Cost of living comparison

compared to

Rwanda vs. Kenya Cost of Living Summary

Rwanda is 16.1% more expensive than Kenya overall.

Restaurants: pay 23.2% more in Rwanda
Groceries: pay 6.2% more in Rwanda
Transportation: pay 8.9% more in Rwanda
Housing: pay 89.5% more in Rwanda
Childcare: pay 1.1% more in Rwanda
Entertainment and Sports: pay 24.4% less in Rwanda
Clothing: pay 8.1% more in Rwanda

The cost of housing, restaurants, transportation, clothing, groceries, and childcare in Rwanda are more expensive than in Kenya. Notably, housing is significantly more expensive in Rwanda.

Rwanda vs. Kenya Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 23.2% more for restaurants

	Kenya	Rwanda
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.74 KES483.79	$3.45 RWF5,016	-7.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.17 KES798.02	$6.89 RWF10,031	+11.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.54 KES69.38	$0.86 RWF1,248	+60.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.44 KES57.49	$0.57 RWF833	+28.8%
Average			+23.2%

Kenya vs. Rwanda - Cost of restaurants

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pay 6.2% more for groceries

	Kenya	Rwanda
Bread 1 loaf	$0.54 KES69.95	$1.05 RWF1,521	+93.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.37 KES564.85	$2.26 RWF3,283	-48.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$2.52 KES325.98	$2.64 RWF3,845	+4.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.60 KES207.12	$1.65 RWF2,407	+3.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.57 KES332.62	$2.10 RWF3,048	-18.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.08 KES139.50	$1.15 RWF1,678	+6.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.40 KES51.85	$0.37 RWF537	-7.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.69 KES89.80	$0.70 RWF1,021	+1.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.32 KES41.17	$0.48 RWF698	+50.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.30 KES38.18	$0.23 RWF331	-22.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.37 KES47.64	$0.39 RWF569	+6.1%
Average			+6.2%

Kenya vs. Rwanda - Cost of groceries

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pay 8.9% more for transportation

	Kenya	Rwanda
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.40 KES698.17	$4.42 RWF6,434	-18.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$26.41 KES3,416.51	$29.30 RWF42,632	+10.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$19,331.14 KES2,500,524.88	$26,543.61 RWF38,619,482	+37.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$13.74 KES1,776.78	$14.48 RWF21,065	+5.4%
Average			+8.9%

Kenya vs. Rwanda - Cost of transportation

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pay 89.5% more for housing

	Kenya	Rwanda
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$37.35 KES4,830.82	$19.48 RWF28,338	-47.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$194.00 KES25,094.54	$575.44 RWF837,239	+196.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$131.26 KES16,978.13	$322.51 RWF469,235	+145.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$24.47 KES3,164.86	$39.98 RWF58,170	+63.4%
Average			+89.5%

Kenya vs. Rwanda - Cost of housing

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pay 1.1% more for childcare

	Kenya	Rwanda
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$172.28 KES22,284.82	$166.62 RWF242,417	-3.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$7,439.34 KES962,294.74	$7,842.43 RWF11,410,301	+5.4%
Average			+1.1%

Kenya vs. Rwanda - Cost of childcare

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pay 24.4% less for entertainment and sports

	Kenya	Rwanda
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.03 KES262.47	$1.03 RWF1,505	-49.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.28 KES294.76	$2.31 RWF3,366	+1.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.80 KES362.23	$1.72 RWF2,508	-38.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$29.27 KES3,785.57	$31.41 RWF45,697	+7.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.10 KES789.64	$3.45 RWF5,016	-43.5%
Average			-24.4%

Kenya vs. Rwanda - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 8.1% more for clothing

	Kenya	Rwanda
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$12.46 KES1,611.10	$19.19 RWF27,920	+54.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$20.02 KES2,590.10	$19.30 RWF28,087	-3.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$34.44 KES4,454.35	$22.98 RWF33,437	-33.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$32.93 KES4,259.57	$37.92 RWF55,171	+15.2%
Average			+8.1%

Kenya vs. Rwanda - Cost of clothing

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The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: December 2025

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