Cost of Living in Zanzibar City, 🇹🇿 Tanzania - For Locals, Nomads, and Tourists

Researched Updated Nov 12, 2026 Last changed Nov 14, 2026 About costs

Cost breakdown

Digital nomad: short-term stay (1-3 months). Furnished Airbnb or coliving near center, coworking, eating out ~3x/day, travel health insurance.

Expat: long-term resident (1+ years). Renting apartment in center, mix of cooking and dining out, local health insurance, settled lifestyle.

Family: middle-class 4-person family. 2-3 bedroom in suburbs, groceries for 4, international school, car/transport, family health plan.

Local: budget-conscious local resident. Renting outside center, cooking at home, public transport, local phone plan.

Tourist: short-stay visitor (1-14 days). Hotel/Airbnb nightly, all meals at restaurants, taxis, sightseeing.

CategoryCost

Housing 1 3 4 17 18 19 $550 $151 $450 $101 $70

Utilities 1 2 3 — $74 $120 $35 —

Internet & Mobile 12 13 10 $15 $28 $44 $8 $0

Groceries 1 2 4 $100 $225 $480 $120 $4

Transportation 7 25 3 4 $130 $80 $250 $18 $12

Dining Out 1 6 8 3 $400 $150 $220 $24 $28

Leisure Activities 3 9 7 21 $200 $100 $250 $17 $35

Health Insurance 15 16 20 26 $77 $73 $218 $14 $1

Visa & Legal Fees 14 $25 $171 $350 — $2

Total $1,497 $1,052 $2,382 $337 $152

Itemized prices

Local prices converted to the selected currency.

Housing

Apartment (1 bedroom) 1 20 $100.80 $100 – $151 per month

Coworking Space 4 5 3 $150.00 per month

Airbnb (1 month) 3 4 17 18 $550.00 $450 – $900 per month

Coliving Space 18 3 26 $432.30 per month

Food & Dining

Coffee 1 21 2 $2.18 per cup

Beer 1 21 $1.89 per pint

Meal (Inexpensive) 6 8 1 $3.03 per meal

Fast Food Combo 1 2 $5.68 per meal

Apples 1 2 $2.84 per kg

Bread 1 2 $0.74 per loaf

Milk 1 2 $2.08 per liter

Rice 1 2 22 $0.82 per kg

Chicken Fillets 1 2 $2.27 per kg

Beef 1 2 $6.06 per kg

Wine (Mid-range) 1 2 22 $9.47 per bottle

Meal (Mid-range, 2 people) 1 8 2 $21.78 per meal

Water (1.5L bottle) 1 2 22 $0.47 per bottle

Transportation

Taxi Start 1 25 $3.79 per trip

Taxi per km 1 25 7 $0.76 per km

Monthly Transport Pass 1 24 25 4 $18.18 per month

Gasoline 23 1 $1.54 per liter

Ride-hailing (5km) 1 2 4 $7.57 per trip

Scooter Rental 5 7 4 $115.00 per month

Services

Mobile Plan 12 13 1 $7.57 per month

Internet (60 Mbps+) 10 11 1 $20.83 per month

Gym Membership 9 1 2 $26.51 per month

Tennis Court (Weekend) $17.41 per hour

SIM Card (Tourist, prepaid) 12 24 13 $1.14 one-time

Entertainment

Cinema Ticket 1 2 $9.47 per ticket

Clothing

Jeans 1 2 $13.06 per pair

Summer Dress $29.01 per dress

Running Shoes 1 2 $29.38 per pair

Personal Care

Haircut $9.67 per visit

Laundry $1.93 per kg

Healthcare

Doctor Visit (GP) 20 2 $45.00 per visit

Pharmacy (basic meds) 2 $3.78 per purchase

About these costs

Method: Researched
Last updated: Nov 12, 2026
Last changed: Nov 14, 2026
Exchange rate: 1 USD = 2,640.4534 TZS on Nov 9, 2026

Checked against the sources below and compared with similar cities. Numbers in the list point to these sources.

