Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Cairo and Benghazi

For one person, living is cheaper in Benghazi: $412 a month against $643 in Cairo, rent and utilities included – about $2,800 less a year. Other living expenses account for most of the difference.

31

Cost of Living Index in Cairo
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Cairo Living Index
20

Cost of Living Index in Benghazi
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Benghazi Living Index

Jump to prices

Cairo

🇪🇬 Egypt

$643

/mo nomad

Benghazi

🇱🇾 Libya

$412

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Cairo and in Benghazi

Real prices from locals and on-the-ground checks – rent, groceries, transit and the daily extras. Here's what a month in Cairo and in Benghazi actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

A single person spends $643 per month in Cairo vs $412 in Benghazi, rent included.

Cairo $643
Benghazi $412

A couple spends around $1,037 per month in Cairo vs $695 in Benghazi, rent included.

Cairo $1,037
Benghazi $695

A family of three spends $1,431 per month in Cairo vs $978 in Benghazi, rent included.

Cairo $1,431
Benghazi $978

Cairo costs about 56% more than Benghazi, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

Both Cairo and Benghazi are more affordable than the global median – Cairo 52% lower, Benghazi 69% lower.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$4.69 E£245

$2.36 LYD 15.08

98.73%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$28.49 E£1,491

$12.50 LYD 80.0

127.92%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$6.03 E£315

$2.30 LYD 14.70

162.17%

Local Non-Alcoholic Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$2.07 LYD 13.24

Imported Non-Alcoholic Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.38 LYD 2.43

Cappuccino

$1.81 E£94.7

$0.68 LYD 4.37

166.18%

Coke/Pepsi/Fanta/Sprite (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.35 E£18.18

$0.43 LYD 2.74

-18.60%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.15 E£7.95

$0.12 LYD 0.77

25.00%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$1.45 E£76.0

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.24 E£117

Milk (1 liter)

$0.97 E£50.7

$0.82 LYD 5.22

18.29%

White Bread (500g)

$0.73 E£37.96

$0.19 LYD 1.22

284.21%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$0.77 E£40.24

$1.39 LYD 8.92

-44.60%

Eggs

$1.17 E£61.2

$1.65 LYD 10.58

-29.09%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$4.32 E£226

$6.56 LYD 41.97

-34.15%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$5.07 E£265

$2.80 LYD 17.92

81.07%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$8.92 E£467

$11.17 LYD 71.5

-20.14%

Apples (1kg)

$1.83 E£95.8

$2.27 LYD 14.52

-19.38%

Banana (1kg)

$0.75 E£39.07

$1.82 LYD 11.66

-58.79%

Oranges (1kg)

$0.57 E£29.78

$1.20 LYD 7.70

-52.50%

Tomato (1kg)

$0.51 E£26.62

$0.69 LYD 4.40

-26.09%

Potato (1kg)

$0.38 E£20.05

$0.85 LYD 5.45

-55.29%

Onion (1kg)

$0.42 E£21.88

$0.63 LYD 4.06

-33.33%

Lettuce (1 head)

$0.35 E£18.43

$0.35 LYD 2.23

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.24 E£12.57

$0.23 LYD 1.47

4.35%

Bottle of Non-Alcoholic Wine (Mid-Range)

$2.35 LYD 15.02

Local Non-Alcoholic Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$0.52 LYD 3.32

Imported Non-Alcoholic Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.77 LYD 4.93

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$1.99 E£104

$1.84 LYD 11.77

8.15%

Wine (Bottle)

$7.48 E£391

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.52 E£79.4

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.13 E£112

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.33 E£17.10

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$8.66 E£453

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$0.37 E£19.27

$1.52 LYD 9.73

-75.66%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$0.20 E£10.65

$0.30 LYD 1.89

-33.33%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$1.49 E£77.8

Gasoline (1 liter)

$0.46 E£23.94

$0.02 LYD 0.14

2200.00%

Midsize Hatchback 1.4l (Volkswagen Golf, Toyota Prius, Honda Civic, etc)

$32.6K E£1.7M

$12.4K LYD 79.4K

162.86%

Compact Sedan 1.6l (Toyota Corolla, Mazda3, Kia K4, Hyundai Elantra, etc)

$28.4K E£1.5M

$14.9K LYD 95.1K

91.06%

Utilities for 2 People in 2-bedroom Apartment (Heating, Electricity, Gas, Water, Garbage) (85m2)

$27.54 E£1,441

SIM Card Monthly Plan (Calls and 10GB+ Data)

$8.27 E£432

$4.44 LYD 28.44

86.26%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$14.05 E£735

$18.29 LYD 117

-23.18%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$28.27 E£1,479

$17.54 LYD 112

61.17%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$6.70 E£350

$3.84 LYD 24.56

74.48%

Cinema Ticket

$4.40 E£230

$6.06 LYD 38.75

-27.39%

Preschool or Kindergarten, Full Day, Private, 1 Child (Monthly)

