Nairobi vs Ottawa - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Nairobi	Ottawa
🚶 Cost of living one person	$797	$2133
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1994	$4730
🏠 One person rent	$296	$1249
🏘️ Family rent	$498	$1952
🍽️ Food expenses	$280	$587
🚐 Transport expenses	$160	$172
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$208	$3871
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	4 km	6 km
🎓 Higher education	67	49
😀 Quality of life	58	92
🏙️ Population	5.55M	1.02M

The cost of living in Nairobi is 63% less expensive than in Ottawa. Cities ranked 6763rd and 1668th ($797 vs $2133) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 27th in Kenya and Canada, respectively. Check Kenya vs Canada comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.3 months in Nairobi compared to 1.8 months in Ottawa. Nairobi ranked 1st best city to live in Kenya vs Ottawa ranked 10th in Canada, while ranked 6139th and 123rd among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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Prices in Nairobi vs Ottawa

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

	Nairobi	Ottawa
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$5.4	$16.4
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$39.2	$62.9
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$6.62	$11
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.35	$5.87
☕ Cappuccino	$2.48	$4.25
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.67	$2.1
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$395	$1328
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$192	$1047
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$697	$2126
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$351	$1662
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$25.4	$96.9
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$39.4	$148
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$38	$48.9
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	15.08%	4.48%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1677	$4318
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$943	$3670
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.77	$2.99
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$30.9	$99.5
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$14.3	$15.9
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.42	$1
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.84	$2.18
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.56	$2.68
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.81	$2.89
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.65	$3.59
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.9	$13
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.47	$13.2
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.79	$16.8
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.12	$4.13
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.02	$1.37
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.73	$3.85
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.95	$4
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.03	$2.57
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.93	$3.08
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.46	$1.05
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.5	$2.84
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$11.5	$11.9
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.14	$2.74
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.32	$13.8
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$2.61	$12.8
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.7	$4.26
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.22	$1.99
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.13	$2.04
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$45.1	$44.4
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$7.7	$11
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$16.9	$68.3
💇 Haircut, simple	$4.77	$16.7
👖 Brand Jeans	$19.9	$56.4
👟 Brand Sneakers	$59.2	$89.3
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$221	$882
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$9106	$17337

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Nairobi

Distance	City	Cost of living
40 km or 25 mi	Thika	$455
56 km or 35 mi	Machakos	$419
139 km or 87 mi	Nakuru	$508
175 km or 109 mi	Meru	$542
232 km or 144 mi	Arusha	$602
235 km or 146 mi	Moshi	$523
263 km or 164 mi	Eldoret	$520
265 km or 165 mi	Kisumu	$533
316 km or 196 mi	Mumias	$505
367 km or 228 mi	Tororo	$624
394 km or 245 mi	Mbale	$651
425 km or 264 mi	Malindi	$553
441 km or 274 mi	Mombasa	$604
444 km or 276 mi	Jinja	$593
456 km or 284 mi	Mwanza	$623
491 km or 305 mi	Tanga	$544
501 km or 311 mi	Kira Town	$670
503 km or 313 mi	Kampala	$722
507 km or 315 mi	Entebbe	$563
564 km or 351 mi	Dodoma	$506
603 km or 375 mi	Stone Town	$551
604 km or 375 mi	Zanzibar	$588
623 km or 387 mi	Morogoro	$408
671 km or 417 mi	Dar es Salaam	$763
674 km or 419 mi	Gulu	$627
741 km or 461 mi	Muyinga	$691
751 km or 467 mi	Byumba	$620
755 km or 469 mi	Kigali	$811
769 km or 478 mi	Ruyigi	$693
778 km or 483 mi	Kasese	$572
794 km or 494 mi	Nyanza	$544
796 km or 495 mi	Bunia	$825
798 km or 496 mi	Ruhengeri	$518
798 km or 496 mi	Ngozi	$692
799 km or 496 mi	Butare	$409
801 km or 498 mi	Gitega	$694
811 km or 504 mi	Rutana	$691
813 km or 505 mi	Arua	$617
835 km or 519 mi	Kibuye	$507
841 km or 523 mi	Beni	$810

Cities near Ottawa

Distance	City	Cost of living
7.4 km or 4.6 mi	Gatineau	$1866
19 km or 12 mi	Kanata	$2229
87 km or 54 mi	Cornwall	$1703
94 km or 58 mi	Brockville	$1868
124 km or 77 mi	Salaberry-de-Valleyfield	$1971
128 km or 80 mi	Mirabel	$1896
130 km or 81 mi	Vaudreuil-Dorion	$1924
138 km or 86 mi	Saint-Jerome	$1864
141 km or 87 mi	Saint-Eustache	$1948
143 km or 89 mi	Kirkland	$1930
144 km or 89 mi	Blainville	$1935
146 km or 90 mi	Sainte-Therese	$1950
147 km or 91 mi	Pointe-Claire	$1920
147 km or 91 mi	Boisbriand	$1934
147 km or 91 mi	Dollard-des-Ormeaux	$1944
147 km or 91 mi	Kingston	$1476
150 km or 93 mi	Le Ray	$1927
152 km or 94 mi	Dorval	$1923
152 km or 94 mi	Chateauguay	$1914
153 km or 95 mi	Laval	$2047
157 km or 98 mi	Saint-Lin-Laurentides	$1800
158 km or 98 mi	Cote-Saint-Luc	$1893
160 km or 100 mi	Mount Royal	$1876
162 km or 101 mi	Watertown	$1733
163 km or 102 mi	Terrebonne	$1907
163 km or 102 mi	Westmount	$1862
166 km or 103 mi	Saint-Constant	$1910
167 km or 104 mi	Montreal	$1928
167 km or 104 mi	Mascouche	$1852
170 km or 106 mi	Saint-Lambert	$1875
170 km or 106 mi	Candiac	$1940
170 km or 106 mi	Longueuil	$1923
171 km or 106 mi	La Prairie	$1960
175 km or 109 mi	Brossard	$2080
176 km or 109 mi	Boucherville	$1897
177 km or 110 mi	Repentigny	$1846
178 km or 111 mi	Varennes	$1861
183 km or 114 mi	L'Assomption	$1723
183 km or 114 mi	Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville	$1918
185 km or 115 mi	Sainte-Julie	$1891