Lilongwe vs Monrovia - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Lilongwe	Monrovia
🚶 Cost of living one person	$592	$536
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1419	$1276
🏠 One person rent	$250	$228
🏘️ Family rent	$390	$382
🍽️ Food expenses	$241	$209
🚐 Transport expenses	$51.8	$48.4
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$105	$118
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	22 km	6 km
🎓 Higher education	12	21
😀 Quality of life	25	27
🏙️ Population	989K	1.02M

The cost of living in Lilongwe is 10% more expensive than in Monrovia. Cities ranked 7884th and 8410th ($592 vs $536) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 1st in Malawi and Liberia, respectively. Check Malawi vs Liberia comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.2 months in Lilongwe compared to 0.2 months in Monrovia. Lilongwe ranked 7th best city to live in Malawi vs Monrovia ranked 1st in Liberia, while ranked 8966th and 8877th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Lilongwe vs Monrovia infographic

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Prices in Lilongwe vs Monrovia

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

	Lilongwe	Monrovia
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$4.27	$3.24
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$24.6	$20.2
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$8.09	$4.65
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.55	$1.84
☕ Cappuccino	$2.34	$1.88
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.43	$0.51
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$374	$223
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$114	$148
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$603	$402
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$207	$270
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$34.2	$38
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$53.6	$59.3
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$50.6	$26.8
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	12.87%	12.71%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$10587	$1537
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$593	$944
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.92	$0.34
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$11.6	$13
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$5.7	$6.09
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.34	$1.04
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.06	$1.19
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.07	$0.64
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.42	$1.19
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.27	$1.58
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.4	$7.2
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.25	$4.37
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.01	$6.79
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.38	$2.29
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.24	$1.19
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.5	$1.64
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.34	$1.02
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.26	$0.96
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.24	$1
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.42	$0.33
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.13	$1.1
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$12	$7.73
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.92	$1.47
🚬 Cigarette pack	$1.57	$2.85
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$2.12	$3.32
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.05	$2.81
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$0.75	$1.5
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.66	$1.21
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$29.1	$24.4
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.17	$4.28
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$17	$15.2
💇 Haircut, simple	$3.59	$3.26
👖 Brand Jeans	$23	$27
👟 Brand Sneakers	$49.5	$62.4
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$353	$86.3
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$2356	$3157

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	$519
134 km or 83 mi	Ntcheu	$493
169 km or 105 mi	Mangochi	$496
228 km or 142 mi	Zomba	$458
233 km or 145 mi	Mzimba	$565
240 km or 149 mi	Blantyre	$506
243 km or 151 mi	Tete	$820
283 km or 176 mi	Mzuzu	$527
293 km or 182 mi	Mulanje	$461
506 km or 314 mi	Kasama	$888
518 km or 322 mi	Harare	$1021
524 km or 326 mi	Marondera	$779
533 km or 331 mi	Chitungwiza	$751
536 km or 333 mi	Chinhoyi	$650
545 km or 339 mi	Quelimane	$692
550 km or 342 mi	Kapiri Mposhi	$748
566 km or 352 mi	Mbeya	$495
567 km or 353 mi	Mutare	$755
568 km or 353 mi	Ndola	$577
572 km or 355 mi	Chimoio	$916
603 km or 375 mi	Nampula	$935
613 km or 381 mi	Lusaka	$655
616 km or 383 mi	Mansa	$912
616 km or 383 mi	Kitwe	$1062
618 km or 384 mi	Mufulira	$1278
637 km or 396 mi	Kadoma	$761
660 km or 410 mi	Chingola	$1069
660 km or 410 mi	Beira	$996
682 km or 424 mi	Kwekwe	$716
732 km or 455 mi	Lubumbashi	$1124
740 km or 460 mi	Pemba	$1511
741 km or 460 mi	Gweru	$587
744 km or 462 mi	Nacala	$1168
746 km or 464 mi	Masvingo	$873
795 km or 494 mi	Choma	$687
835 km or 519 mi	Likasi	$1032
883 km or 549 mi	Bulawayo	$658
886 km or 551 mi	Dodoma	$526
902 km or 560 mi	Morogoro	$421
949 km or 590 mi	Livingstone	$653

Cities near Monrovia

Distance	City	Cost of living
56 km or 35 mi	Kakata	$502
180 km or 112 mi	Kenema	$1281
210 km or 131 mi	Bo	$1283
243 km or 151 mi	Greenville	$502
260 km or 161 mi	Sanniquellie	$503
262 km or 163 mi	Gueckedou	$1010
272 km or 169 mi	Nzerekore	$1003
288 km or 179 mi	Yekepa	$503
361 km or 224 mi	Freetown	$1347
459 km or 285 mi	Forecariah	$999
474 km or 295 mi	Mamou	$1021
479 km or 297 mi	Conakry	$1067
482 km or 300 mi	Kankan	$1007
539 km or 335 mi	Gagnoa	$1082
557 km or 346 mi	Boffa	$999
605 km or 376 mi	Divo	$1083
613 km or 381 mi	Yamoussoukro	$1056
655 km or 407 mi	Bouake	$1123
669 km or 416 mi	Korhogo	$1099
675 km or 419 mi	Bougouni	$508
719 km or 447 mi	Dabou	$1057
730 km or 453 mi	Agboville	$1057
758 km or 471 mi	Abidjan	$1224
769 km or 478 mi	Bamako	$583
777 km or 483 mi	Bafata	$872
792 km or 492 mi	Grand-Bassam	$1059
793 km or 493 mi	Sikasso	$514
809 km or 503 mi	Abengourou	$1066
811 km or 504 mi	Bissau	$895
811 km or 504 mi	Koulikoro	$506
861 km or 535 mi	Kolda	$1044
885 km or 550 mi	Banamba	$506
898 km or 558 mi	Bobo-Dioulasso	$831
919 km or 571 mi	Ziguinchor	$1031
936 km or 582 mi	Segou	$506
969 km or 602 mi	Markala	$508
1004 km or 624 mi	Brikama	$598
1008 km or 627 mi	Obuasi	$631
1012 km or 629 mi	Sekondi-Takoradi	$649
1014 km or 630 mi	Lamin	$541