Cost of living comparison

 Dodoma, Tanzania
compared to
 Lilongwe, Malawi
Lilongwe vs. Dodoma Cost of Living Summary

Lilongwe is 53.1% more expensive than Dodoma.

Restaurants
pay 37.0% more in Lilongwe
Groceries
pay 63.0% more in Lilongwe
Transportation
pay 58.7% more in Lilongwe
Housing
pay 2.1 times more in Lilongwe
Entertainment and Sports
pay 2.7% less in Lilongwe

The cost of housing, groceries, transportation, and restaurants in Lilongwe are more expensive than in Dodoma. Notably, housing is significantly more expensive in Lilongwe.

Lilongwe vs. Dodoma Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Lilongwe instead of Dodoma, you would:

pay 37.0% more for restaurants

 
Dodoma
Lilongwe
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $1.86
TZS4,826.23
$3.46
MWK5,997.60
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$7.45
TZS19,304.94
??
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $0.68
TZS1,769.62
$0.91
MWK1,586.20

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pay 63.0% more for groceries

 
Dodoma
Lilongwe
Bread
1 loaf
$0.93
TZS2,413.12
$1.41
MWK2,449.90
Local cheese (8 oz) $2.79
TZS7,239.35
$7.88
MWK13,659.48
Milk (1 gallon) $5.17
TZS13,397.48
$5.24
MWK9,076.08

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pay 58.7% more for transportation

 
Dodoma
Lilongwe
Gasoline (1 gallon) $4.05
TZS10,498.26
$6.43
MWK11,141.90
Monthly public transit pass ?? $4.32
MWK7,492.41
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) ?? ??

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pay 2.1 times more for housing

 
Dodoma
Lilongwe
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
$29.79
TZS77,219.74
$62.37
MWK108,118.89
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area ?? ??
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center ?? $67.61
MWK117,209.48

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pay (unknown) more for childcare

 
Dodoma
Lilongwe
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly ?? $350.00
MWK606,750.80
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters ?? $2,349.49
MWK4,073,007.23

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pay 2.7% less for entertainment and sports

 
Dodoma
Lilongwe
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $1.12
TZS2,895.74
$1.08
MWK1,872.57
Cappuccino in mid-range area $2.92
TZS7,561.10
$3.21
MWK5,563.11
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$1.86
TZS4,826.23
$1.59
MWK2,750.38

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pay (unknown) more for clothing

 
Dodoma
Lilongwe
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
?? ??
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
?? ??
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
?? ??

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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: July 2025
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