Kathmandu vs Male - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Kathmandu	Male
🚶 Cost of living one person	$419	$1304
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1077	$3010
🏠 One person rent	$131	$814
🏘️ Family rent	$240	$1624
🍽️ Food expenses	$181	$358
🚐 Transport expenses	$62.2	$42
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$238	$1263
😷 Air quality	Bad	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	2 km	3 km
🎓 Higher education	28	7
😀 Quality of life	46	62
🏙️ Population	846K	133K

The cost of living in Kathmandu is 68% less expensive than in Male. Cities ranked 8918th and 4205th ($419 vs $1304) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 2nd in Nepal and Maldives, respectively. Check Nepal vs Maldives comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.6 months in Kathmandu compared to 1 months in Male. Kathmandu ranked 1st best city to live in Nepal vs Male ranked 1st in Maldives, while ranked 6495th and 4917th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Kathmandu vs Male infographic

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Prices in Kathmandu vs Male

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

	Kathmandu	Male
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$1.44	$5.5
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$18.8	$27.5
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$6.47	$9.82
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.57	$4.57
☕ Cappuccino	$1.81	$3.15
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.48	$1.21
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$162	$824
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$84.7	$636
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$296	$1648
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$173	$1401
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$21.6	$63.2
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$32.8	$96.6
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$9.58	$77.4
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	12.88%	11.65%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2191	$2651
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1059	$2231
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.22	$0.55
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$10.9	$25.8
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$10.8	$17.7
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.26	$0.93
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.82	$1.93
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.55	$1.59
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.9	$1.67
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.62	$1.81
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.84	$9.95
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.13	$5.82
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.67	$8.7
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.31	$3.91
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1	$3.8
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.06	$3.73
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.76	$3.43
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.51	$1.54
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.67	$1.28
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.17	$0.36
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.76	$1.97
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$7.27	$9.79
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.23	$2.71
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.87	$7.83
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$1.24	$5.32
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$2.53	$3.74
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$0.92	$3.13
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.69	$1.8
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$22.5	$73.9
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$3.22	$8.87
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$15.1	$22
💇 Haircut, simple	$2.77	$4.33
👖 Brand Jeans	$23.8	$51.8
👟 Brand Sneakers	$53.2	$90.1
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$85.2	$163
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$3409	$3201

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

$349

$907

$6.64K

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Kathmandu

Distance	City	Cost of living
5 km or 3.1 mi	Lalitpur	$341
47 km or 29 mi	Hetauda	$294
94 km or 58 mi	Birgunj	$321
124 km or 77 mi	Janakpur	$292
146 km or 91 mi	Pokhara	$391
183 km or 114 mi	Muzaffarpur	$288
222 km or 138 mi	Gorakhpur	$300
234 km or 145 mi	Biratnagar	$323
235 km or 146 mi	Patna	$316
238 km or 148 mi	Saharsa	$292
261 km or 162 mi	Damak	$317
300 km or 186 mi	Purnia	$300
320 km or 199 mi	Bhagalpur	$282
322 km or 200 mi	Siliguri	$312
332 km or 206 mi	Gaya	$299
346 km or 215 mi	Jaunpur	$297
355 km or 220 mi	Varanasi	$308
359 km or 223 mi	Raiganj	$309
384 km or 239 mi	Shigatse	$900
398 km or 247 mi	Mirzapur	$329
400 km or 249 mi	Paro	$459
410 km or 255 mi	Malda	$308
411 km or 256 mi	Saidpur	$296
421 km or 262 mi	Thimphu	$422
431 km or 268 mi	Allahabad	$314
438 km or 272 mi	Balurghat	$307
443 km or 275 mi	Rangpur	$296
447 km or 278 mi	Lucknow	$366
449 km or 279 mi	Dhanbad	$293
468 km or 291 mi	Kulti	$300
476 km or 296 mi	Asansol	$299
479 km or 298 mi	Dhangadhi	$384
485 km or 301 mi	Ranchi	$375
493 km or 306 mi	Rajshahi	$274
495 km or 307 mi	Berhampore	$304
503 km or 313 mi	Durgapur	$292
510 km or 317 mi	Bheemdatta	$370
510 km or 317 mi	Bogra	$280
517 km or 321 mi	Kanpur	$315
553 km or 344 mi	Jamshedpur	$361

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