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

Updated: October 10, 2024

	Lilongwe	San Jose
🚶 Cost of living one person	$582	$3674
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1336	$8354
🏠 One person rent	$260	$2553
🏘️ Family rent	$352	$4614
🍽️ Food expenses	$216	$756
🚐 Transport expenses	$57.3	$175
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$278	$6972
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	22 km	8 km
🎓 Higher education	13	87
😀 Quality of life	20	93
🏙️ Population	989K	1.01M

The cost of living in Lilongwe is 84% less expensive than in San Jose, United States. Cities ranked 7990th and 13th ($582 vs $3674) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 2nd and 11th 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 1.9 months in San Jose, United States. Lilongwe ranked 4th best city to live in Malawi vs San Jose, United States ranked 9th in the United States, while ranked 8861st and 57th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Lilongwe vs San Jose, United States infographic

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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	$3.23	$25.2
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$25.7	$99.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$3.86	$12.1
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.93	$9.02
☕ Cappuccino	$2.43	$6.07
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.92	$3.37
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$375	$2518
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$113	$2244
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$363	$4974
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$202	$4085
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$44.9	$178
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$68.5	$275
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$49.9	$76.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	12.6%	6.65%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$10490	$11099
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$589	$11117
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.93	$2.48
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$11.6	$90.5
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$6.99	$18.5
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.4	$1.28
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.22	$1.34
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.08	$4.64
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.19	$3.84
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.56	$4.98
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.3	$15.9
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.05	$14.2
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.01	$21.9
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.24	$5.87
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.32	$1.76
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.6	$3.56
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.13	$6.75
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.57	$3.84
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.24	$3.28
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.29	$1.73
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.15	$2.55
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$12.1	$15
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.95	$2.11
🚬 Cigarette pack	$1.59	$11.5
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$2.13	$9.28
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.05	$7.04
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$0.75	$4.62
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.67	$2.28
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$33.7	$113
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.11	$15.9
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$17.2	$151
💇 Haircut, simple	$3.63	$20.9
👖 Brand Jeans	$23	$48.2
👟 Brand Sneakers	$49.3	$83.3
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$350	$1894
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$2358	$23974

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	$526
134 km or 83 mi	Ntcheu	$515
169 km or 105 mi	Mangochi	$516
228 km or 142 mi	Zomba	$498
233 km or 145 mi	Mzimba	$574
240 km or 149 mi	Blantyre	$591
243 km or 151 mi	Tete	$834
283 km or 176 mi	Mzuzu	$534
293 km or 182 mi	Mulanje	$500
506 km or 314 mi	Kasama	$1079
518 km or 322 mi	Harare	$1012
524 km or 326 mi	Marondera	$810
533 km or 331 mi	Chitungwiza	$890
536 km or 333 mi	Chinhoyi	$830
545 km or 339 mi	Quelimane	$670
550 km or 342 mi	Kapiri Mposhi	$894
566 km or 352 mi	Mbeya	$433
567 km or 353 mi	Mutare	$662
568 km or 353 mi	Ndola	$1139
572 km or 355 mi	Chimoio	$953
603 km or 375 mi	Nampula	$1190
613 km or 381 mi	Lusaka	$685
616 km or 383 mi	Mansa	$1017
616 km or 383 mi	Kitwe	$1116
618 km or 384 mi	Mufulira	$1090
637 km or 396 mi	Kadoma	$729
660 km or 410 mi	Chingola	$1028
660 km or 410 mi	Beira	$1000
682 km or 424 mi	Kwekwe	$731
732 km or 455 mi	Lubumbashi	$1007
740 km or 460 mi	Pemba	$1500
741 km or 460 mi	Gweru	$761
744 km or 462 mi	Nacala	$1394
746 km or 464 mi	Masvingo	$871
795 km or 494 mi	Choma	$725
835 km or 519 mi	Likasi	$939
883 km or 549 mi	Bulawayo	$756
886 km or 551 mi	Dodoma	$564
902 km or 560 mi	Morogoro	$639
949 km or 590 mi	Livingstone	$670

Cities near San Jose, United States

Distance	City	Cost of living
7.6 km or 4.7 mi	Campbell	$3322
9.7 km or 6.1 mi	Santa Clara	$3417
11 km or 6.8 mi	Los Gatos	$4181
13 km or 8.4 mi	Saratoga	$3147
15 km or 9.1 mi	Milpitas	$3083
15 km or 9.3 mi	Cupertino	$2799
16 km or 10 mi	Sunnyvale	$3305
18 km or 11 mi	Mountain View	$3220
21 km or 13 mi	Los Altos	$3085
27 km or 17 mi	Palo Alto	$3610
27 km or 17 mi	Morgan Hill	$3094
28 km or 18 mi	Fremont	$3159
29 km or 18 mi	Newark	$3010
29 km or 18 mi	East Palo Alto	$3228
32 km or 20 mi	Menlo Park	$3288
36 km or 22 mi	Union	$2986
38 km or 23 mi	Redwood	$3584
39 km or 24 mi	Santa Cruz	$3433
41 km or 25 mi	San Carlos	$3442
41 km or 25 mi	Pleasanton	$3578
42 km or 26 mi	Gilroy	$3118
43 km or 27 mi	Livermore	$3085
44 km or 27 mi	Watsonville	$3527
44 km or 27 mi	Belmont	$3804
44 km or 28 mi	Foster	$3473
45 km or 28 mi	Hayward	$2981
46 km or 28 mi	Dublin	$3091
47 km or 29 mi	San Lorenzo	$2802
48 km or 30 mi	San Mateo	$3672
48 km or 30 mi	Castro Valley	$2931
53 km or 33 mi	San Leandro	$3023
53 km or 33 mi	Burlingame	$3293
54 km or 33 mi	San Ramon	$2851
57 km or 36 mi	Millbrae	$3224
59 km or 36 mi	Danville	$2922
60 km or 38 mi	San Bruno	$3196
61 km or 38 mi	Alameda	$3274
62 km or 38 mi	Tracy	$2250
63 km or 39 mi	South San Francisco	$3170
64 km or 40 mi	Oakland	$3146