Cost of living comparison

Tanzania

compared to

Kenya

Nairobi vs. Dar Es Salaam Cost of Living Summary

Nairobi is 16.5% more expensive than Dar Es Salaam.

Restaurants: pay 89.4% more in Nairobi
Groceries: pay 15.9% more in Nairobi
Transportation: pay 49.5% more in Nairobi
Housing: pay 5.2% less in Nairobi
Childcare: pay 36.5% less in Nairobi
Entertainment and Sports: pay 29.0% more in Nairobi
Clothing: pay 33.1% more in Nairobi

The cost of restaurants, transportation, clothing, entertainment and sports, and groceries in Nairobi are more expensive than in Dar Es Salaam. Expenses including childcare and housing are lower in Nairobi. Notably, restaurants is significantly more expensive in Nairobi.

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Nairobi vs. Dar Es Salaam Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Nairobi instead of Dar Es Salaam, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 89.4% more for restaurants

	Dar Es Salaam	Nairobi
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$1.90 TZS5,011.76	$6.16 KES799.94	+224.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.59 TZS20,047.04	$6.54 KES849.93	-13.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.36 TZS947.68	$0.64 KES83.56	+79.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.21 TZS561.32	$0.59 KES76.66	+177.8%
Average			+89.4%

Dar Es Salaam vs. Nairobi - Cost of restaurants

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pay 15.9% more for groceries

	Dar Es Salaam	Nairobi
Bread 1 loaf	$0.59 TZS1,553.65	$0.55 KES71.26	-6.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.61 TZS12,171.42	$5.32 KES691.33	+15.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.18 TZS8,389.66	$3.32 KES430.56	+4.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.00 TZS5,272.37	$1.73 KES224.22	-13.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.18 TZS5,759.02	$2.90 KES376.27	+32.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.14 TZS3,012.12	$1.52 KES197.64	+33.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.50 TZS1,313.46	$0.49 KES63.14	-2.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.48 TZS1,266.55	$0.91 KES118.21	+89.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.40 TZS1,051.40	$0.51 KES66.02	+27.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.42 TZS1,111.39	$0.49 KES63.98	+17.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.46 TZS1,212.43	$0.49 KES63.24	+6.1%
Average			+15.9%

Dar Es Salaam vs. Nairobi - Cost of groceries

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pay 49.5% more for transportation

	Dar Es Salaam	Nairobi
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.28 TZS13,954.91	$5.96 KES774.52	+12.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$14.80 TZS39,091.74	$46.20 KES5,999.54	+212.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$16,811.26 TZS44M	$21,558.36 KES3M	+28.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$13.80 TZS36,460.56	$13.86 KES1,799.86	+0.4%
Average			+49.5%

Dar Es Salaam vs. Nairobi - Cost of transportation

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pay 5.2% less for housing

	Dar Es Salaam	Nairobi
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$34.11 TZS90,086.40	$34.94 KES4,538.11	+2.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$562.03 TZS1M	$445.43 KES57,848.49	-20.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$195.50 TZS516K	$216.55 KES28,122.83	+10.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$43.53 TZS115K	$42.75 KES5,552.19	-1.8%
Average			-5.2%

Dar Es Salaam vs. Nairobi - Cost of housing

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pay 36.5% less for childcare

	Dar Es Salaam	Nairobi
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$568.94 TZS2M	$248.58 KES32,283.23	-56.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$13,328.59 TZS35M	$12,318.78 KES2M	-7.6%
Average			-36.5%

Dar Es Salaam vs. Nairobi - Cost of childcare

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pay 29.0% more for entertainment and sports

	Dar Es Salaam	Nairobi
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$0.97 TZS2,573.54	$2.31 KES299.98	+137.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.96 TZS5,186.79	$2.64 KES343.31	+34.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.09 TZS5,512.94	$3.54 KES459.96	+69.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$85.39 TZS226K	$50.37 KES6,541.16	-41.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.12 TZS13,531.75	$7.70 KES999.92	+50.3%
Average			+29.0%

Dar Es Salaam vs. Nairobi - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 33.1% more for clothing

	Dar Es Salaam	Nairobi
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$15.56 TZS41,096.44	$28.10 KES3,649.72	+80.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$25.93 TZS68,494.07	$29.04 KES3,771.89	+12.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$44.59 TZS118K	$69.92 KES9,081.12	+56.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$59.14 TZS156K	$58.58 KES7,608.07	-0.9%
Average			+33.1%

Dar Es Salaam vs. Nairobi - Cost of clothing

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We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated November 2026). How we calculate this

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