Lilongwe vs San Jose, United States - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Lilongwe	San Jose
🚶 Cost of living one person	$591	$3962
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1409	$8268
🏠 One person rent	$250	$2809
🏘️ Family rent	$382	$4461
🍽️ Food expenses	$241	$768
🚐 Transport expenses	$51.6	$184
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$121	$5742
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	22 km	8 km
🎓 Higher education	14	87
😀 Quality of life	30	91
🏙️ Population	989K	1.01M

The cost of living in Lilongwe is 85% less expensive than in San Jose, United States. Cities ranked 8027th and 8th ($591 vs $3962) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 5th 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 1.4 months in San Jose, United States. Lilongwe ranked 3rd best city to live in Malawi vs San Jose, United States ranked 31st in the United States, while ranked 8837th and 148th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/lilongwe/san-jose-us.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Lilongwe vs San Jose, United States infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/lilongwe/san-jose-us" target="_blank">Lilongwe vs San Jose, United States - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Lilongwe vs San Jose, United States

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

	Lilongwe	San Jose
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$4.25	$23.2
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$24.2	$100
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$8.08	$12
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.54	$9
☕ Cappuccino	$2.31	$5.63
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.43	$3.41
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$373	$3015
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$112	$2454
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$601	$4507
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$198	$4037
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$34.7	$169
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$52.7	$256
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$50.7	$74.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	12.71%	6.44%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$9004	$9481
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$506	$9796
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.91	$2.5
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$11.5	$89.6
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$5.64	$21.2
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.35	$1.26
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.05	$1.57
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.09	$4.69
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.42	$3.72
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.28	$5.55
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.2	$20.3
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.28	$13.1
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.98	$22.5
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.38	$6.41
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.23	$2.24
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.49	$5.8
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.33	$5.84
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.25	$3.97
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.24	$3.62
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.42	$1.82
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.15	$3.29
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$12.2	$15.2
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.9	$2.52
🚬 Cigarette pack	$1.74	$11.5
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$2.1	$10.4
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.11	$6.94
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$0.75	$6.98
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.66	$2.5
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$28.9	$130
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.53	$16.6
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$17.1	$150
💇 Haircut, simple	$3.64	$20.6
👖 Brand Jeans	$22.9	$56.4
👟 Brand Sneakers	$48.6	$97.5
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$349	$1802
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$2330	$23160

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	$521
134 km or 83 mi	Ntcheu	$495
169 km or 105 mi	Mangochi	$496
228 km or 142 mi	Zomba	$458
233 km or 145 mi	Mzimba	$530
240 km or 149 mi	Blantyre	$505
243 km or 151 mi	Tete	$828
283 km or 176 mi	Mzuzu	$527
293 km or 182 mi	Mulanje	$461
506 km or 314 mi	Kasama	$1002
518 km or 322 mi	Harare	$1024
524 km or 326 mi	Marondera	$768
533 km or 331 mi	Chitungwiza	$770
536 km or 333 mi	Chinhoyi	$639
545 km or 339 mi	Quelimane	$692
550 km or 342 mi	Kapiri Mposhi	$815
566 km or 352 mi	Mbeya	$469
567 km or 353 mi	Mutare	$764
568 km or 353 mi	Ndola	$613
572 km or 355 mi	Chimoio	$924
603 km or 375 mi	Nampula	$935
613 km or 381 mi	Lusaka	$686
616 km or 383 mi	Mansa	$1030
616 km or 383 mi	Kitwe	$1189
618 km or 384 mi	Mufulira	$1473
637 km or 396 mi	Kadoma	$754
660 km or 410 mi	Chingola	$1229
660 km or 410 mi	Beira	$1000
682 km or 424 mi	Kwekwe	$706
732 km or 455 mi	Lubumbashi	$1133
740 km or 460 mi	Pemba	$1521
741 km or 460 mi	Gweru	$577
744 km or 462 mi	Nacala	$1181
746 km or 464 mi	Masvingo	$861
795 km or 494 mi	Choma	$750
835 km or 519 mi	Likasi	$1039
883 km or 549 mi	Bulawayo	$630
886 km or 551 mi	Dodoma	$506
902 km or 560 mi	Morogoro	$408
949 km or 590 mi	Livingstone	$718

Cities near San Jose, United States

Distance	City	Cost of living
7.6 km or 4.7 mi	Campbell	$3488
9.7 km or 6.1 mi	Santa Clara	$3608
11 km or 6.8 mi	Los Gatos	$4273
13 km or 8.4 mi	Saratoga	$3379
15 km or 9.1 mi	Milpitas	$3257
15 km or 9.3 mi	Cupertino	$2871
16 km or 10 mi	Sunnyvale	$3508
18 km or 11 mi	Mountain View	$3603
21 km or 13 mi	Los Altos	$3254
27 km or 17 mi	Palo Alto	$3805
27 km or 17 mi	Morgan Hill	$3181
28 km or 18 mi	Fremont	$3589
29 km or 18 mi	Newark	$3261
29 km or 18 mi	East Palo Alto	$3382
32 km or 20 mi	Menlo Park	$3395
36 km or 22 mi	Union	$3137
38 km or 23 mi	Redwood	$3771
39 km or 24 mi	Santa Cruz	$3489
41 km or 25 mi	San Carlos	$3359
41 km or 25 mi	Pleasanton	$3520
42 km or 26 mi	Gilroy	$3017
43 km or 27 mi	Livermore	$3065
44 km or 27 mi	Watsonville	$3676
44 km or 27 mi	Belmont	$3593
44 km or 28 mi	Foster	$3604
45 km or 28 mi	Hayward	$2910
46 km or 28 mi	Dublin	$3094
47 km or 29 mi	San Lorenzo	$2802
48 km or 30 mi	San Mateo	$3831
48 km or 30 mi	Castro Valley	$2983
53 km or 33 mi	San Leandro	$3007
53 km or 33 mi	Burlingame	$3346
54 km or 33 mi	San Ramon	$2859
57 km or 36 mi	Millbrae	$3282
59 km or 36 mi	Danville	$3778
60 km or 38 mi	San Bruno	$3264
61 km or 38 mi	Alameda	$3277
62 km or 38 mi	Tracy	$2089
63 km or 39 mi	South San Francisco	$3245
64 km or 40 mi	Oakland	$3212