Cost of living comparison

Ethiopia

compared to

Kenya

Kenya vs. Ethiopia Cost of Living Summary

Kenya is 38.5% cheaper than Ethiopia overall.

Restaurants: pay 2.5% less in Kenya
Groceries: pay 17.5% less in Kenya
Transportation: pay 8.2% more in Kenya
Housing: pay 68.7% less in Kenya
Childcare: pay 35.3% less in Kenya
Entertainment and Sports: pay 53.2% more in Kenya
Clothing: pay 59.3% less in Kenya

The cost of entertainment and sports and transportation in Kenya are more expensive than in Ethiopia. Expenses including housing, clothing, childcare, groceries, and restaurants are lower in Kenya.

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Kenya vs. Ethiopia Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Kenya instead of Ethiopia, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 2.5% less for restaurants

	Ethiopia	Kenya
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.00 ETB654.34	$3.96 KES513.81	-1.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.50 ETB1,063.31	$6.49 KES842.08	-0.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.61 ETB99.06	$0.58 KES74.64	-5.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.66 ETB107.50	$0.57 KES73.50	-13.8%
Average			-2.5%

Ethiopia vs. Kenya - Cost of restaurants

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pay 17.5% less for groceries

	Ethiopia	Kenya
Bread 1 loaf	$1.19 ETB194.58	$0.57 KES73.38	-52.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.70 ETB604.57	$5.04 KES654.07	+36.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.09 ETB669.40	$2.81 KES364.50	-31.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.77 ETB289.63	$1.68 KES218.44	-4.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.59 ETB750.34	$2.61 KES338.09	-43.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.44 ETB399.44	$1.14 KES147.75	-53.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.30 ETB48.73	$0.42 KES55.09	+42.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.99 ETB161.65	$0.63 KES81.85	-36.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.31 ETB50.42	$0.34 KES43.54	+8.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.22 ETB35.99	$0.33 KES42.99	+50.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.49 ETB79.77	$0.35 KES45.50	-28.1%
Average			-17.5%

Ethiopia vs. Kenya - Cost of groceries

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pay 8.2% more for transportation

	Ethiopia	Kenya
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.53 ETB577.22	$5.72 KES742.41	+62.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$21.11 ETB3,453.30	$30.03 KES3,896.40	+42.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$55,000.00 ETB9M	$19,967.15 KES3M	-63.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$3.53 ETB576.64	$12.32 KES1,598.52	+249.5%
Average			+8.2%

Ethiopia vs. Kenya - Cost of transportation

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pay 68.7% less for housing

	Ethiopia	Kenya
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$212.33 ETB34,734.76	$33.50 KES4,347.14	-84.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$706.95 ETB116K	$208.27 KES27,025.43	-70.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$394.55 ETB64,542.82	$163.35 KES21,195.68	-58.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$156.76 ETB25,644.51	$34.61 KES4,490.62	-77.9%
Average			-68.7%

Ethiopia vs. Kenya - Cost of housing

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pay 35.3% less for childcare

	Ethiopia	Kenya
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$136.41 ETB22,314.75	$167.67 KES21,757.09	+22.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$30,187.50 ETB5M	$10,284.02 KES1M	-65.9%
Average			-35.3%

Ethiopia vs. Kenya - Cost of childcare

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pay 53.2% more for entertainment and sports

	Ethiopia	Kenya
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$0.80 ETB130.87	$2.14 KES278.31	+168.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$0.92 ETB150.32	$2.44 KES316.97	+165.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$8.00 ETB1,308.69	$3.21 KES417.11	-59.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$44.15 ETB7,221.55	$32.05 KES4,158.65	-27.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.75 ETB613.45	$8.52 KES1,106.12	+127.3%
Average			+53.2%

Ethiopia vs. Kenya - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 59.3% less for clothing

	Ethiopia	Kenya
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$33.14 ETB5,421.12	$16.22 KES2,105.20	-51.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$70.86 ETB11,591.24	$20.38 KES2,645.16	-71.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$78.65 ETB12,865.68	$35.38 KES4,590.56	-55.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$82.70 ETB13,529.26	$35.71 KES4,633.90	-56.8%
Average			-59.3%

Ethiopia vs. Kenya - 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 October 2026). How we calculate this

Compare further: Ethiopia vs. Kenya

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Kenya?

Quality of Life Comparison · 23 statistics

Make 2.5 times more money in Kenya

Size Comparison · See true size

Ethiopia is about 1.9 times bigger than Kenya.

Moving from Ethiopia to Kenya · UN DESA 2020

32,115 people born in Ethiopia live in Kenya.

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