.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.58%	12.4%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2714	$10555
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1949	$588
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.25	$0.91
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$71.7	$11.7
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$23.9	$5.67
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.79	$1.35
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.92	$0.95
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$3	$0.95
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.4	$1.29
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.07	$2.29
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.8	$13.2
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.4	$3.29
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16.6	$4
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.29	$2.36
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.37	$1
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.95	$1.49
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.04	$1.32
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.73	$1.26
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.43	$1.24
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.34	$0.42
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.01	$1.15
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$14.6	$12.1
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.15	$0.91
🚬 Cigarette pack	$9.62	$1.57
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$9.29	$2.11
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.13	$4.11
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.64	$0.75
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.46	$0.68
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$37.8	$28.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$14.5	$4.17
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$127	$17
💇 Haircut, simple	$21.6	$3.6
👖 Brand Jeans	$50.4	$23.1
👟 Brand Sneakers	$98.6	$49.4
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1470	$349
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$18964	$2351

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Houston

Distance	City	Cost of living
22 km or 14 mi	Pasadena	$2182
25 km or 15 mi	Pearland	$2108
25 km or 16 mi	Missouri	$2087
27 km or 17 mi	Deer Park	$2196
29 km or 18 mi	Sugar Land	$2028
32 km or 20 mi	Spring	$2093
33 km or 21 mi	Friendswood	$2097
35 km or 22 mi	La Porte	$2232
40 km or 25 mi	Baytown	$2311
41 km or 25 mi	League	$2065
42 km or 26 mi	Alvin	$2056
47 km or 29 mi	Rosenberg	$2107
48 km or 30 mi	The Woodlands	$2698
59 km or 37 mi	Texas City	$2014
62 km or 38 mi	Conroe	$1799
76 km or 47 mi	Galveston	$1855
81 km or 50 mi	Lake Jackson	$2089
108 km or 67 mi	Huntsville	$2089
126 km or 78 mi	Beaumont	$1673
129 km or 80 mi	College Station	$1853
138 km or 86 mi	Bryan	$1944
140 km or 87 mi	Port Arthur	$1907
186 km or 115 mi	Lufkin	$1878
188 km or 117 mi	Victoria	$2215
203 km or 126 mi	Sulphur	$2037
215 km or 134 mi	Lake Charles	$1986
217 km or 135 mi	Nacogdoches	$1510
229 km or 142 mi	Pflugerville	$2218
234 km or 145 mi	Austin	$2455
236 km or 146 mi	Round Rock	$2163
239 km or 149 mi	Temple	$2134
242 km or 150 mi	Kyle	$2223
242 km or 150 mi	Georgetown	$2192
247 km or 153 mi	San Marcos	$2224
249 km or 155 mi	Cedar Park	$2244
250 km or 156 mi	Seguin	$2182
254 km or 158 mi	Leander	$2260
261 km or 162 mi	Waco	$2230
262 km or 163 mi	Harker Heights	$2044
264 km or 164 mi	New Braunfels	$2182

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