Cost of living comparison

compared to

Nairobi vs. Palmerston North Cost of Living Summary

Nairobi is 30.0% cheaper than Palmerston North.

Restaurants: pay 58.1% less in Nairobi
Groceries: pay 33.4% less in Nairobi
Transportation: pay 20.0% less in Nairobi
Housing: pay 44.2% less in Nairobi
Childcare: pay 2.2% more in Nairobi
Entertainment and Sports: pay 18.1% less in Nairobi
Clothing: pay 38.2% less in Nairobi

Expenses including restaurants, housing, clothing, groceries, transportation, and entertainment and sports are lower in Nairobi.

Nairobi vs. Palmerston North Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Nairobi instead of Palmerston North, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 58.1% less for restaurants

	Palmerston North	Nairobi
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$14.42 NZ$24.97	$5.80 KES750.88	-59.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.91 NZ$17.16	$6.97 KES901.06	-29.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.36 NZ$4.08	$0.70 KES90.79	-70.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.01 NZ$3.48	$0.55 KES71.04	-72.7%
Average			-58.1%

Palmerston North vs. Nairobi - Cost of restaurants

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pay 33.4% less for groceries

	Palmerston North	Nairobi
Bread 1 loaf	$1.99 NZ$3.45	$0.55 KES70.69	-72.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.89 NZ$6.74	$5.57 KES720.08	+42.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.12 NZ$12.32	$3.36 KES434.10	-52.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.13 NZ$8.88	$1.64 KES212.73	-68.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.99 NZ$6.91	$2.92 KES377.51	-26.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.07 NZ$1.86	$1.41 KES181.96	+31.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.80 NZ$1.39	$0.47 KES61.40	-40.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.08 NZ$1.87	$0.89 KES115.07	-17.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.48 NZ$2.55	$0.46 KES59.01	-69.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.91 NZ$1.58	$0.49 KES63.50	-46.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.95 NZ$1.65	$0.51 KES65.52	-46.9%
Average			-33.4%

Palmerston North vs. Nairobi - Cost of groceries

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pay 20.0% less for transportation

	Palmerston North	Nairobi
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.11 NZ$10.57	$5.40 KES698.38	-11.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$70.50 NZ$122.03	$30.96 KES4,004.71	-56.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$22,211.80 NZ$38,448.69	$21,671.83 KES2,803,297.63	-2.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$18.92 NZ$32.76	$17.03 KES2,202.59	-10.0%
Average			-20.0%

Palmerston North vs. Nairobi - Cost of transportation

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pay 44.2% less for housing

	Palmerston North	Nairobi
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$45.43 NZ$78.65	$39.86 KES5,156.50	-12.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$807.70 NZ$1,398.13	$476.96 KES61,695.24	-40.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$663.47 NZ$1,148.47	$206.31 KES26,686.56	-68.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$64.71 NZ$112.00	$29.32 KES3,793.22	-54.7%
Average			-44.2%

Palmerston North vs. Nairobi - Cost of housing

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pay 2.2% more for childcare

	Palmerston North	Nairobi
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$961.55 NZ$1,664.45	$224.14 KES28,992.44	-76.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$4,843.04 NZ$8,383.31	$8,775.09 KES1,135,076.41	+81.2%
Average			+2.2%

Palmerston North vs. Nairobi - Cost of childcare

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pay 18.1% less for entertainment and sports

	Palmerston North	Nairobi
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$6.44 NZ$11.14	$2.32 KES300.35	-63.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.32 NZ$5.74	$2.37 KES306.55	-28.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$17.88 NZ$30.96	$3.10 KES400.47	-82.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$22.69 NZ$39.28	$45.30 KES5,859.39	+99.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.65 NZ$14.98	$7.35 KES951.12	-15.0%
Average			-18.1%

Palmerston North vs. Nairobi - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 38.2% less for clothing

	Palmerston North	Nairobi
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$66.35 NZ$114.85	$19.62 KES2,538.28	-70.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$36.06 NZ$62.42	$24.88 KES3,218.07	-31.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$87.26 NZ$151.05	$67.92 KES8,785.33	-22.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$87.98 NZ$152.30	$62.28 KES8,055.48	-29.2%
Average			-38.2%

Palmerston North vs. Nairobi - 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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