Lilongwe vs Mbuji-Mayi - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Lilongwe	Mbuji-Mayi
🚶 Cost of living one person	$587	$1011
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1571	$2636
🏠 One person rent	$251	$427
🏘️ Family rent	$555	$1034
🍽️ Food expenses	$237	$301
🚐 Transport expenses	$51.8	$216
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$275	$828
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	22 km	3 km
🎓 Higher education	13	10
😀 Quality of life	20	16
🏙️ Population	989K	2.89M

The cost of living in Lilongwe is 42% less expensive than in Mbuji-Mayi. Cities ranked 7807th and 5435th ($587 vs $1011) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 3rd in Malawi and the DR Congo, respectively. Check Malawi vs the DR Congo comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.5 months in Lilongwe compared to 0.8 months in Mbuji-Mayi. Lilongwe ranked 4th best city to live in Malawi vs Mbuji-Mayi ranked 3rd in the DR Congo, while ranked 8847th and 9011th among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Lilongwe vs Mbuji-Mayi infographic

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<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/lilongwe/mbuji-mayi.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Lilongwe vs Mbuji-Mayi infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/lilongwe/mbuji-mayi" target="_blank">Lilongwe vs Mbuji-Mayi - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Lilongwe vs Mbuji-Mayi

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

	Lilongwe	Mbuji-Mayi
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$4.27	$7.25
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$24.2	$38.8
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$8.14	$4.64
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.37	$1.72
☕ Cappuccino	$2.32	$4.29
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.93	$1.2
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$373	$539
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$114	$205
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$362	$1343
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$474	$678
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$34.6	$132
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$53.6	$199
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$50.1	$23.4
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	12.4%	12.28%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$10555	$4209
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$588	$528
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.91	$0.62
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$11.7	$97.2
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$5.67	$15.4
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.35	$1.24
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.95	$1.07
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.95	$1.65
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.29	$1.6
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.29	$2.6
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.2	$5.49
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.29	$4.05
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4	$8.18
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.36	$3.63
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1	$1.46
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.49	$2.75
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.32	$1.65
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.26	$1.61
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.24	$2.32
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.42	$0.91
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.15	$1.37
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$12.1	$9.05
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.91	$1.69
🚬 Cigarette pack	$1.57	$4.67
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$2.11	$3.12
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.11	$2.55
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$0.75	$1.15
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.68	$0.76
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$28.8	$35.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.17	$8.06
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$17	$31.2
💇 Haircut, simple	$3.6	$3.68
👖 Brand Jeans	$23.1	$25.1
👟 Brand Sneakers	$49.4	$57
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$349	$89.1
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$2351	$3463

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

$349

$907

$6.64K

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 Mbuji-Mayi

Distance	City	Cost of living
81 km or 50 mi	Gandajika	$828
99 km or 62 mi	Mwene-Ditu	$843
129 km or 80 mi	Kananga	$976
311 km or 193 mi	Tshikapa	$934
436 km or 271 mi	Kindu	$746
543 km or 337 mi	Kikwit	$876
551 km or 342 mi	Kolwezi	$975
619 km or 385 mi	Kalemie	$747
641 km or 398 mi	Likasi	$961
684 km or 425 mi	Uvira	$803
708 km or 440 mi	Bujumbura	$719
708 km or 440 mi	Bukavu	$759
713 km or 443 mi	Cyangugu	$496
722 km or 448 mi	Makamba	$647
726 km or 451 mi	Bubanza	$648
748 km or 465 mi	Luena	$634
749 km or 465 mi	Lubumbashi	$1050
751 km or 467 mi	Rutana	$648
759 km or 472 mi	Kisangani	$910
763 km or 474 mi	Gitega	$651
777 km or 483 mi	Ngozi	$648
781 km or 486 mi	Kibuye	$479
786 km or 489 mi	Butare	$413
794 km or 493 mi	Ruyigi	$648
797 km or 495 mi	Gisenyi	$381
801 km or 498 mi	Nyanza	$518
809 km or 503 mi	Mansa	$776
831 km or 516 mi	Muyinga	$650
845 km or 525 mi	Ruhengeri	$492
854 km or 530 mi	Kigali	$771
854 km or 531 mi	Chingola	$875
878 km or 545 mi	Byumba	$613
879 km or 546 mi	Mufulira	$1018
901 km or 560 mi	Kitwe	$917
906 km or 563 mi	Mbandaka	$850
933 km or 580 mi	Bumba	$806
938 km or 583 mi	Kinshasa	$1120
940 km or 584 mi	Butembo	$768
940 km or 584 mi	Ndola	$541
943 km or 586 mi	Brazzaville	$580