Cost of living comparison

compared to

Richards Bay vs. Nairobi Cost of Living Summary

Richards Bay is 11.2% more expensive than Nairobi.

Restaurants: pay 15.6% more in Richards Bay
Groceries: pay 5.0% more in Richards Bay
Transportation: pay 33.9% more in Richards Bay
Housing: pay 66.8% more in Richards Bay
Childcare: pay 64.8% less in Richards Bay
Entertainment and Sports: pay 20.8% less in Richards Bay
Clothing: pay 42.5% more in Richards Bay

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

Richards Bay vs. Nairobi Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Richards Bay instead of Nairobi, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 15.6% more for restaurants

	Nairobi	Richards Bay
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$5.80 KES750.88	$7.17 ZAR121.31	+23.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.97 KES901.06	$5.16 ZAR87.35	-25.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.70 KES90.79	$0.92 ZAR15.66	+31.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.55 KES71.04	$0.73 ZAR12.36	+33.0%
Average			+15.6%

Nairobi vs. Richards Bay - Cost of restaurants

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pay 5.0% more for groceries

	Nairobi	Richards Bay
Bread 1 loaf	$0.55 KES70.69	$0.94 ZAR15.86	+71.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.57 KES720.08	$3.67 ZAR62.15	-34.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.36 KES434.10	$3.64 ZAR61.54	+8.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.64 KES212.73	$2.18 ZAR36.91	+32.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.92 KES377.51	$2.10 ZAR35.51	-28.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.41 KES181.96	$0.74 ZAR12.47	-47.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.47 KES61.40	$0.66 ZAR11.20	+39.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.89 KES115.07	$0.64 ZAR10.75	-28.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.46 KES59.01	$0.63 ZAR10.66	+38.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.49 KES63.50	$0.52 ZAR8.80	+6.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.51 KES65.52	$0.49 ZAR8.36	-2.4%
Average			+5.0%

Nairobi vs. Richards Bay - Cost of groceries

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pay 33.9% more for transportation

	Nairobi	Richards Bay
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.40 KES698.38	$5.04 ZAR85.27	-6.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$30.96 KES4,004.71	$97.47 ZAR1,649.87	+214.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$21,671.83 KES2,803,297.63	$20,354.81 ZAR344,531.64	-6.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$17.03 KES2,202.59	$5.73 ZAR97.05	-66.3%
Average			+33.9%

Nairobi vs. Richards Bay - Cost of transportation

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pay 66.8% more for housing

	Nairobi	Richards Bay
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$39.86 KES5,156.50	$35.68 ZAR603.91	-10.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$476.96 KES61,695.24	$401.36 ZAR6,793.58	-15.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$206.31 KES26,686.56	$301.02 ZAR5,095.19	+45.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$29.32 KES3,793.22	$101.94 ZAR1,725.51	+247.6%
Average			+66.8%

Nairobi vs. Richards Bay - Cost of housing

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pay 64.8% less for childcare

	Nairobi	Richards Bay
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$224.14 KES28,992.44	$93.17 ZAR1,577.08	-58.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$8,775.09 KES1,135,076.41	$2,537.18 ZAR42,945.14	-71.1%
Average			-64.8%

Nairobi vs. Richards Bay - Cost of childcare

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pay 20.8% less for entertainment and sports

	Nairobi	Richards Bay
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.32 KES300.35	$1.43 ZAR24.26	-38.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.37 KES306.55	$2.00 ZAR33.92	-15.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.10 KES400.47	$2.47 ZAR41.73	-20.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$45.30 KES5,859.39	$32.97 ZAR558.04	-27.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.35 KES951.12	$7.17 ZAR121.31	-2.5%
Average			-20.8%

Nairobi vs. Richards Bay - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 42.5% more for clothing

	Nairobi	Richards Bay
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$19.62 KES2,538.28	$46.39 ZAR785.28	+136.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$24.88 KES3,218.07	$19.30 ZAR326.74	-22.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$67.92 KES8,785.33	$87.44 ZAR1,480.03	+28.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$62.28 KES8,055.48	$79.31 ZAR1,342.46	+27.4%
Average			+42.5%

Nairobi vs. Richards Bay - 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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