Compared with Kigali, Nairobi, Kampala, Cairo

Change history

Nov 14, 2026
- Method Generated Researched
- Airbnb (1 month) 1469.86 550
- Apartment (1 bedroom) 483.51 100.8
- Apples 3.67 2.84
- Beef 5.42 6.06
- Beer 2.51 1.89
36 more changes
- Bread 0.97 0.74
- Chicken Fillets 7.16 2.27
- Cinema Ticket 7.74 9.47
- Coffee 3.29 2.18
- Coliving Space 850.97 432.3
- Coworking Space 174.06 150
- Dining Out local 46.42, nomad 502.85, expat 251.42, family 425.49 local 24.24, nomad 400, expat 150, family 220, tourist 28
- Doctor Visit (GP) 29.01 45
- Fast Food Combo 8.51 5.68
- Gasoline 1.24 1.54
- Groceries local 135.38, nomad 96.7, expat 251.42, family 618.89, tourist 9.67 local 120, nomad 100, expat 225, family 480, tourist 3.5
- Gym Membership 42.55 26.51
- Health Insurance local 13.54, nomad 71.56, expat 92.83, family 239.82, tourist 0 local 13.54, nomad 77.39, expat 72.6, family 217.8, tourist 1.47
- Housing local 174.06, nomad 850.97, expat 541.53, family 1083.05, tourist 108.31 local 100.8, nomad 550, expat 151.2, family 450, tourist 70
- Internet & Mobile local 17.41, nomad 69.62, expat 46.42, family 77.36, tourist 5.8 local 8, nomad 15.15, expat 28.4, family 43.54, tourist 0.25
- Internet (60 Mbps+) 69.62 20.83
- Jeans 32.88 13.06
- Leisure Activities local 15.47, nomad 212.74, expat 154.72, family 309.44, tourist 38.68 local 17, nomad 200, expat 100, family 250, tourist 35
- Meal (Inexpensive) 5.8 3.03
- Meal (Mid-range, 2 people) 50.28 21.78
- Milk 1.62 2.08
- Mobile Plan 13.54 7.57
- Monthly Transport Pass 25.14 18.18
- Pharmacy (basic meds) 5.8 3.78
- Rice 1.47 0.82
- Ride-hailing (5km) 6.96 7.57
- Running Shoes 81.23 29.38
- SIM Card (Tourist, prepaid) 7.74 1.14
- Scooter Rental 15.47 115
- Taxi Start 3.87 3.79
- Taxi per km 1.93 0.76
- Transportation local 30.94, nomad 116.04, expat 174.06, family 367.46, tourist 23.21 local 18.18, nomad 130, expat 80, family 250, tourist 12
- Utilities local 32.88, nomad 96.7, expat 85.1, family 174.06, tourist 0 local 35, nomad 0, expat 74.28, family 120, tourist 0
- Visa & Legal Fees local 0, nomad 100.57, expat 135.38, family 348.12, tourist 2.71 local 0, nomad 25, expat 170.83, family 350, tourist 1.67
- Water (1.5L bottle) 0.58 0.47
- Wine (Mid-range) 13.54 9.47
correction pass after review. Apartment (1 bedroom) and Housing local 100 → 100.8 and expat 175 → 151.2 USD, the Numbeo centre and outside-centre Stone Town rents (numbeo.com). Ride-hailing (5km) 6.96 → 7.57 USD, the shilling flag fare plus five per-kilometre rates (taxitripzanzibar.com). Dining Out local 25 → 24.24 and expat 200 → 150 USD, eight canteen meals and fifteen USD 10 restaurant mains (wildtosea.com, travelzanzibar.io). Groceries expat 200 → 225 USD, the midpoint of the published monthly band (expatlife.ai). Health Insurance expat 65 → 72.6 and family 200 → 217.8 USD, the euro plan converted at the Bank of Tanzania euro rate (bot.go.tz). Gasoline and Internet (60 Mbps+) now say on the line that their cross-check is the mainland regulated cap and a mainland operator (globalpetrolprices.com, zuku.co.tz)

Zanzibar City cost of living