Cost of living comparison

Nairobi, Kenya

compared to

Pretoria, South Africa

Pretoria vs. Nairobi Cost of Living Summary

Pretoria is 39.0% more expensive than Nairobi.

Restaurants: pay 50.4% more in Pretoria
Groceries: pay 17.9% more in Pretoria
Transportation: pay 14.1% more in Pretoria
Housing: pay 2.0 times more in Pretoria
Childcare: pay 5.1% less in Pretoria
Entertainment and Sports: pay 1.5% less in Pretoria
Clothing: pay 94.7% more in Pretoria

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

Pretoria vs. Nairobi Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 50.4% more for restaurants

	Nairobi	Pretoria
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.85 KES499.25	$8.52 ZAR155.50	+121.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.17 KES798.80	$4.68 ZAR85.47	-24.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.66 KES85.86	$1.01 ZAR18.40	+52.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.53 KES68.99	$0.81 ZAR14.82	+52.5%
Average			+50.4%

Nairobi vs. Pretoria - Cost of restaurants

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pay 17.9% more for groceries

	Nairobi	Pretoria
Bread 1 loaf	$0.56 KES72.31	$1.07 ZAR19.60	+92.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.59 KES724.23	$3.70 ZAR67.47	-33.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.35 KES434.24	$4.91 ZAR89.67	+46.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.70 KES220.61	$2.35 ZAR42.84	+37.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.71 KES351.06	$2.08 ZAR37.90	-23.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.26 KES163.73	$0.69 ZAR12.60	-45.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.50 KES64.73	$0.68 ZAR12.50	+37.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.87 KES113.21	$0.73 ZAR13.24	-17.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.46 KES59.22	$0.75 ZAR13.75	+64.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.48 KES62.51	$0.64 ZAR11.68	+32.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.56 KES72.08	$0.58 ZAR10.64	+4.8%
Average			+17.9%

Nairobi vs. Pretoria - Cost of groceries

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pay 14.1% more for transportation

	Nairobi	Pretoria
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.17 KES799.97	$5.05 ZAR92.26	-18.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$30.83 KES3,994.00	$65.32 ZAR1,192.18	+111.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$19,266.80 KES2,496,247.04	$19,084.78 ZAR348,324.28	-0.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$13.87 KES1,797.30	$8.78 ZAR160.17	-36.7%
Average			+14.1%

Nairobi vs. Pretoria - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.0 times more for housing

	Nairobi	Pretoria
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$39.39 KES5,103.80	$39.13 ZAR714.21	-0.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$428.53 KES55,520.99	$416.34 ZAR7,598.86	-2.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$166.44 KES21,563.73	$379.25 ZAR6,921.83	+127.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$22.39 KES2,901.22	$86.03 ZAR1,570.16	+284.2%
Average			+102.2%

Nairobi vs. Pretoria - Cost of housing

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pay 5.1% less for childcare

	Nairobi	Pretoria
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$166.67 KES21,594.73	$216.65 ZAR3,954.19	+30.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$8,008.06 KES1,037,540.60	$4,800.41 ZAR87,614.22	-40.1%
Average			-5.1%

Nairobi vs. Pretoria - Cost of childcare

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pay 1.5% less for entertainment and sports

	Nairobi	Pretoria
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.31 KES299.55	$2.39 ZAR43.54	+3.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.24 KES290.33	$2.00 ZAR36.43	-10.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.08 KES399.40	$2.95 ZAR53.91	-4.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$44.12 KES5,715.90	$34.21 ZAR624.39	-22.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.17 KES798.80	$7.81 ZAR142.54	+26.7%
Average			-1.5%

Nairobi vs. Pretoria - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 94.7% more for clothing

	Nairobi	Pretoria
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$16.84 KES2,182.20	$49.09 ZAR895.90	+191.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$22.95 KES2,973.31	$34.65 ZAR632.37	+51.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$61.84 KES8,011.76	$92.30 ZAR1,684.60	+49.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$52.50 KES6,802.23	$98.31 ZAR1,794.25	+87.2%
Average			+94.7%

Nairobi vs. Pretoria - 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: March 2025

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