Cost of living comparison

compared to

Santa Cruz vs. Nairobi Cost of Living Summary

Santa Cruz is 0.9% cheaper than Nairobi.

Restaurants: pay 0.6% less in Santa Cruz
Groceries: pay 0.3% more in Santa Cruz
Transportation: pay 18.4% less in Santa Cruz
Housing: pay 9.8% more in Santa Cruz
Childcare: pay 31.5% less in Santa Cruz
Entertainment and Sports: pay 14.4% less in Santa Cruz
Clothing: pay 48.8% more in Santa Cruz

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

Santa Cruz vs. Nairobi Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Santa Cruz instead of Nairobi, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 0.6% less for restaurants

	Nairobi	Santa Cruz
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$5.80 KES750.88	$2.89 BOB19.99	-50.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.97 KES901.06	$7.23 BOB49.98	+3.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.70 KES90.79	$0.81 BOB5.59	+15.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.55 KES71.04	$0.71 BOB4.89	+28.8%
Average			-0.6%

Nairobi vs. Santa Cruz - Cost of restaurants

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pay 0.3% more for groceries

	Nairobi	Santa Cruz
Bread 1 loaf	$0.55 KES70.69	$1.37 BOB9.48	+151.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.57 KES720.08	$2.37 BOB16.39	-57.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.36 KES434.10	$4.29 BOB29.64	+27.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.64 KES212.73	$1.76 BOB12.20	+7.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.92 KES377.51	$1.85 BOB12.79	-36.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.41 KES181.96	$1.23 BOB8.50	-12.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.47 KES61.40	$0.42 BOB2.90	-11.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.89 KES115.07	$0.52 BOB3.63	-41.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.46 KES59.01	$0.46 BOB3.17	+0.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.49 KES63.50	$0.43 BOB2.99	-11.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.51 KES65.52	$0.44 BOB3.06	-12.6%
Average			+0.3%

Nairobi vs. Santa Cruz - Cost of groceries

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pay 18.4% less for transportation

	Nairobi	Santa Cruz
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.40 KES698.38	$2.10 BOB14.50	-61.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$30.96 KES4,004.71	$21.34 BOB147.45	-31.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$21,671.83 KES2,803,297.63	$28,932.40 BOB199,929.52	+33.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$17.03 KES2,202.59	$14.47 BOB99.96	-15.0%
Average			-18.4%

Nairobi vs. Santa Cruz - Cost of transportation

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pay 9.8% more for housing

	Nairobi	Santa Cruz
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$39.86 KES5,156.50	$33.25 BOB229.78	-16.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$476.96 KES61,695.24	$407.65 BOB2,816.92	-14.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$206.31 KES26,686.56	$256.22 BOB1,770.51	+24.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$29.32 KES3,793.22	$42.87 BOB296.22	+46.2%
Average			+9.8%

Nairobi vs. Santa Cruz - Cost of housing

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pay 31.5% less for childcare

	Nairobi	Santa Cruz
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$224.14 KES28,992.44	$200.12 BOB1,382.85	-10.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$8,775.09 KES1,135,076.41	$4,195.20 BOB28,989.78	-52.2%
Average			-31.5%

Nairobi vs. Santa Cruz - Cost of childcare

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pay 14.4% less for entertainment and sports

	Nairobi	Santa Cruz
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.32 KES300.35	$1.45 BOB10.00	-37.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.37 KES306.55	$3.00 BOB20.72	+26.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.10 KES400.47	$2.17 BOB14.99	-29.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$45.30 KES5,859.39	$32.03 BOB221.35	-29.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.35 KES951.12	$7.23 BOB49.98	-1.6%
Average			-14.4%

Nairobi vs. Santa Cruz - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 48.8% more for clothing

	Nairobi	Santa Cruz
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$19.62 KES2,538.28	$35.30 BOB243.91	+79.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$24.88 KES3,218.07	$48.22 BOB333.22	+93.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$67.92 KES8,785.33	$84.02 BOB580.63	+23.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$62.28 KES8,055.48	$60.76 BOB419.85	-2.4%
Average			+48.8%

Nairobi vs. Santa Cruz - 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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