Cost of living comparison

Nicaragua

compared to

Sierra Leone

Freetown vs. Managua Cost of Living Summary

Freetown is 24.4% more expensive than Managua.

Restaurants: pay 39.6% less in Freetown
Groceries: pay 0.4% more in Freetown
Transportation: pay 34.4% less in Freetown
Housing: pay 3.3 times more in Freetown
Entertainment and Sports: pay 22.8% more in Freetown
Clothing: pay 78.9% less in Freetown

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

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Freetown vs. Managua Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 39.6% less for restaurants

	Managua	Freetown
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$10.00 NIO368.55	$2.00 SLL41,939	-80.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.61 NIO280.46	$11.00 SLL231K	+44.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.88 NIO32.54	$1.83 SLL38,444	+107.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.71 NIO26.22	$0.85 SLL17,805	+19.4%
Average			-39.6%

Managua vs. Freetown - Cost of restaurants

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pay 0.4% more for groceries

	Managua	Freetown
Bread 1 loaf	$2.37 NIO87.46	$0.66 SLL13,755	-72.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.80 NIO213.64	$3.54 SLL74,319	-38.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.68 NIO172.61	$9.15 SLL192K	+95.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.37 NIO87.18	$1.81 SLL38,023	-23.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.87 NIO105.79	$4.54 SLL95,116	+58.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.82 NIO67.08	$3.18 SLL66,581	+74.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.27 NIO10.03	$1.36 SLL28,535	+400.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.82 NIO30.09	$0.32 SLL6,742	-60.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.11 NIO41.05	$2.27 SLL47,558	+103.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.79 NIO65.90	$0.91 SLL19,023	-49.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.01 NIO37.13	$0.74 SLL15,488	-26.7%
Average			+0.4%

Managua vs. Freetown - Cost of groceries

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pay 34.4% less for transportation

	Managua	Freetown
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.06 NIO186.38	$5.02 SLL105K	-0.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$6.01 NIO221.41	??
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$22,973.64 NIO847K	$12,000.00 SLL252M	-47.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$14.69 NIO541.39	$4.50 SLL94,363	-69.4%
Average			-34.4%

Managua vs. Freetown - Cost of transportation

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pay 3.3 times more for housing

	Managua	Freetown
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$32.47 NIO1,196.57	$55.00 SLL1M	+69.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$256.40 NIO9,449.50	$928.33 SLL19M	+262.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$181.00 NIO6,670.67	$1,261.67 SLL26M	+597.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$115.83 NIO4,268.74	$45.88 SLL962K	-60.4%
Average			+225.0%

Managua vs. Freetown - Cost of housing

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pay (unknown) more for childcare

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

Managua vs. Freetown - Cost of childcare

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pay 22.8% more for entertainment and sports

	Managua	Freetown
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.50 NIO55.28	$2.25 SLL47,181	+50.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.60 NIO95.82	$2.76 SLL57,878	+6.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.73 NIO100.51	$3.00 SLL62,908	+10.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$34.79 NIO1,282.16	??
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$9.00 NIO331.69	??
Average			+22.8%

Managua vs. Freetown - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 78.9% less for clothing

	Managua	Freetown
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$59.88 NIO2,206.90	$10.00 SLL210K	-83.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$65.00 NIO2,395.54	??
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$122.64 NIO4,519.99	$20.00 SLL419K	-83.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$144.83 NIO5,337.49	$50.00 SLL1M	-65.5%
Average			-78.9%

Managua vs. Freetown - 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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