Cost of living comparison

compared to

Saint John's vs. Lilongwe Cost of Living Summary

Saint John's is 2.1 times more expensive than Lilongwe.

Restaurants: pay 2.1 times more in Saint John's
Groceries: pay 2.7 times more in Saint John's
Transportation: pay 3.2% more in Saint John's
Housing: pay 4.7 times more in Saint John's
Childcare: pay 21.3% less in Saint John's
Entertainment and Sports: pay 39.5% more in Saint John's

The cost of housing, groceries, restaurants, entertainment and sports, and transportation in Saint John's are more expensive than in Lilongwe. Notably, housing, groceries, and restaurants are significantly more expensive in Saint John's.

Saint John's vs. Lilongwe Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Saint John's instead of Lilongwe, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 2.1 times more for restaurants

	Lilongwe	Saint John's
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$5.00 MWK8,669.98	$13.88 EC$37.50	+177.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.25 MWK17,773.46	$11.10 EC$30.00	+8.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.94 MWK1,623.44	$2.07 EC$5.60	+121.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.40 MWK688.73	$0.96 EC$2.58	+140.7%
Average			+112.0%

Lilongwe vs. Saint John's - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.7 times more for groceries

	Lilongwe	Saint John's
Bread 1 loaf	$1.22 MWK2,122.82	$2.78 EC$7.50	+126.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.88 MWK13,662.81	$4.07 EC$11.00	-48.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.70 MWK6,422.36	$8.40 EC$22.71	+126.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.66 MWK4,603.91	$5.37 EC$14.50	+102.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.45 MWK2,507.70	$3.69 EC$9.98	+155.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.17 MWK2,023.08	$2.96 EC$8.00	+153.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.56 MWK978.00	$1.11 EC$3.00	+96.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.68 MWK1,179.79	$3.70 EC$10.00	+443.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.70 MWK1,209.37	$3.70 EC$10.00	+430.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.62 MWK1,078.11	$1.30 EC$3.50	+108.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.56 MWK977.42	$1.30 EC$3.50	+129.8%
Average			+166.0%

Lilongwe vs. Saint John's - Cost of groceries

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pay 3.2% more for transportation

	Lilongwe	Saint John's
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.09 MWK10,567.96	$6.29 EC$17.00	+3.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$4.32 MWK7,494.24	??
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	??	$23,681.34 EC$64,000.00
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	??	$51.53 EC$139.27
Average			+3.2%

Lilongwe vs. Saint John's - Cost of transportation

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pay 4.7 times more for housing

	Lilongwe	Saint John's
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$62.37 MWK108,145.26	$77.58 EC$209.67	+24.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	??	$1,048.39 EC$2,833.33
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$67.61 MWK117,238.07	$678.37 EC$1,833.33	+903.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$34.63 MWK60,044.15	$99.04 EC$267.65	+186.0%
Average			+371.2%

Lilongwe vs. Saint John's - Cost of housing

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pay 21.3% less for childcare

	Lilongwe	Saint John's
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$350.00 MWK606,898.76	??
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$2,349.49 MWK4,074,000.49	$1,850.10 EC$5,000.00	-21.3%
Average			-21.3%

Lilongwe vs. Saint John's - Cost of childcare

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pay 39.5% more for entertainment and sports

	Lilongwe	Saint John's
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.73 MWK3,007.12	$1.85 EC$5.00	+6.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.04 MWK5,273.38	$3.95 EC$10.67	+29.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.59 MWK2,751.05	??
Monthly membership at local gym	$37.45 MWK64,937.85	$61.67 EC$166.67	+64.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.95 MWK6,850.26	$6.20 EC$16.75	+56.9%
Average			+39.5%

Lilongwe vs. Saint John's - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay (unknown) more for clothing

	Lilongwe	Saint John's
Regular jeans Levi's brand	??	$50.00 EC$135.13
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	??	??
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	??	$74.00 EC$200.00
Men's business shoes (leather)	??	??

Lilongwe vs. Saint John's - 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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