Cost of living comparison

Sierra Leone

compared to

Nicaragua

Managua vs. Freetown Cost of Living Summary

Managua is 19.6% cheaper than Freetown.

Restaurants: pay 65.6% more in Managua
Groceries: pay 0.4% less in Managua
Transportation: pay 52.4% more in Managua
Housing: pay 69.2% less in Managua
Entertainment and Sports: pay 18.5% less in Managua
Clothing: pay 4.7 times more in Managua

The cost of clothing, restaurants, and transportation in Managua are more expensive than in Freetown. Expenses including housing, entertainment and sports, and groceries are lower in Managua. Notably, clothing is significantly more expensive in Managua.

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Managua vs. Freetown Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Managua instead of Freetown, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 65.6% more for restaurants

	Freetown	Managua
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.00 SLL41,939	$10.00 NIO368.55	+400.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.00 SLL231K	$7.61 NIO280.46	-30.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.83 SLL38,444	$0.88 NIO32.54	-51.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.85 SLL17,805	$0.71 NIO26.22	-16.2%
Average			+65.6%

Freetown vs. Managua - Cost of restaurants

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pay 0.4% less for groceries

	Freetown	Managua
Bread 1 loaf	$0.66 SLL13,755	$2.37 NIO87.46	+261.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.54 SLL74,319	$5.80 NIO213.64	+63.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$9.15 SLL192K	$4.68 NIO172.61	-48.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.81 SLL38,023	$2.37 NIO87.18	+30.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.54 SLL95,116	$2.87 NIO105.79	-36.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$3.18 SLL66,581	$1.82 NIO67.08	-42.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.36 SLL28,535	$0.27 NIO10.03	-80.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.32 SLL6,742	$0.82 NIO30.09	+153.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.27 SLL47,558	$1.11 NIO41.05	-50.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.91 SLL19,023	$1.79 NIO65.90	+97.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.74 SLL15,488	$1.01 NIO37.13	+36.4%
Average			-0.4%

Freetown vs. Managua - Cost of groceries

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pay 52.4% more for transportation

	Freetown	Managua
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.02 SLL105K	$5.06 NIO186.38	+0.8%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$6.01 NIO221.41
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$12,000.00 SLL252M	$22,973.64 NIO847K	+91.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$4.50 SLL94,363	$14.69 NIO541.39	+226.4%
Average			+52.4%

Freetown vs. Managua - Cost of transportation

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pay 69.2% less for housing

	Freetown	Managua
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$55.00 SLL1M	$32.47 NIO1,196.57	-41.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$928.33 SLL19M	$256.40 NIO9,449.50	-72.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,261.67 SLL26M	$181.00 NIO6,670.67	-85.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$45.88 SLL962K	$115.83 NIO4,268.74	+152.4%
Average			-69.2%

Freetown vs. Managua - Cost of housing

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pay (unknown) more for childcare

	Freetown	Managua
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	??	$235.82 NIO8,690.94
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	??	$6,060.00 NIO223K

Freetown vs. Managua - Cost of childcare

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pay 18.5% less for entertainment and sports

	Freetown	Managua
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.25 SLL47,181	$1.50 NIO55.28	-33.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.76 SLL57,878	$2.60 NIO95.82	-5.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.00 SLL62,908	$2.73 NIO100.51	-9.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	??	$34.79 NIO1,282.16
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	??	$9.00 NIO331.69
Average			-18.5%

Freetown vs. Managua - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 4.7 times more for clothing

	Freetown	Managua
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$10.00 SLL210K	$59.88 NIO2,206.90	+498.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	??	$65.00 NIO2,395.54
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$20.00 SLL419K	$122.64 NIO4,519.99	+513.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$50.00 SLL1M	$144.83 NIO5,337.49	+189.7%
Average			+373.8%

Freetown vs. Managua - 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

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