Cost of living comparison

compared to

Kinshasa vs. Washington Cost of Living Summary

Kinshasa vs. Washington Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Kinshasa instead of Washington, you would:

pay 32.6% less for restaurants

 
Washington
Kinshasa
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $25.00
 
$15.00
FCFA8,326
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$12.00
 
$13.00
FCFA7,216
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $3.20
 
$1.45
FCFA805

Improve prices ·

pay 18.2% less for groceries

 
Washington
Kinshasa
Bread
1 loaf
$4.43
 
$1.45
FCFA805
Local cheese (8 oz) $8.04
 
$3.10
FCFA1,721
Milk (1 gallon) $4.19
 
$10.18
FCFA5,652

Improve prices ·

pay 1.4% less for transportation

 
Washington
Kinshasa
Gasoline (1 gallon) $3.53
 
$5.23
FCFA2,905
Monthly public transit pass $77.50
 
$21.74
FCFA12,066
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $35,699.74
 
$44,341.60
FCFA25M

Improve prices ·

pay 34.2% less for housing

 
Washington
Kinshasa
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
$69.41
 
$91.50
FCFA50,787
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $2,568.48
 
$1,640.00
FCFA910K
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $2,088.16
 
$466.67
FCFA259K

Improve prices ·

pay 80.3% less for childcare

 
Washington
Kinshasa
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $2,650.00
 
$725.00
FCFA402K
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $40,166.67
 
$4,800.00
FCFA3M

Improve prices ·

pay 35.8% less for entertainment and sports

 
Washington
Kinshasa
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $8.00
 
$2.00
FCFA1,110
Cappuccino in mid-range area $6.07
 
$6.20
FCFA3,441
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$13.00
 
$4.50
FCFA2,498

Improve prices ·

pay 19.2% less for clothing

 
Washington
Kinshasa
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
$76.00
 
$45.00
FCFA24,977
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
$48.40
 
$38.75
FCFA21,508
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
$104.31
 
$113.33
FCFA62,906

Improve prices ·
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: March 2026
Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

See the cost of living in United States vs. Republic of the Congo. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within United States and Republic of the Congo.

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Ask the Elsewhere Community

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Kinshasa or Washington. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.