Cost of living comparison

compared to

Polokwane vs. Nairobi Cost of Living Summary

Polokwane is 7.3% more expensive than Nairobi.

Restaurants: pay 36.8% more in Polokwane
Groceries: pay 21.8% more in Polokwane
Transportation: pay 24.6% less in Polokwane
Housing: pay 39.8% more in Polokwane
Childcare: pay 53.8% less in Polokwane
Entertainment and Sports: pay 21.5% less in Polokwane
Clothing: pay 52.5% more in Polokwane

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

Polokwane vs. Nairobi Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 36.8% more for restaurants

	Nairobi	Polokwane
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	$4.93 ZAR83.46	-29.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.70 KES90.79	$0.89 ZAR15.04	+26.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.55 KES71.04	$0.84 ZAR14.14	+52.1%
Average			+36.8%

Nairobi vs. Polokwane - Cost of restaurants

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pay 21.8% more for groceries

	Nairobi	Polokwane
Bread 1 loaf	$0.55 KES70.69	$1.11 ZAR18.73	+102.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.57 KES720.08	$3.66 ZAR61.95	-34.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.36 KES434.10	$4.73 ZAR80.12	+41.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.64 KES212.73	$2.37 ZAR40.14	+44.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.92 KES377.51	$1.76 ZAR29.79	-39.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.41 KES181.96	$0.78 ZAR13.27	-44.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.47 KES61.40	$0.72 ZAR12.11	+50.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.89 KES115.07	$0.72 ZAR12.14	-19.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.46 KES59.01	$0.80 ZAR13.51	+74.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.49 KES63.50	$0.66 ZAR11.14	+34.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.51 KES65.52	$0.66 ZAR11.11	+29.6%
Average			+21.8%

Nairobi vs. Polokwane - Cost of groceries

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pay 24.6% less for transportation

	Nairobi	Polokwane
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.40 KES698.38	$4.82 ZAR81.55	-10.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$30.96 KES4,004.71	$28.67 ZAR485.26	-7.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$21,671.83 KES2,803,297.63	$14,334.37 ZAR242,627.92	-33.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$17.03 KES2,202.59	$9.12 ZAR154.31	-46.5%
Average			-24.6%

Nairobi vs. Polokwane - Cost of transportation

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pay 39.8% more for housing

	Nairobi	Polokwane
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$39.86 KES5,156.50	$35.26 ZAR596.86	-11.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$476.96 KES61,695.24	$272.35 ZAR4,609.93	-42.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$206.31 KES26,686.56	$191.12 ZAR3,235.04	-7.4%
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			+39.8%

Nairobi vs. Polokwane - Cost of housing

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pay 53.8% less for childcare

	Nairobi	Polokwane
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	$1,376.10 ZAR23,292.28	-84.3%
Average			-53.8%

Nairobi vs. Polokwane - Cost of childcare

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pay 21.5% less for entertainment and sports

	Nairobi	Polokwane
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.32 KES300.35	$1.66 ZAR28.14	-28.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.37 KES306.55	$2.24 ZAR37.94	-5.4%
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	$19.64 ZAR332.40	-56.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.35 KES951.12	$7.31 ZAR123.74	-0.6%
Average			-21.5%

Nairobi vs. Polokwane - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 52.5% more for clothing

	Nairobi	Polokwane
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$19.62 KES2,538.28	$43.58 ZAR737.59	+122.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$24.88 KES3,218.07	$35.36 ZAR598.48	+42.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$67.92 KES8,785.33	$76.45 ZAR1,294.02	+12.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$62.28 KES8,055.48	$82.87 ZAR1,402.76	+33.1%
Average			+52.5%

Nairobi vs. Polokwane - 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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