Kampala vs San Jose, United States - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Kampala	San Jose
🚶 Cost of living one person	$717	$3952
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1679	$8290
🏠 One person rent	$303	$2795
🏘️ Family rent	$495	$4452
🍽️ Food expenses	$268	$775
🚐 Transport expenses	$89.5	$174
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$142	$5915
😷 Air quality	Bad	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	34 km	8 km
🎓 Higher education	57	87
😀 Quality of life	49	93
🏙️ Population	1.68M	1.01M

The cost of living in Kampala is 82% less expensive than in San Jose, United States. Cities ranked 7003rd and 6th ($717 vs $3952) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 4th in Uganda and the United States, respectively. Check Uganda vs the United States comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.2 months in Kampala compared to 1.5 months in San Jose, United States. Kampala ranked 1st best city to live in Uganda vs San Jose, United States ranked 21st in the United States, while ranked 6747th and 88th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Kampala vs San Jose, United States infographic

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<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/kampala/san-jose-us.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Kampala vs San Jose, United States infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/kampala/san-jose-us" target="_blank">Kampala vs San Jose, United States - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Kampala vs San Jose, United States

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

	Kampala	San Jose
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$2.93	$20.4
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$29.1	$99.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$8.95	$12
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.47	$9.08
☕ Cappuccino	$2.91	$5.87
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.5	$3.45
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$375	$2999
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$190	$2438
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$669	$4520
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$338	$4008
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$28.6	$175
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$43.7	$272
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$47.2	$70
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	20.47%	6.45%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1201	$10416
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1048	$9325
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.87	$2.48
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$44.2	$90.7
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$4.07	$18.3
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.54	$1.27
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.75	$1.5
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.17	$5.04
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.44	$3.21
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.76	$5.39
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.7	$22.6
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.96	$15.5
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.54	$23
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.8	$6.54
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.49	$2.61
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.71	$5.77
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.62	$6.69
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.59	$4.3
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.7	$3.17
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.4	$1.88
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.44	$3.06
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$11.8	$15.1
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.23	$2.31
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.73	$11.5
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.5	$10.5
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$6.94	$6.98
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.56	$6.98
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.35	$2.51
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$47.3	$113
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$6.64	$16
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$18.1	$176
💇 Haircut, simple	$6.43	$21
👖 Brand Jeans	$17.3	$56.4
👟 Brand Sneakers	$44.7	$88.7
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$176	$1874
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$3783	$22302

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	$658
32 km or 20 mi	Entebbe	$578
70 km or 44 mi	Jinja	$582
183 km or 114 mi	Tororo	$623
197 km or 122 mi	Mbale	$654
212 km or 131 mi	Mumias	$511
246 km or 153 mi	Kisumu	$543
274 km or 171 mi	Gulu	$627
288 km or 179 mi	Kasese	$567
294 km or 183 mi	Bunia	$833
301 km or 187 mi	Eldoret	$528
317 km or 197 mi	Mwanza	$656
347 km or 216 mi	Beni	$820
350 km or 217 mi	Byumba	$597
355 km or 220 mi	Arua	$617
366 km or 227 mi	Butembo	$804
377 km or 234 mi	Kigali	$758
384 km or 238 mi	Ruhengeri	$499
393 km or 244 mi	Nakuru	$503
431 km or 268 mi	Muyinga	$687
432 km or 269 mi	Nyanza	$524
432 km or 269 mi	Gisenyi	$396
446 km or 277 mi	Kibuye	$491
452 km or 281 mi	Butare	$412
471 km or 293 mi	Ngozi	$686
494 km or 307 mi	Ruyigi	$687
503 km or 313 mi	Nairobi	$811
510 km or 317 mi	Gitega	$689
514 km or 320 mi	Cyangugu	$505
516 km or 321 mi	Juba	$527
517 km or 321 mi	Bubanza	$689
520 km or 323 mi	Bukavu	$803
523 km or 325 mi	Thika	$460
545 km or 339 mi	Bujumbura	$754
551 km or 343 mi	Rutana	$688
559 km or 348 mi	Machakos	$420
563 km or 350 mi	Uvira	$842
564 km or 351 mi	Meru	$549
583 km or 362 mi	Makamba	$688
613 km or 381 mi	Arusha	$612

Cities near San Jose, United States

Distance	City	Cost of living
7.6 km or 4.7 mi	Campbell	$3424
9.7 km or 6.1 mi	Santa Clara	$3476
11 km or 6.8 mi	Los Gatos	$4335
13 km or 8.4 mi	Saratoga	$3356
15 km or 9.1 mi	Milpitas	$3202
15 km or 9.3 mi	Cupertino	$2942
16 km or 10 mi	Sunnyvale	$3426
18 km or 11 mi	Mountain View	$3415
21 km or 13 mi	Los Altos	$3182
27 km or 17 mi	Palo Alto	$3765
27 km or 17 mi	Morgan Hill	$3130
28 km or 18 mi	Fremont	$3328
29 km or 18 mi	Newark	$3133
29 km or 18 mi	East Palo Alto	$3333
32 km or 20 mi	Menlo Park	$3359
36 km or 22 mi	Union	$3045
38 km or 23 mi	Redwood	$3890
39 km or 24 mi	Santa Cruz	$3719
41 km or 25 mi	San Carlos	$3382
41 km or 25 mi	Pleasanton	$3462
42 km or 26 mi	Gilroy	$2955
43 km or 27 mi	Livermore	$3089
44 km or 27 mi	Watsonville	$3748
44 km or 27 mi	Belmont	$3553
44 km or 28 mi	Foster	$3634
45 km or 28 mi	Hayward	$2826
46 km or 28 mi	Dublin	$3070
47 km or 29 mi	San Lorenzo	$2810
48 km or 30 mi	San Mateo	$3756
48 km or 30 mi	Castro Valley	$2957
53 km or 33 mi	San Leandro	$3071
53 km or 33 mi	Burlingame	$3317
54 km or 33 mi	San Ramon	$2850
57 km or 36 mi	Millbrae	$3285
59 km or 36 mi	Danville	$3818
60 km or 38 mi	San Bruno	$3230
61 km or 38 mi	Alameda	$3255
62 km or 38 mi	Tracy	$2114
63 km or 39 mi	South San Francisco	$3227
64 km or 40 mi	Oakland	$3254