Lilongwe vs New York City - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Lilongwe	New York City
🚶 Cost of living one person	$587	$4441
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1571	$10033
🏠 One person rent	$251	$2960
🏘️ Family rent	$555	$5380
🍽️ Food expenses	$237	$886
🚐 Transport expenses	$51.8	$364
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$275	$5544
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Good
✈️ Airport proximity	22 km	13 km
🎓 Higher education	13	100
😀 Quality of life	20	95
🏙️ Population	989K	8.8M

The cost of living in Lilongwe is 87% less expensive than in New York City. Cities ranked 7807th and 3rd ($587 vs $4441) 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 0.5 months in Lilongwe compared to 1.2 months in New York City. Lilongwe ranked 4th best city to live in Malawi vs New York City ranked 2nd in the United States, while ranked 8847th and 22nd 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 New York City infographic

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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	$4.27	$29.7
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$24.2	$133
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$8.14	$12
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.37	$8.94
☕ Cappuccino	$2.32	$5.95
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.93	$3.2
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$373	$3501
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$114	$2603
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$362	$4776
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$474	$5236
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$34.6	$112
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$53.6	$171
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$50.1	$65.5
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	12.4%	6.55%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$10555	$17935
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$588	$12929
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.91	$2.91
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$11.7	$132
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$5.67	$22.5
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.35	$1
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.95	$1.53
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.95	$5.04
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.29	$7.95
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.29	$5.54
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.2	$17.6
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.29	$15.4
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4	$20
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.36	$7.6
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1	$2.37
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.49	$6.05
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.32	$6.2
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.26	$3.66
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.24	$3.84
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.42	$1.72
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.15	$3.41
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$12.1	$20
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.91	$2.89
🚬 Cigarette pack	$1.57	$18.1
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$2.11	$9.89
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.11	$5.44
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$0.75	$6.94
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.68	$1.95
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$28.8	$71
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.17	$20.1
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$17	$173
💇 Haircut, simple	$3.6	$36.1
👖 Brand Jeans	$23.1	$67.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$49.4	$113
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$349	$1784
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$2351	$21465

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 New York City

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 6.6 mi	Astoria	$2534
11 km or 6.8 mi	Hoboken	$3271
11 km or 7.1 mi	Jersey	$3040
13 km or 8.3 mi	Union	$2886
14 km or 8.8 mi	West New York	$2703
14 km or 8.9 mi	Bayonne	$3302
15 km or 9.6 mi	North Bergen	$2701
17 km or 10 mi	Secaucus	$2756
17 km or 11 mi	Cliffside Park	$2698
18 km or 11 mi	Kearny	$2720
20 km or 12 mi	Valley Stream	$2730
20 km or 13 mi	Fort Lee	$2792
20 km or 13 mi	Lyndhurst	$2667
22 km or 14 mi	Newark	$2729
23 km or 14 mi	Elizabeth	$2740
23 km or 14 mi	Belleville	$2512
25 km or 15 mi	Hillside	$2693
25 km or 15 mi	Long Beach	$2732
25 km or 15 mi	Nutley	$2531
25 km or 16 mi	East Orange	$2587
25 km or 16 mi	Irvington	$2637
26 km or 16 mi	Rockville Centre	$2614
26 km or 16 mi	Linden	$2749
26 km or 16 mi	Hackensack	$2664
26 km or 16 mi	Bloomfield	$2480
26 km or 16 mi	Teaneck	$2715
26 km or 16 mi	Carteret	$2722
26 km or 16 mi	Passaic	$2676
27 km or 17 mi	Roselle	$2747
27 km or 17 mi	Hempstead	$2664
28 km or 17 mi	Union Township	$2716
28 km or 18 mi	Clifton	$2745
28 km or 18 mi	Maplewood	$2611
29 km or 18 mi	Montclair	$2456
29 km or 18 mi	Bergenfield	$2674
29 km or 18 mi	Mount Vernon	$2772
30 km or 18 mi	Rahway	$2730
30 km or 18 mi	Uniondale	$2610
30 km or 18 mi	West Orange	$2456
30 km or 18 mi	New Rochelle	$3111