Cost of living comparison

compared to

Nelspruit vs. Nairobi Cost of Living Summary

Nelspruit is 11.7% more expensive than Nairobi.

Restaurants: pay 38.6% more in Nelspruit
Groceries: pay 0.8% more in Nelspruit
Transportation: pay 12.9% less in Nelspruit
Housing: pay 39.7% more in Nelspruit
Childcare: pay 30.0% less in Nelspruit
Entertainment and Sports: pay 32.0% less in Nelspruit
Clothing: pay 77.5% more in Nelspruit

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

Nelspruit vs. Nairobi Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 38.6% more for restaurants

	Nairobi	Nelspruit
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$5.80 KES750.88	$11.47 ZAR194.10	+97.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.97 KES901.06	$3.73 ZAR63.08	-46.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.70 KES90.79	$1.06 ZAR17.97	+51.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.55 KES71.04	$0.84 ZAR14.14	+52.1%
Average			+38.6%

Nairobi vs. Nelspruit - Cost of restaurants

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pay 0.8% more for groceries

	Nairobi	Nelspruit
Bread 1 loaf	$0.55 KES70.69	$0.96 ZAR16.18	+74.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.57 KES720.08	$4.30 ZAR72.79	-22.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.36 KES434.10	$4.73 ZAR80.12	+41.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.64 KES212.73	$2.06 ZAR34.94	+25.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.92 KES377.51	$1.89 ZAR31.92	-35.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.41 KES181.96	$0.72 ZAR12.11	-49.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.47 KES61.40	$0.51 ZAR8.58	+6.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.89 KES115.07	$0.33 ZAR5.50	-63.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.46 KES59.01	$0.75 ZAR12.77	+65.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.49 KES63.50	$0.26 ZAR4.40	-47.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.51 KES65.52	$0.57 ZAR9.68	+13.0%
Average			+0.8%

Nairobi vs. Nelspruit - Cost of groceries

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pay 12.9% less for transportation

	Nairobi	Nelspruit
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.40 KES698.38	$4.84 ZAR81.85	-10.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$30.96 KES4,004.71	??
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$21,671.83 KES2,803,297.63	$22,935.00 ZAR388,204.67	+5.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$17.03 KES2,202.59	$11.24 ZAR190.22	-34.0%
Average			-12.9%

Nairobi vs. Nelspruit - Cost of transportation

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pay 39.7% more for housing

	Nairobi	Nelspruit
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$39.86 KES5,156.50	$34.40 ZAR582.31	-13.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$476.96 KES61,695.24	$258.02 ZAR4,367.30	-45.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$206.31 KES26,686.56	$200.68 ZAR3,396.79	-2.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$29.32 KES3,793.22	$94.17 ZAR1,594.01	+221.1%
Average			+39.7%

Nairobi vs. Nelspruit - Cost of housing

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pay 30.0% less for childcare

	Nairobi	Nelspruit
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$224.14 KES28,992.44	$172.01 ZAR2,911.54	-23.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$8,775.09 KES1,135,076.41	$5,558.87 ZAR94,091.11	-36.7%
Average			-30.0%

Nairobi vs. Nelspruit - Cost of childcare

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pay 32.0% less for entertainment and sports

	Nairobi	Nelspruit
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.32 KES300.35	$1.55 ZAR26.20	-33.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.37 KES306.55	$2.01 ZAR33.97	-15.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.10 KES400.47	$2.58 ZAR43.67	-16.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$45.30 KES5,859.39	$22.93 ZAR388.20	-49.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.35 KES951.12	$4.01 ZAR67.94	-45.4%
Average			-32.0%

Nairobi vs. Nelspruit - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 77.5% more for clothing

	Nairobi	Nelspruit
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$19.62 KES2,538.28	$53.84 ZAR911.35	+174.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$24.88 KES3,218.07	$41.31 ZAR699.21	+66.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$67.92 KES8,785.33	$92.70 ZAR1,568.99	+36.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$62.28 KES8,055.48	$82.87 ZAR1,402.76	+33.1%
Average			+77.5%

Nairobi vs. Nelspruit - 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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