$121 E£6,356

$78.0 LYD 499

55.82%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$3,619 E£189.3K

$347 LYD 2,221

943.04%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$40.16 E£2,101

$42.51 LYD 272

-5.53%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$49.61 E£2,596

$34.84 LYD 223

42.39%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$115 E£6,033

$42.28 LYD 271

172.73%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$60.6 E£3,170

$69.0 LYD 442

-12.23%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$220 E£11.5K

$186 LYD 1,191

18.21%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$194 E£10.2K

$115 LYD 737

68.65%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$514 E£26.9K

$434 LYD 2,776

18.51%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$334 E£17.5K

$259 LYD 1,655

28.99%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$806 E£42.2K

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$513 E£26.9K

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$200 E£10.5K

$265 LYD 1,699

-24.57%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

16.21

CityCost data is based on AI and user input – minor inaccuracies may occur.

Last update for Cairo: October 3, 2026

Last update for Benghazi: October 4, 2026

Monthly budget structure

Share of the monthly basket for one person, rent included.

Accommodation & Living

Cairo

$194 30.1%

Benghazi

$115 27.5% 40.7% $79

Groceries & Markets

Cairo

$141 21.9%

Benghazi

$128 30.5% 9.5% $13

Clothing & Footwear

Cairo

$120 18.6%

Benghazi

$85 20.2% 29% $35

Eating Out

Cairo

$91 14.1%

Benghazi

$36 8.6% 60.3% $55

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Cairo

$50 7.7%

Benghazi

$23 * 5.4% 54.4% $27

Sport & Entertainment

Cairo

$37 5.8%

Benghazi

$30 7.1% 20% $7.4

Getting Around

Cairo

$11 1.8%

Benghazi

$3 * 0.7% 73.6% $8.4

Categories marked with * are only partly priced – their share counts the items that do have prices.

Cost Breakdown

A central one-bedroom costs $220 in Cairo versus $186 in Benghazi. Rent is usually the largest line item in a monthly budget, so the gap here sets the tone for the overall comparison.

Salaries run about 33% higher in Benghazi, which reinforces the cost advantage – you earn more and spend less. Purchasing power leans clearly in its favor.

A mid-range dinner for two costs $28.00 in Cairo versus $13.00 in Benghazi. Monthly groceries follow the same trend: $141 vs $128 – making Benghazi the more affordable choice for daily food spending.

Good to know

🇪🇬 Cairo

🇱🇾 Benghazi

🕒 Local time

09:11 9:11 AM

08:11 8:11 AM

1 h behind Cairo

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

9,120,350 Capital

631,555

💱 Currency

Egyptian Pound EGP £

Libyan Dinar LYD ل.د

📈 Exchange rate

100 EGP = 1.91 USD

100 EGP = 1.7 EUR

1 LYD = 0.156 USD

1 LYD = 0.139 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

LYD, USD, EUR to EGP – Egyptian Pound Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇪🇬 Egyptian Pound (£)

Egyptian Pound exchange rates as of October 10, 2026: 1 USD = 52.32 EGP (100 EGP = 1.91 USD). 1 EUR = 58.68 EGP (100 EGP = 1.7 EUR).

Libyan Dinar exchange rates as of October 10, 2026: 1 USD = 6.4 LYD (1 LYD = 0.156 USD). 1 EUR = 7.18 LYD (1 LYD = 0.139 EUR).

USD to EGP in detail →

On the map

Lowest

Highest

Between locations

Cairo Benghazi 1,090 km ≈ 1 h 45 min nonstop flight

From you

Cairo
Benghazi

Distances are measured in a straight line. Your location is detected approximately.

City Median Internet Speeds Comparison (Updated April 2026)

The chart highlights the Precision Threshold for mobile and fixed broadband internet speeds, updated quarterly.

Digital Nomad Cost of Living Index

Cairo vs Benghazi: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Monthly costs with rent: $643 in Cairo, $412 in Benghazi – roughly 56% apart. Outside of rent, the biggest gap is in eating out.

For a comfortable life, plan on about $965 per month in Cairo and $618 in Benghazi. That covers rent, food, utilities, transport, and enough left over to feel settled – not just surviving.

Rent is clearly cheaper in Benghazi, especially for central apartments. Housing is actually the single biggest factor behind the overall cost gap between these two cities.

Monthly expenses with rent come to $643 in Cairo and $412 in Benghazi. That's a gap of about 56%.

Kindergarten costs $121 per month in Cairo and $78.0 in Benghazi. For families with young kids, this one expense can tip the scales when choosing between the two cities.

$1,200 covers both cities comfortably – all-in costs are $643 in Cairo and $412 in Benghazi, leaving budget for savings and extras in both cases.

Families tend to lean toward Benghazi – lower housing and cheaper childcare make a real difference, especially on a single income or when paying for private education.

If budget matters most, go with Benghazi. If higher salaries, better infrastructure, or specific career opportunities are the priority, Cairo makes more sense. Both are solid long-term options with distinct trade-offs.