Cost of living comparison

compared to
San Jose vs. Lilongwe Cost of Living Summary

San Jose is 3.0 times more expensive than Lilongwe.

Restaurants
pay 3.2 times more in San Jose
Groceries
pay 71.8% more in San Jose
Transportation
pay 4.8 times more in San Jose
Housing
pay 3.0 times more in San Jose
Childcare
pay 3.4 times more in San Jose
Entertainment and Sports
pay 2.2 times more in San Jose

The cost of transportation, childcare, restaurants, housing, entertainment and sports, and groceries in San Jose are more expensive than in Lilongwe. Notably, transportation, childcare, and restaurants are significantly more expensive in San Jose.

San Jose vs. Lilongwe Cost Breakdown

If you lived in San Jose instead of Lilongwe, you would:

pay 3.2 times more for restaurants

 
Lilongwe
San Jose
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $3.46
MWK5,989.22
$10.83
CRC5,511.51
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
?? $9.72
CRC4,945.05
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $0.91
MWK1,583.98
$1.99
CRC1,014.61

Improve prices ·

pay 71.8% more for groceries

 
Lilongwe
San Jose
Bread
1 loaf
$1.41
MWK2,446.48
$2.60
CRC1,321.41
Local cheese (8 oz) $7.88
MWK13,640.39
$4.26
CRC2,170.33
Milk (1 gallon) $5.24
MWK9,063.40
$7.23
CRC3,680.64

Improve prices ·

pay 4.8 times more for transportation

 
Lilongwe
San Jose
Gasoline (1 gallon) $6.43
MWK11,126.33
$5.49
CRC2,792.75
Monthly public transit pass $4.32
MWK7,481.94
$38.02
CRC19,350.21
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) ?? $36,925.49
CRC18,791,205.05

Improve prices ·

pay 3.0 times more for housing

 
Lilongwe
San Jose
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
$62.37
MWK107,967.76
$53.59
CRC27,274.05
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area ?? $742.08
CRC377,640.61
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $67.61
MWK117,045.64
$463.60
CRC235,924.50

Improve prices ·

pay 3.4 times more for childcare

 
Lilongwe
San Jose
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $350.00
MWK605,902.67
$521.49
CRC265,384.56
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $2,349.49
MWK4,067,313.89
$12,425.72
CRC6,323,388.05

Improve prices ·

pay 2.2 times more for entertainment and sports

 
Lilongwe
San Jose
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $1.08
MWK1,869.96
$2.92
CRC1,483.52
Cappuccino in mid-range area $3.21
MWK5,555.33
$3.69
CRC1,878.49
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$1.59
MWK2,746.53
$5.05
CRC2,571.43

Improve prices ·

pay (unknown) more for clothing

 
Lilongwe
San Jose
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
?? $73.59
CRC37,447.65
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
?? $50.81
CRC25,858.18
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
?? $125.98
CRC64,112.44

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: January 2025
Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

See the cost of living in Malawi vs. Costa Rica. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Malawi and Costa Rica.

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 San Jose or Lilongwe. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.