Lilongwe vs Male - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Lilongwe	Male
🚶 Cost of living one person	$591	$1311
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1409	$2822
🏠 One person rent	$250	$805
🏘️ Family rent	$382	$1397
🍽️ Food expenses	$241	$373
🚐 Transport expenses	$51.6	$44.3
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$121	$866
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	22 km	3 km
🎓 Higher education	14	8
😀 Quality of life	30	64
🏙️ Population	989K	133K

The cost of living in Lilongwe is 55% less expensive than in Male. Cities ranked 8027th and 4552nd ($591 vs $1311) 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 0.2 months in Lilongwe compared to 0.7 months in Male. Lilongwe ranked 3rd best city to live in Malawi vs Male ranked 1st in Maldives, while ranked 8837th and 5347th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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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	$4.25	$6.02
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$24.2	$34
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$8.08	$9.65
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.54	$4.66
☕ Cappuccino	$2.31	$2.85
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.43	$1.52
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$373	$810
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$112	$620
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$601	$1472
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$198	$1144
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$34.7	$74.7
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$52.7	$116
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$50.7	$72.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	12.71%	14.01%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$9004	$2247
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$506	$1903
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.91	$0.65
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$11.5	$32.2
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$5.64	$17.6
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.35	$0.93
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.05	$1.99
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.09	$1.56
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.42	$1.38
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.28	$1.78
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.2	$7.64
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.28	$6.21
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.98	$9.49
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.38	$4.08
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.23	$3.53
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.49	$4.3
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.33	$2.86
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.25	$1.76
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.24	$1.42
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.42	$0.38
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.15	$1.99
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$12.2	$10.1
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.9	$2.71
🚬 Cigarette pack	$1.74	$14.8
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$2.1	$5.34
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.11	$3.77
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$0.75	$3.15
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.66	$1.82
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$28.9	$75.3
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.53	$9.78
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$17.1	$22.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$3.64	$4.3
👖 Brand Jeans	$22.9	$41
👟 Brand Sneakers	$48.6	$85.6
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$349	$193
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$2330	$3300

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	$521
134 km or 83 mi	Ntcheu	$495
169 km or 105 mi	Mangochi	$496
228 km or 142 mi	Zomba	$458
233 km or 145 mi	Mzimba	$530
240 km or 149 mi	Blantyre	$505
243 km or 151 mi	Tete	$828
283 km or 176 mi	Mzuzu	$527
293 km or 182 mi	Mulanje	$461
506 km or 314 mi	Kasama	$1002
518 km or 322 mi	Harare	$1024
524 km or 326 mi	Marondera	$768
533 km or 331 mi	Chitungwiza	$770
536 km or 333 mi	Chinhoyi	$639
545 km or 339 mi	Quelimane	$692
550 km or 342 mi	Kapiri Mposhi	$815
566 km or 352 mi	Mbeya	$469
567 km or 353 mi	Mutare	$764
568 km or 353 mi	Ndola	$613
572 km or 355 mi	Chimoio	$924
603 km or 375 mi	Nampula	$935
613 km or 381 mi	Lusaka	$686
616 km or 383 mi	Mansa	$1030
616 km or 383 mi	Kitwe	$1189
618 km or 384 mi	Mufulira	$1473
637 km or 396 mi	Kadoma	$754
660 km or 410 mi	Chingola	$1229
660 km or 410 mi	Beira	$1000
682 km or 424 mi	Kwekwe	$706
732 km or 455 mi	Lubumbashi	$1133
740 km or 460 mi	Pemba	$1521
741 km or 460 mi	Gweru	$577
744 km or 462 mi	Nacala	$1181
746 km or 464 mi	Masvingo	$861
795 km or 494 mi	Choma	$750
835 km or 519 mi	Likasi	$1039
883 km or 549 mi	Bulawayo	$630
886 km or 551 mi	Dodoma	$506
902 km or 560 mi	Morogoro	$408
949 km or 590 mi	Livingstone	$718

Cities near Male

Distance	City	Cost of living
5.4 km or 3.4 mi	Hulhumale	$1379
610 km or 379 mi	Thiruvananthapuram	$348
618 km or 384 mi	Varkala	$303
621 km or 386 mi	Nagercoil	$275
624 km or 388 mi	Kollam	$251
687 km or 427 mi	Tirunelveli	$269
688 km or 428 mi	Kottayam	$299
713 km or 443 mi	Kochi	$387
714 km or 444 mi	Ernakulam	$350
724 km or 450 mi	Thoothukudi	$293
761 km or 473 mi	Beruwala	$609
763 km or 474 mi	Colombo	$676
766 km or 476 mi	Thrissur	$349
771 km or 479 mi	Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte	$627
772 km or 479 mi	Galle	$518
777 km or 483 mi	Negombo	$487
788 km or 490 mi	Gampaha	$414
803 km or 499 mi	Matara	$499
814 km or 506 mi	Malappuram	$271
817 km or 507 mi	Madurai	$348
825 km or 513 mi	Kozhikode	$316
843 km or 524 mi	Dindigul	$299
849 km or 528 mi	Coimbatore	$331
862 km or 535 mi	Kandy	$447
879 km or 546 mi	Kannur	$320
892 km or 554 mi	Anuradhapura	$554
899 km or 559 mi	Tiruppur	$344
922 km or 573 mi	Erode	$285
935 km or 581 mi	Tiruchirappalli	$303
964 km or 599 mi	Thanjavur	$285
968 km or 602 mi	Mysore	$349
977 km or 607 mi	Salem	$297
979 km or 608 mi	Mangalore	$389
983 km or 611 mi	Trincomalee	$544
1027 km or 638 mi	Udupi	$273
1076 km or 669 mi	Bangalore	$523
1087 km or 675 mi	Cuddalore	$306
1093 km or 679 mi	Tumkur	$332
1106 km or 688 mi	Shimoga	$335
1108 km or 688 mi	Pondicherry	$327