Lilongwe vs Male - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Lilongwe	Male
🚶 Cost of living one person	$587	$1304
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1571	$3010
🏠 One person rent	$251	$814
🏘️ Family rent	$555	$1624
🍽️ Food expenses	$237	$358
🚐 Transport expenses	$51.8	$42
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$275	$1263
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	22 km	3 km
🎓 Higher education	13	7
😀 Quality of life	20	62
🏙️ Population	989K	133K

The cost of living in Lilongwe is 55% less expensive than in Male. Cities ranked 7807th and 4205th ($587 vs $1304) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 2nd in Malawi and Maldives, respectively. Check Malawi vs Maldives comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.5 months in Lilongwe compared to 1 months in Male. Lilongwe ranked 4th best city to live in Malawi vs Male ranked 1st in Maldives, while ranked 8847th and 4917th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Lilongwe vs Male infographic

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Prices in Lilongwe vs Male

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

	Lilongwe	Male
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$4.27	$5.5
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$24.2	$27.5
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$8.14	$9.82
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.37	$4.57
☕ Cappuccino	$2.32	$3.15
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.93	$1.21
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$373	$824
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$114	$636
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$362	$1648
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$474	$1401
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$34.6	$63.2
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$53.6	$96.6
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$50.1	$77.4
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	12.4%	11.65%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$10555	$2651
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$588	$2231
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.91	$0.55
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$11.7	$25.8
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$5.67	$17.7
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.35	$0.93
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.95	$1.93
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.95	$1.59
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.29	$1.67
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.29	$1.81
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.2	$9.95
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.29	$5.82
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4	$8.7
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.36	$3.91
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1	$3.8
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.49	$3.73
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.32	$3.43
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.26	$1.54
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.24	$1.28
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.42	$0.36
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.15	$1.97
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$12.1	$9.79
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.91	$2.71
🚬 Cigarette pack	$1.57	$7.83
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$2.11	$5.32
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.11	$3.74
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$0.75	$3.13
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.68	$1.8
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$28.8	$73.9
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.17	$8.87
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$17	$22
💇 Haircut, simple	$3.6	$4.33
👖 Brand Jeans	$23.1	$51.8
👟 Brand Sneakers	$49.4	$90.1
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$349	$163
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$2351	$3201

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

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

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