Cost of living comparison

Nepal

compared to

Kenya

Nairobi vs. Kathmandu Cost of Living Summary

Nairobi is 78.0% more expensive than Kathmandu.

Restaurants: pay 86.5% more in Nairobi
Groceries: pay 50.2% more in Nairobi
Transportation: pay 45.7% more in Nairobi
Housing: pay 2.1 times more in Nairobi
Childcare: pay 2.9 times more in Nairobi
Entertainment and Sports: pay 72.6% more in Nairobi
Clothing: pay 29.8% more in Nairobi

The cost of childcare, housing, restaurants, entertainment and sports, groceries, and transportation in Nairobi are more expensive than in Kathmandu. Notably, childcare, housing, and restaurants are significantly more expensive in Nairobi.

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Nairobi vs. Kathmandu Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Nairobi instead of Kathmandu, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 86.5% more for restaurants

	Kathmandu	Nairobi
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$1.94 NPR292.23	$6.16 KES801.05	+217.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.75 NPR1,168.92	$6.54 KES851.11	-15.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.52 NPR78.00	$0.64 KES83.68	+24.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.14 NPR21.78	$0.59 KES76.77	+308.6%
Average			+86.5%

Kathmandu vs. Nairobi - Cost of restaurants

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pay 50.2% more for groceries

	Kathmandu	Nairobi
Bread 1 loaf	$0.59 NPR89.50	$0.55 KES71.36	-7.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.64 NPR548.74	$5.32 KES692.29	+46.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$2.79 NPR419.93	$3.32 KES431.15	+19.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.69 NPR254.00	$1.73 KES224.53	+2.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.40 NPR211.50	$2.90 KES376.79	+106.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.91 NPR136.71	$1.52 KES197.91	+67.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.53 NPR79.53	$0.49 KES63.22	-7.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.63 NPR95.55	$0.91 KES118.37	+43.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.25 NPR38.11	$0.51 KES66.11	+101.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.18 NPR26.92	$0.49 KES64.07	+175.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.23 NPR35.07	$0.49 KES63.33	+109.3%
Average			+50.2%

Kathmandu vs. Nairobi - Cost of groceries

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pay 45.7% more for transportation

	Kathmandu	Nairobi
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.12 NPR771.63	$5.96 KES775.60	+16.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$9.69 NPR1,461.15	$46.20 KES6,007.85	+376.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$29,079.65 NPR4M	$21,558.36 KES3M	-25.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$11.08 NPR1,670.58	$13.86 KES1,802.36	+25.1%
Average			+45.7%

Kathmandu vs. Nairobi - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.1 times more for housing

	Kathmandu	Nairobi
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$8.95 NPR1,348.75	$34.94 KES4,544.40	+290.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$219.17 NPR33,038.15	$445.43 KES57,928.66	+103.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$101.02 NPR15,228.40	$216.55 KES28,161.81	+114.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$23.92 NPR3,605.98	$42.75 KES5,559.88	+78.7%
Average			+110.4%

Kathmandu vs. Nairobi - Cost of housing

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pay 2.9 times more for childcare

	Kathmandu	Nairobi
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$65.27 NPR9,838.39	$248.58 KES32,327.97	+280.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$5,431.44 NPR819K	$12,318.78 KES2M	+126.8%
Average			+193.9%

Kathmandu vs. Nairobi - Cost of childcare

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pay 72.6% more for entertainment and sports

	Kathmandu	Nairobi
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.09 NPR465.13	$2.31 KES300.39	-25.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.51 NPR228.30	$2.64 KES343.78	+74.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.46 NPR370.16	$3.54 KES460.60	+44.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$21.54 NPR3,246.99	$50.37 KES6,550.23	+133.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$2.91 NPR438.34	$7.70 KES1,001.31	+164.8%
Average			+72.6%

Kathmandu vs. Nairobi - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 29.8% more for clothing

	Kathmandu	Nairobi
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$24.97 NPR3,763.56	$28.10 KES3,654.78	+12.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$26.44 NPR3,984.95	$29.04 KES3,777.12	+9.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$62.68 NPR9,448.75	$69.92 KES9,093.71	+11.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$28.43 NPR4,286.03	$58.58 KES7,618.61	+106.0%
Average			+29.8%

Kathmandu 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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