Lilongwe vs Monrovia - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Lilongwe	Monrovia
🚶 Cost of living one person	$587	$523
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1571	$1293
🏠 One person rent	$251	$225
🏘️ Family rent	$555	$433
🍽️ Food expenses	$237	$202
🚐 Transport expenses	$51.8	$47
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$275	$388
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	22 km	6 km
🎓 Higher education	13	21
😀 Quality of life	20	27
🏙️ Population	989K	1.02M

The cost of living in Lilongwe is 12% more expensive than in Monrovia. Cities ranked 7807th and 8452nd ($587 vs $523) 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 0.5 months in Lilongwe compared to 0.7 months in Monrovia. Lilongwe ranked 4th best city to live in Malawi vs Monrovia ranked 1st in Liberia, while ranked 8847th and 8399th 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	$3.07
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$24.2	$18.8
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$8.14	$4.57
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.37	$1.81
☕ Cappuccino	$2.32	$1.84
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.93	$0.47
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$373	$217
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$114	$147
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$362	$497
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$474	$310
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$34.6	$37.7
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$53.6	$58.8
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$50.1	$26.8
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	12.4%	12.24%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$10555	$1572
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$588	$937
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.91	$0.33
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$11.7	$12.1
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$5.67	$5.9
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.35	$1.05
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.95	$1.14
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.95	$0.61
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.29	$1.11
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.29	$1.53
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.2	$6.84
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.29	$4.31
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4	$6.59
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.36	$2.19
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1	$1.17
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.49	$1.57
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.32	$0.98
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.26	$0.86
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.24	$0.96
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.42	$0.32
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.15	$1.11
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$12.1	$7.87
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.91	$1.43
🚬 Cigarette pack	$1.57	$2.83
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$2.11	$3.38
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.11	$2.78
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$0.75	$1.53
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.68	$1.24
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$28.8	$23.2
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.17	$4.09
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$17	$12.5
💇 Haircut, simple	$3.6	$3.77
👖 Brand Jeans	$23.1	$26.2
👟 Brand Sneakers	$49.4	$60.5
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$349	$81.9
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$2351	$2771

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 Monrovia

Distance	City	Cost of living
56 km or 35 mi	Kakata	$487
180 km or 112 mi	Kenema	$1272
210 km or 131 mi	Bo	$1278
243 km or 151 mi	Greenville	$487
260 km or 161 mi	Sanniquellie	$487
262 km or 163 mi	Gueckedou	$1009
272 km or 169 mi	Nzerekore	$999
288 km or 179 mi	Yekepa	$487
361 km or 224 mi	Freetown	$1346
459 km or 285 mi	Forecariah	$998
474 km or 295 mi	Mamou	$1019
479 km or 297 mi	Conakry	$1061
482 km or 300 mi	Kankan	$1007
539 km or 335 mi	Gagnoa	$904
557 km or 346 mi	Boffa	$998
605 km or 376 mi	Divo	$906
613 km or 381 mi	Yamoussoukro	$887
655 km or 407 mi	Bouake	$937
669 km or 416 mi	Korhogo	$916
675 km or 419 mi	Bougouni	$489
719 km or 447 mi	Dabou	$882
730 km or 453 mi	Agboville	$882
758 km or 471 mi	Abidjan	$1022
769 km or 478 mi	Bamako	$569
777 km or 483 mi	Bafata	$804
792 km or 492 mi	Grand-Bassam	$881
793 km or 493 mi	Sikasso	$499
809 km or 503 mi	Abengourou	$889
811 km or 504 mi	Bissau	$827
811 km or 504 mi	Koulikoro	$490
861 km or 535 mi	Kolda	$964
885 km or 550 mi	Banamba	$491
898 km or 558 mi	Bobo-Dioulasso	$757
919 km or 571 mi	Ziguinchor	$953
936 km or 582 mi	Segou	$490
969 km or 602 mi	Markala	$489
1004 km or 624 mi	Brikama	$552
1008 km or 627 mi	Obuasi	$551
1012 km or 629 mi	Sekondi-Takoradi	$577
1014 km or 630 mi	Lamin	$507