Mbabane vs Nairobi - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Mbabane	Nairobi
🚶 Cost of living one person	$562	$760
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1439	$2089
🏠 One person rent	$245	$262
🏘️ Family rent	$484	$619
🍽️ Food expenses	$202	$281
🚐 Transport expenses	$55.5	$160
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$701	$399
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Good
✈️ Airport proximity	27 km	4 km
🎓 Higher education	16	68
😀 Quality of life	38	59
🏙️ Population	60.7K	5.55M

The cost of living in Mbabane is 26% less expensive than in Nairobi. Cities ranked 8102nd and 6622nd ($562 vs $760) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 1st in Eswatini and Kenya, respectively. Check Eswatini vs Kenya comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.2 months in Mbabane compared to 0.5 months in Nairobi. Mbabane ranked 1st best city to live in Eswatini vs Nairobi ranked 1st in Kenya, while ranked 7231st and 5369th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Mbabane vs Nairobi infographic

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Prices in Mbabane vs Nairobi

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

	Mbabane	Nairobi
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$2.96	$5.45
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$27.1	$38.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$2.22	$6.64
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.78	$2.34
☕ Cappuccino	$1.65	$2.28
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.9	$0.73
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$221	$395
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$159	$156
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$487	$1080
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$360	$418
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$45.7	$20
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$70.6	$31.1
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$27.3	$37.8
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.73%	14.8%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$330	$1743
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$245	$998
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.09	$0.77
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$28.3	$31
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$25.2	$13.9
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.14	$1.56
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.03	$0.92
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.74	$0.56
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.22	$1.65
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.63	$1.63
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.71	$11
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.82	$6.33
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5	$5.36
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.47	$2.97
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.71	$1.1
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.9	$2.01
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.33	$1.03
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1	$1.07
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.22	$1.18
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.49	$0.52
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.12	$1.45
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$5.45	$12.1
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.42	$2.13
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.51	$3.08
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.16	$2.6
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.07	$3.72
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.52	$1.23
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.27	$1.14
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$27.2	$42
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$3.51	$6.17
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$17.9	$15.9
💇 Haircut, simple	$4.52	$4.79
👖 Brand Jeans	$43.6	$19.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$70.6	$59.2
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$104	$187
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$4495	$7984

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Mbabane

Distance	City	Cost of living
27 km or 17 mi	Manzini	$442
136 km or 85 mi	Matola	$964
148 km or 92 mi	Maputo	$1068
165 km or 103 mi	Vryheid	$763
171 km or 106 mi	Bethal	$784
179 km or 111 mi	Middelburg	$795
271 km or 168 mi	Springs	$678
284 km or 176 mi	Benoni	$785
287 km or 178 mi	Xai-Xai	$1003
301 km or 187 mi	Centurion	$807
304 km or 189 mi	Pretoria	$906
311 km or 193 mi	Sandton	$953
311 km or 193 mi	Johannesburg	$993
316 km or 196 mi	Randburg	$837
324 km or 201 mi	Vereeniging	$672
329 km or 204 mi	Soweto	$923
334 km or 207 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$773
348 km or 216 mi	Brits	$820
370 km or 230 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$640
394 km or 245 mi	Durban	$809
398 km or 247 mi	Butha-Buthe	$535
399 km or 248 mi	Rustenburg	$889
406 km or 252 mi	Potchefstroom	$695
416 km or 259 mi	Kroonstad	$768
451 km or 280 mi	Klerksdorp	$722
461 km or 287 mi	Teyateyaneng	$500
477 km or 296 mi	Welkom	$748
491 km or 305 mi	Maseru	$621
546 km or 339 mi	Mafeteng	$567
555 km or 345 mi	Mmabatho	$780
559 km or 347 mi	Gaborone	$691
564 km or 350 mi	Lobatse	$665
566 km or 352 mi	Mahalapye	$631
576 km or 358 mi	Bloemfontein	$657
585 km or 363 mi	Palapye	$540
601 km or 374 mi	Kanye	$664
608 km or 378 mi	Molepolole	$628
628 km or 390 mi	Serowe	$583
628 km or 390 mi	Mthatha	$852
682 km or 424 mi	Francistown	$624

Cities near Nairobi

Distance	City	Cost of living
40 km or 25 mi	Thika	$589
56 km or 35 mi	Machakos	$408
139 km or 87 mi	Nakuru	$500
175 km or 109 mi	Meru	$541
232 km or 144 mi	Arusha	$638
235 km or 146 mi	Moshi	$561
263 km or 164 mi	Eldoret	$483
265 km or 165 mi	Kisumu	$522
316 km or 196 mi	Mumias	$490
367 km or 228 mi	Tororo	$602
394 km or 245 mi	Mbale	$605
425 km or 264 mi	Malindi	$498
441 km or 274 mi	Mombasa	$580
444 km or 276 mi	Jinja	$562
456 km or 284 mi	Mwanza	$625
491 km or 305 mi	Tanga	$545
501 km or 311 mi	Kira Town	$646
503 km or 313 mi	Kampala	$698
507 km or 315 mi	Entebbe	$558
564 km or 351 mi	Dodoma	$502
603 km or 375 mi	Stone Town	$523
604 km or 375 mi	Zanzibar	$552
623 km or 387 mi	Morogoro	$486
671 km or 417 mi	Dar es Salaam	$811
674 km or 419 mi	Gulu	$594
741 km or 461 mi	Muyinga	$650
751 km or 467 mi	Byumba	$613
755 km or 469 mi	Kigali	$771
769 km or 478 mi	Ruyigi	$648
778 km or 483 mi	Kasese	$573
794 km or 494 mi	Nyanza	$518
796 km or 495 mi	Bunia	$801
798 km or 496 mi	Ruhengeri	$492
798 km or 496 mi	Ngozi	$648
799 km or 496 mi	Butare	$413
801 km or 498 mi	Gitega	$651
811 km or 504 mi	Rutana	$648
813 km or 505 mi	Arua	$585
835 km or 519 mi	Kibuye	$479
841 km or 523 mi	Beni	$785