Cost of living comparison

compared to

Nairobi vs. Ethiopia Cost of Living Summary

Nairobi is 1.5% more expensive than Ethiopia overall.

Restaurants: pay 11.6% less in Nairobi
Groceries: pay 19.1% less in Nairobi
Transportation: pay 2.2 times more in Nairobi
Housing: pay 63.3% less in Nairobi
Childcare: pay 11.4% more in Nairobi
Entertainment and Sports: pay 28.8% more in Nairobi
Clothing: pay 58.5% less in Nairobi

The cost of transportation, entertainment and sports, and childcare in Nairobi are more expensive than in Ethiopia. Expenses including housing, clothing, groceries, and restaurants are lower in Nairobi. Notably, transportation is significantly more expensive in Nairobi.

Nairobi vs. Ethiopia Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Nairobi instead of Ethiopia, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 11.6% less for restaurants

	Ethiopia	Nairobi
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$6.00 ETB764.91	$3.85 KES498.16	-35.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.24 ETB794.90	$6.17 KES797.06	-1.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.78 ETB100.08	$0.66 KES85.67	-15.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.50 ETB64.02	$0.53 KES68.84	+6.0%
Average			-11.6%

Ethiopia vs. Nairobi - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 19.1% less for groceries

	Ethiopia	Nairobi
Bread 1 loaf	$1.20 ETB153.18	$0.56 KES72.15	-53.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.85 ETB618.74	$5.59 KES722.65	+15.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.08 ETB774.93	$3.35 KES433.29	-44.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.65 ETB337.73	$1.70 KES220.13	-35.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$5.65 ETB719.80	$2.71 KES350.29	-52.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$3.30 ETB420.87	$1.26 KES163.37	-61.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.51 ETB64.55	$0.50 KES64.59	-1.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.08 ETB137.46	$0.87 KES112.96	-19.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.39 ETB49.28	$0.46 KES59.09	+18.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.31 ETB39.68	$0.48 KES62.38	+55.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.79 ETB101.25	$0.56 KES71.92	-30.0%
Average			-19.1%

Ethiopia vs. Nairobi - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 2.2 times more for transportation

	Ethiopia	Nairobi
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.88 ETB622.09	$6.17 KES798.23	+26.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$10.00 ETB1,274.84	$30.83 KES3,985.30	+208.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$25,000.00 ETB3,187,108.02	$19,266.80 KES2,490,811.99	-22.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$3.67 ETB467.23	$13.87 KES1,793.38	+278.5%
Average			+122.6%

Ethiopia vs. Nairobi - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 63.3% less for housing

	Ethiopia	Nairobi
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$171.17 ETB21,821.07	$39.39 KES5,092.69	-77.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$645.10 ETB82,240.14	$428.53 KES55,400.11	-33.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$422.74 ETB53,893.01	$166.44 KES21,516.78	-60.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$124.84 ETB15,914.92	$22.39 KES2,894.90	-82.1%
Average			-63.3%

Ethiopia vs. Nairobi - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 11.4% more for childcare

	Ethiopia	Nairobi
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$81.47 ETB10,386.56	$166.67 KES21,547.71	+104.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$43,916.67 ETB5,598,686.43	$8,008.06 KES1,035,281.58	-81.8%
Average			+11.4%

Ethiopia vs. Nairobi - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 28.8% more for entertainment and sports

	Ethiopia	Nairobi
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.00 ETB127.48	$2.31 KES298.90	+131.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.15 ETB146.57	$2.24 KES289.70	+94.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.00 ETB509.94	$3.08 KES398.53	-22.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$90.59 ETB11,549.44	$44.12 KES5,703.45	-51.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.70 ETB854.14	$6.17 KES797.06	-8.0%
Average			+28.8%

Ethiopia vs. Nairobi - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 58.5% less for clothing

	Ethiopia	Nairobi
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$48.33 ETB6,161.74	$16.84 KES2,177.44	-65.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$75.17 ETB9,582.57	$22.95 KES2,966.83	-69.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$108.84 ETB13,875.74	$61.84 KES7,994.32	-43.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$119.32 ETB15,211.65	$52.50 KES6,787.42	-56.0%
Average			-58.5%

Ethiopia vs. Nairobi - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

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: January 2025

More cost comparisons

Ethiopia vs.

Singapore

Ethiopia vs.

Manila

Ethiopia vs.

Kiev

Ethiopia vs.

Dublin

Ethiopia vs.

Paris

Ethiopia vs.

Moscow

Ethiopia vs.

Cairo

Ethiopia vs.

London

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

See the cost of living in Ethiopia vs. Kenya. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Ethiopia and Kenya.

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

Add prices for Ethiopia

Add prices for Nairobi

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

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