Cost of living comparison

compared to

East London vs. Nairobi Cost of Living Summary

East London is 13.8% more expensive than Nairobi.

Restaurants: pay 25.8% more in East London
Groceries: pay 11.0% more in East London
Transportation: pay 8.9% less in East London
Housing: pay 61.4% more in East London
Childcare: pay 48.2% less in East London
Entertainment and Sports: pay 15.7% less in East London
Clothing: pay 70.9% more in East London

The cost of clothing, housing, restaurants, and groceries in East London are more expensive than in Nairobi. Expenses including childcare, entertainment and sports, and transportation are lower in East London.

East London vs. Nairobi Cost Breakdown

If you lived in East London instead of Nairobi, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 25.8% more for restaurants

	Nairobi	East London
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$5.80 KES750.88	$7.20 ZAR121.91	+24.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.97 KES901.06	$4.61 ZAR78.02	-33.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.70 KES90.79	$1.04 ZAR17.55	+47.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.55 KES71.04	$0.91 ZAR15.36	+65.2%
Average			+25.8%

Nairobi vs. East London - Cost of restaurants

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pay 11.0% more for groceries

	Nairobi	East London
Bread 1 loaf	$0.55 KES70.69	$0.87 ZAR14.69	+58.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.57 KES720.08	$3.95 ZAR66.86	-29.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.36 KES434.10	$4.06 ZAR68.74	+21.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.64 KES212.73	$2.14 ZAR36.14	+29.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.92 KES377.51	$1.95 ZAR33.07	-33.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.41 KES181.96	$0.72 ZAR12.24	-48.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.47 KES61.40	$0.69 ZAR11.70	+45.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.89 KES115.07	$0.72 ZAR12.16	-19.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.46 KES59.01	$0.67 ZAR11.39	+47.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.49 KES63.50	$0.72 ZAR12.11	+45.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.51 KES65.52	$0.52 ZAR8.76	+2.2%
Average			+11.0%

Nairobi vs. East London - Cost of groceries

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pay 8.9% less for transportation

	Nairobi	East London
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.40 KES698.38	$4.92 ZAR83.28	-8.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$30.96 KES4,004.71	$22.33 ZAR377.91	-27.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$21,671.83 KES2,803,297.63	$37,451.86 ZAR633,921.50	+72.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$17.03 KES2,202.59	$4.84 ZAR81.92	-71.6%
Average			-8.9%

Nairobi vs. East London - Cost of transportation

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pay 61.4% more for housing

	Nairobi	East London
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$39.86 KES5,156.50	$45.80 ZAR775.17	+14.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$476.96 KES61,695.24	$273.69 ZAR4,632.50	-42.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$206.31 KES26,686.56	$336.11 ZAR5,689.04	+62.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$29.32 KES3,793.22	$91.03 ZAR1,540.73	+210.4%
Average			+61.4%

Nairobi vs. East London - Cost of housing

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pay 48.2% less for childcare

	Nairobi	East London
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$224.14 KES28,992.44	$121.96 ZAR2,064.31	-45.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$8,775.09 KES1,135,076.41	$4,321.37 ZAR73,144.79	-50.8%
Average			-48.2%

Nairobi vs. East London - Cost of childcare

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pay 15.7% less for entertainment and sports

	Nairobi	East London
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.32 KES300.35	$2.59 ZAR43.89	+11.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.37 KES306.55	$2.21 ZAR37.45	-6.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.10 KES400.47	$2.77 ZAR46.81	-10.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$45.30 KES5,859.39	$34.55 ZAR584.83	-23.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.35 KES951.12	$3.75 ZAR63.39	-49.1%
Average			-15.7%

Nairobi vs. East London - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 70.9% more for clothing

	Nairobi	East London
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$19.62 KES2,538.28	$53.99 ZAR913.82	+175.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$24.88 KES3,218.07	$29.75 ZAR503.56	+19.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$67.92 KES8,785.33	$99.87 ZAR1,690.46	+47.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$62.28 KES8,055.48	$88.33 ZAR1,495.08	+41.8%
Average			+70.9%

Nairobi vs. East London - 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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