Cape Town vs Lubumbashi - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Cape Town	Lubumbashi
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1231	$1124
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2814	$2586
🏠 One person rent	$681	$468
🏘️ Family rent	$1180	$765
🍽️ Food expenses	$322	$416
🚐 Transport expenses	$124	$153
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$352	$112
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	7 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	56	16
😀 Quality of life	55	14
🏙️ Population	3.78M	1.79M

The cost of living in Cape Town is 10% more expensive than in Lubumbashi. Cities ranked 4637th and 4892nd ($1231 vs $1124) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd and 2nd in South Africa and the DR Congo, respectively. Check South Africa vs the DR Congo comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.3 months in Cape Town compared to 0.1 months in Lubumbashi. Cape Town ranked 5th best city to live in South Africa vs Lubumbashi ranked 5th in the DR Congo, while ranked 6312th and 9202nd among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Cape Town vs Lubumbashi infographic

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Prices in Cape Town vs Lubumbashi

Prices for goods and services in Cape Town and Lubumbashi are partly crowdsourced by our visitors, just like yourself. Please consider telling us about your city.

	Cape Town	Lubumbashi
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$11.5	$11.9
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$46.4	$72.8
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.16	$8.42
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.9	$1.4
☕ Cappuccino	$2.15	$3.44
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.24	$1.09
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$761	$699
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$513	$226
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1355	$1240
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$937	$399
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$75	$91.9
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$116	$142
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$43.4	$55.8
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.58%	12.17%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1957	$997
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1290	$500
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.15	$1
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$28.5	$75.7
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$10.7	$11.8
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.26	$1.16
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.18	$1.83
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.14	$0.96
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2	$2.2
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.53	$2.34
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.62	$12.7
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.36	$6.27
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.75	$15.3
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.73	$1.89
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.73	$3.02
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.64	$4.96
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.75	$2.46
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.32	$2.11
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.39	$2
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.71	$0.84
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.67	$1.13
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$5.78	$11.6
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.35	$1.11
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.18	$3.19
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.15	$3.12
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.66	$3.04
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.2	$1.89
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.56	$0.94
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$43.3	$74.6
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$7.86	$12.9
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$37.1	$35.8
💇 Haircut, simple	$9.69	$4.23
👖 Brand Jeans	$56	$27.1
👟 Brand Sneakers	$120	$52.5
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$228	$135
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$4978	$4473

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Cape Town

Distance	City	Cost of living
54 km or 33 mi	Paarl	$1243
99 km or 62 mi	Worcester	$666
371 km or 231 mi	George	$857
644 km or 400 mi	Uitenhage	$946
662 km or 411 mi	Port Elizabeth	$1005
664 km or 413 mi	Upington	$746
754 km or 468 mi	Makhanda	$814
821 km or 510 mi	Komani	$988
833 km or 518 mi	Kimberley	$861
845 km or 525 mi	Bhisho	$1304
882 km or 548 mi	East London	$784
912 km or 567 mi	Bloemfontein	$698
950 km or 590 mi	Mafeteng	$598
999 km or 621 mi	Maseru	$650
1002 km or 622 mi	Mthatha	$901
1029 km or 639 mi	Teyateyaneng	$533
1030 km or 640 mi	Welkom	$762
1034 km or 643 mi	Mariental	$948
1092 km or 679 mi	Butha-Buthe	$570
1092 km or 679 mi	Kroonstad	$808
1113 km or 692 mi	Klerksdorp	$762
1135 km or 705 mi	Mmabatho	$833
1155 km or 718 mi	Potchefstroom	$731
1187 km or 737 mi	Rehoboth	$904
1194 km or 742 mi	Lobatse	$637
1198 km or 745 mi	Kanye	$637
1208 km or 751 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$799
1217 km or 756 mi	Vereeniging	$706
1231 km or 765 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$705
1244 km or 773 mi	Soweto	$984
1250 km or 777 mi	Rustenburg	$940
1260 km or 783 mi	Gaborone	$668
1261 km or 783 mi	Molepolole	$607
1261 km or 784 mi	Johannesburg	$1082
1267 km or 788 mi	Randburg	$890
1269 km or 789 mi	Windhoek	$985
1270 km or 789 mi	Sandton	$984
1271 km or 790 mi	Durban	$892
1277 km or 794 mi	Gobabis	$927
1279 km or 795 mi	Walvis Bay	$857

Cities near Lubumbashi

Distance	City	Cost of living
107 km or 67 mi	Chingola	$1069
110 km or 68 mi	Likasi	$1032
131 km or 82 mi	Mufulira	$1278
152 km or 94 mi	Kitwe	$1062
165 km or 102 mi	Mansa	$912
193 km or 120 mi	Ndola	$577
242 km or 150 mi	Kolwezi	$1045
289 km or 180 mi	Kapiri Mposhi	$748
426 km or 265 mi	Lusaka	$655
437 km or 272 mi	Kasama	$888
575 km or 357 mi	Choma	$687
668 km or 415 mi	Kalemie	$792
668 km or 415 mi	Gandajika	$885
668 km or 415 mi	Mzimba	$565
680 km or 423 mi	Mwene-Ditu	$897
697 km or 433 mi	Chinhoyi	$650
708 km or 440 mi	Livingstone	$653
717 km or 445 mi	Mzuzu	$527
724 km or 450 mi	Mbeya	$495
732 km or 455 mi	Lilongwe	$592
749 km or 465 mi	Mbuji-Mayi	$1059
786 km or 489 mi	Harare	$1021
788 km or 490 mi	Kadoma	$761
802 km or 498 mi	Chitungwiza	$751
822 km or 510 mi	Luena	$682
829 km or 515 mi	Tete	$820
845 km or 525 mi	Kananga	$1029
847 km or 526 mi	Marondera	$779
850 km or 528 mi	Kwekwe	$716
851 km or 529 mi	Monkey Bay	$519
856 km or 532 mi	Ntcheu	$493
877 km or 545 mi	Makamba	$688
901 km or 560 mi	Mangochi	$496
902 km or 561 mi	Gweru	$587
906 km or 563 mi	Rutana	$688
935 km or 581 mi	Blantyre	$506
936 km or 581 mi	Tshikapa	$993
937 km or 583 mi	Uvira	$842
945 km or 587 mi	Bujumbura	$754
946 km or 588 mi	Zomba	$458