Lilongwe vs New York City - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Lilongwe	New York City
🚶 Cost of living one person	$587	$4202
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1406	$9189
🏠 One person rent	$251	$2718
🏘️ Family rent	$391	$4417
🍽️ Food expenses	$236	$842
🚐 Transport expenses	$51.5	$400
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$107	$5389
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	22 km	13 km
🎓 Higher education	14	100
😀 Quality of life	29	95
🏙️ Population	989K	8.8M

The cost of living in Lilongwe is 86% less expensive than in New York City. Cities ranked 8094th and 4th ($587 vs $4202) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 1st in Malawi and the United States, respectively. Check Malawi vs the United States comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.2 months in Lilongwe compared to 1.3 months in New York City. Lilongwe ranked 2nd best city to live in Malawi vs New York City ranked 2nd in the United States, while ranked 8818th and 15th among best cities to live in the world.

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

Prices in Lilongwe vs New York City

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

	Lilongwe	New York City
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$4.43	$22.6
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$24.5	$90
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$7.88	$13.4
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.55	$8.3
☕ Cappuccino	$2.32	$6.22
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.43	$3.28
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$373	$3692
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$114	$2206
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$608	$5140
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$207	$3874
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$34.3	$144
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$53.2	$218
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$50.5	$70.6
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	12.88%	6.31%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7658	$18073
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$432	$7831
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.93	$3.01
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$11.6	$138
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$5.7	$27
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.31	$1.02
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.95	$1.44
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.98	$4.07
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.32	$5.67
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.32	$6.75
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13	$16.6
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.08	$14.6
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.97	$18.5
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.25	$6.3
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.25	$2.24
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.5	$5.79
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.29	$6.72
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.09	$3.21
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.24	$3.96
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.42	$1.67
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.07	$3.57
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$11.2	$19.7
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.88	$4.61
🚬 Cigarette pack	$1.71	$18.5
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$2.11	$23.4
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.1	$14
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$0.76	$8.02
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.67	$2.86
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$28.9	$132
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.53	$21.7
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$16.9	$159
💇 Haircut, simple	$3.62	$40.5
👖 Brand Jeans	$23.2	$61.1
👟 Brand Sneakers	$49.4	$115
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$350	$2095
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$2337	$21713

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	$516
134 km or 83 mi	Ntcheu	$489
169 km or 105 mi	Mangochi	$494
228 km or 142 mi	Zomba	$452
233 km or 145 mi	Mzimba	$559
240 km or 149 mi	Blantyre	$495
243 km or 151 mi	Tete	$792
283 km or 176 mi	Mzuzu	$522
293 km or 182 mi	Mulanje	$456
506 km or 314 mi	Kasama	$1132
518 km or 322 mi	Harare	$1015
524 km or 326 mi	Marondera	$755
533 km or 331 mi	Chitungwiza	$780
536 km or 333 mi	Chinhoyi	$629
545 km or 339 mi	Quelimane	$691
550 km or 342 mi	Kapiri Mposhi	$925
566 km or 352 mi	Mbeya	$463
567 km or 353 mi	Mutare	$754
568 km or 353 mi	Ndola	$692
572 km or 355 mi	Chimoio	$875
603 km or 375 mi	Nampula	$933
613 km or 381 mi	Lusaka	$777
616 km or 383 mi	Mansa	$1166
616 km or 383 mi	Kitwe	$1304
618 km or 384 mi	Mufulira	$1602
637 km or 396 mi	Kadoma	$727
660 km or 410 mi	Chingola	$1378
660 km or 410 mi	Beira	$952
682 km or 424 mi	Kwekwe	$677
732 km or 455 mi	Lubumbashi	$1125
740 km or 460 mi	Pemba	$1511
741 km or 460 mi	Gweru	$565
744 km or 462 mi	Nacala	$1167
746 km or 464 mi	Masvingo	$840
795 km or 494 mi	Choma	$849
835 km or 519 mi	Likasi	$1029
883 km or 549 mi	Bulawayo	$632
886 km or 551 mi	Dodoma	$495
902 km or 560 mi	Morogoro	$417
949 km or 590 mi	Livingstone	$813

Cities near New York City

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 6.6 mi	Astoria	$2940
11 km or 6.8 mi	Hoboken	$3729
11 km or 7.1 mi	Jersey	$3110
13 km or 8.3 mi	Union	$3145
14 km or 8.8 mi	West New York	$2842
14 km or 8.9 mi	Bayonne	$3304
15 km or 9.6 mi	North Bergen	$2840
17 km or 10 mi	Secaucus	$2917
17 km or 11 mi	Cliffside Park	$2795
18 km or 11 mi	Kearny	$2791
20 km or 12 mi	Valley Stream	$2820
20 km or 13 mi	Fort Lee	$2821
20 km or 13 mi	Lyndhurst	$2707
22 km or 14 mi	Newark	$2797
23 km or 14 mi	Elizabeth	$2805
23 km or 14 mi	Belleville	$2545
25 km or 15 mi	Hillside	$2725
25 km or 15 mi	Long Beach	$2823
25 km or 15 mi	Nutley	$2540
25 km or 16 mi	East Orange	$2557
25 km or 16 mi	Irvington	$2665
26 km or 16 mi	Rockville Centre	$2700
26 km or 16 mi	Linden	$2791
26 km or 16 mi	Hackensack	$2692
26 km or 16 mi	Bloomfield	$2485
26 km or 16 mi	Teaneck	$2697
26 km or 16 mi	Carteret	$2775
26 km or 16 mi	Passaic	$2614
27 km or 17 mi	Roselle	$2779
27 km or 17 mi	Hempstead	$2710
28 km or 17 mi	Union Township	$2729
28 km or 18 mi	Clifton	$2669
28 km or 18 mi	Maplewood	$2634
29 km or 18 mi	Montclair	$2450
29 km or 18 mi	Bergenfield	$2713
29 km or 18 mi	Mount Vernon	$2863
30 km or 18 mi	Rahway	$2762
30 km or 18 mi	Uniondale	$2694
30 km or 18 mi	West Orange	$2488
30 km or 18 mi	New Rochelle	$3192