Cost of living comparison

compared to

Ottawa vs. Nairobi Cost of Living Summary

Ottawa is 2.9 times more expensive than Nairobi.

Restaurants: pay 3.1 times more in Ottawa
Groceries: pay 2.4 times more in Ottawa
Transportation: pay 57.4% more in Ottawa
Housing: pay 4.5 times more in Ottawa
Childcare: pay 4.2 times more in Ottawa
Entertainment and Sports: pay 2.2 times more in Ottawa
Clothing: pay 2.3 times more in Ottawa

The cost of housing, childcare, restaurants, groceries, clothing, and entertainment and sports in Ottawa are more expensive than in Nairobi. Notably, housing, childcare, and restaurants are significantly more expensive in Ottawa.

Ottawa vs. Nairobi Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 3.1 times more for restaurants

	Nairobi	Ottawa
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.85 KES499.63	$17.96 CA$24.86	+366.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.17 KES799.40	$10.78 CA$14.92	+74.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.66 KES85.93	$2.17 CA$3.00	+227.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.53 KES69.04	$1.53 CA$2.12	+187.5%
Average			+214.0%

Nairobi vs. Ottawa - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.4 times more for groceries

	Nairobi	Ottawa
Bread 1 loaf	$0.56 KES72.36	$2.65 CA$3.67	+374.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.59 KES724.78	$6.28 CA$8.69	+12.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.35 KES434.56	$9.92 CA$13.74	+196.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.70 KES220.77	$3.31 CA$4.59	+94.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.71 KES351.32	$5.89 CA$8.15	+117.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.26 KES163.85	$1.93 CA$2.68	+53.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.50 KES64.78	$0.64 CA$0.88	+27.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.87 KES113.29	$1.44 CA$2.00	+65.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.46 KES59.27	$1.69 CA$2.34	+269.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.48 KES62.56	$1.20 CA$1.66	+149.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.56 KES72.13	$1.31 CA$1.81	+134.8%
Average			+135.8%

Nairobi vs. Ottawa - Cost of groceries

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pay 57.4% more for transportation

	Nairobi	Ottawa
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.17 KES800.58	$4.15 CA$5.74	-32.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$30.83 KES3,997.01	$92.50 CA$128.04	+200.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$19,266.80 KES2,498,133.37	$24,412.64 CA$33,790.41	+26.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$13.87 KES1,798.66	$18.80 CA$26.02	+35.5%
Average			+57.4%

Nairobi vs. Ottawa - Cost of transportation

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pay 4.5 times more for housing

	Nairobi	Ottawa
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$39.39 KES5,107.66	$50.21 CA$69.50	+27.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$428.53 KES55,562.95	$1,425.51 CA$1,973.10	+232.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$166.44 KES21,580.03	$1,269.57 CA$1,757.25	+662.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$22.39 KES2,903.41	$131.33 CA$181.78	+486.5%
Average			+352.4%

Nairobi vs. Ottawa - Cost of housing

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pay 4.2 times more for childcare

	Nairobi	Ottawa
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$166.67 KES21,611.05	$999.72 CA$1,383.75	+499.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$8,008.06 KES1,038,324.64	$19,936.07 CA$27,594.24	+149.0%
Average			+324.4%

Nairobi vs. Ottawa - Cost of childcare

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pay 2.2 times more for entertainment and sports

	Nairobi	Ottawa
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.31 KES299.78	$5.75 CA$7.96	+148.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.24 KES290.55	$3.71 CA$5.14	+65.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.08 KES399.70	$12.93 CA$17.90	+319.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$44.12 KES5,720.22	$46.27 CA$64.04	+4.9%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.17 KES799.40	$10.78 CA$14.92	+74.8%
Average			+122.7%

Nairobi vs. Ottawa - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 2.3 times more for clothing

	Nairobi	Ottawa
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$16.84 KES2,183.84	$57.20 CA$79.17	+239.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$22.95 KES2,975.55	$44.39 CA$61.44	+93.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$61.84 KES8,017.82	$97.78 CA$135.34	+58.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$52.50 KES6,807.37	$110.86 CA$153.44	+111.1%
Average			+125.5%

Nairobi vs. Ottawa - 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: April 2025

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