Kampala vs Mbabane - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Kampala	Mbabane
🚶 Cost of living one person	$698	$562
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1738	$1439
🏠 One person rent	$314	$245
🏘️ Family rent	$645	$484
🍽️ Food expenses	$255	$202
🚐 Transport expenses	$78.5	$55.5
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$178	$701
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	34 km	27 km
🎓 Higher education	53	16
😀 Quality of life	44	38
🏙️ Population	1.68M	60.7K

The cost of living in Kampala is 24% more expensive than in Mbabane. Cities ranked 6903rd and 8102nd ($698 vs $562) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 1st in Uganda and Eswatini, respectively. Check Uganda vs Eswatini comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.3 months in Kampala compared to 1.2 months in Mbabane. Kampala ranked 1st best city to live in Uganda vs Mbabane ranked 1st in Eswatini, while ranked 6624th and 7231st among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Kampala vs Mbabane infographic

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Prices in Kampala vs Mbabane

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

	Kampala	Mbabane
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$2.45	$2.96
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$27.1	$27.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$8.92	$2.22
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.37	$1.78
☕ Cappuccino	$2.65	$1.65
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.49	$0.9
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$352	$221
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$200	$159
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1184	$487
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$387	$360
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$25	$45.7
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$39	$70.6
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$59.1	$27.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	21.44%	11.73%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1111	$330
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$976	$245
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.82	$1.09
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$40.8	$28.3
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$2.68	$25.2
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.45	$1.14
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.68	$1.03
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.23	$0.74
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.34	$1.22
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.78	$1.63
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.09	$8.71
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.73	$4.82
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.11	$5
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.64	$1.47
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.49	$0.71
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.85	$0.9
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.53	$1.33
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.44	$1
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.88	$1.22
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.38	$0.49
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.5	$1.12
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$10.9	$5.45
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.16	$1.42
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.79	$2.51
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.2	$4.16
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.98	$3.07
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.49	$1.52
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.29	$1.27
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$42.5	$27.2
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$6.39	$3.51
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$17	$17.9
💇 Haircut, simple	$5.64	$4.52
👖 Brand Jeans	$17.5	$43.6
👟 Brand Sneakers	$33.6	$70.6
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$125	$104
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$4369	$4495

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Kampala

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 7 mi	Kira Town	$646
32 km or 20 mi	Entebbe	$558
70 km or 44 mi	Jinja	$562
183 km or 114 mi	Tororo	$602
197 km or 122 mi	Mbale	$605
212 km or 131 mi	Mumias	$490
246 km or 153 mi	Kisumu	$522
274 km or 171 mi	Gulu	$594
288 km or 179 mi	Kasese	$573
294 km or 183 mi	Bunia	$801
301 km or 187 mi	Eldoret	$483
317 km or 197 mi	Mwanza	$625
347 km or 216 mi	Beni	$785
350 km or 217 mi	Byumba	$613
355 km or 220 mi	Arua	$585
366 km or 227 mi	Butembo	$768
377 km or 234 mi	Kigali	$771
384 km or 238 mi	Ruhengeri	$492
393 km or 244 mi	Nakuru	$500
431 km or 268 mi	Muyinga	$650
432 km or 269 mi	Nyanza	$518
432 km or 269 mi	Gisenyi	$381
446 km or 277 mi	Kibuye	$479
452 km or 281 mi	Butare	$413
471 km or 293 mi	Ngozi	$648
494 km or 307 mi	Ruyigi	$648
503 km or 313 mi	Nairobi	$760
510 km or 317 mi	Gitega	$651
514 km or 320 mi	Cyangugu	$496
516 km or 321 mi	Juba	$513
517 km or 321 mi	Bubanza	$648
520 km or 323 mi	Bukavu	$759
523 km or 325 mi	Thika	$589
545 km or 339 mi	Bujumbura	$719
551 km or 343 mi	Rutana	$648
559 km or 348 mi	Machakos	$408
563 km or 350 mi	Uvira	$803
564 km or 351 mi	Meru	$541
583 km or 362 mi	Makamba	$647
613 km or 381 mi	Arusha	$638

Cities near Mbabane

Distance	City	Cost of living
27 km or 17 mi	Manzini	$442
136 km or 85 mi	Matola	$964
148 km or 92 mi	Maputo	$1068
165 km or 103 mi	Vryheid	$763
171 km or 106 mi	Bethal	$784
179 km or 111 mi	Middelburg	$795
271 km or 168 mi	Springs	$678
284 km or 176 mi	Benoni	$785
287 km or 178 mi	Xai-Xai	$1003
301 km or 187 mi	Centurion	$807
304 km or 189 mi	Pretoria	$906
311 km or 193 mi	Sandton	$953
311 km or 193 mi	Johannesburg	$993
316 km or 196 mi	Randburg	$837
324 km or 201 mi	Vereeniging	$672
329 km or 204 mi	Soweto	$923
334 km or 207 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$773
348 km or 216 mi	Brits	$820
370 km or 230 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$640
394 km or 245 mi	Durban	$809
398 km or 247 mi	Butha-Buthe	$535
399 km or 248 mi	Rustenburg	$889
406 km or 252 mi	Potchefstroom	$695
416 km or 259 mi	Kroonstad	$768
451 km or 280 mi	Klerksdorp	$722
461 km or 287 mi	Teyateyaneng	$500
477 km or 296 mi	Welkom	$748
491 km or 305 mi	Maseru	$621
546 km or 339 mi	Mafeteng	$567
555 km or 345 mi	Mmabatho	$780
559 km or 347 mi	Gaborone	$691
564 km or 350 mi	Lobatse	$665
566 km or 352 mi	Mahalapye	$631
576 km or 358 mi	Bloemfontein	$657
585 km or 363 mi	Palapye	$540
601 km or 374 mi	Kanye	$664
608 km or 378 mi	Molepolole	$628
628 km or 390 mi	Serowe	$583
628 km or 390 mi	Mthatha	$852
682 km or 424 mi	Francistown	$624