Cape Town vs Lusaka - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 01, 2024

	Cape Town	Lusaka
🚶 Cost of living one person	$881	$777
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2144	$1907
🏠 One person rent	$484	$360
🏘️ Family rent	$966	$686
🍽️ Food expenses	$259	$225
🚐 Transport expenses	$56.2	$130
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1518	$332
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	7 km	5 km
🎓 Higher education	55	36
😀 Quality of life	60	51
🏙️ Population	434K	2.47M

The cost of living in Cape Town is 13% more expensive than in Lusaka. Cities ranked 6078th and 6460th ($881 vs $777) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd and 9th in South Africa and Zambia, respectively. Check South Africa vs Zambia comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.7 months in Cape Town compared to 0.4 months in Lusaka. Cape Town ranked 3rd best city to live in South Africa vs Lusaka ranked 1st in Zambia, while ranked 5406th and 6238th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Cape Town vs Lusaka infographic

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Prices in Cape Town vs Lusaka

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

	Cape Town	Lusaka
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$7.47	$3.81
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$31.2	$28.2
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.87	$3.5
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.04	$1.02
☕ Cappuccino	$1.94	$2.25
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.86	$1.04
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$536	$234
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$353	$144
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1202	$767
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$749	$374
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$56.2	$67.1
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$87	$103
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$39.2	$131
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.61%	21.35%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1890	$2014
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1307	$4865
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.04	$1.24
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$34.8	$37.4
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$7.17	$12.3
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.22	$1.32
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1	$1.29
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.92	$0.88
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.38	$2.3
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.39	$2.26
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.96	$8.46
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.26	$4.05
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.2	$5.5
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.4	$2.16
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.46	$1.3
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.39	$2.36
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.39	$1.11
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.36	$1.36
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.31	$1.33
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.58	$0.45
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.3	$0.9
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$4.51	$6.68
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.14	$0.98
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.62	$2.56
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.8	$2.59
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$2.76	$2.92
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.22	$1.43
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.36	$1.31
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$31.3	$40.9
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$5.42	$3.12
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$32.9	$15.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$10.3	$5.64
👖 Brand Jeans	$42.7	$24.6
👟 Brand Sneakers	$81.4	$89.4
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$172	$112
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$4013	$5932

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	$773
99 km or 62 mi	Worcester	$632
371 km or 231 mi	George	$684
644 km or 400 mi	Uitenhage	$805
662 km or 411 mi	Port Elizabeth	$866
664 km or 413 mi	Upington	$643
754 km or 468 mi	Makhanda	$704
821 km or 510 mi	Komani	$703
833 km or 518 mi	Kimberley	$753
845 km or 525 mi	Bhisho	$710
882 km or 548 mi	East London	$683
912 km or 567 mi	Bloemfontein	$601
950 km or 590 mi	Mafeteng	$511
999 km or 621 mi	Maseru	$535
1002 km or 622 mi	Mthatha	$689
1029 km or 639 mi	Teyateyaneng	$511
1030 km or 640 mi	Welkom	$682
1034 km or 643 mi	Mariental	$765
1092 km or 679 mi	Butha-Buthe	$511
1092 km or 679 mi	Kroonstad	$701
1113 km or 692 mi	Klerksdorp	$621
1135 km or 705 mi	Mmabatho	$719
1155 km or 718 mi	Potchefstroom	$625
1187 km or 737 mi	Rehoboth	$738
1194 km or 742 mi	Lobatse	$631
1198 km or 745 mi	Kanye	$633
1208 km or 751 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$698
1217 km or 756 mi	Vereeniging	$637
1231 km or 765 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$609
1244 km or 773 mi	Soweto	$875
1250 km or 777 mi	Rustenburg	$845
1260 km or 783 mi	Gaborone	$656
1261 km or 783 mi	Molepolole	$603
1261 km or 784 mi	Johannesburg	$908
1267 km or 788 mi	Randburg	$776
1269 km or 789 mi	Windhoek	$807
1270 km or 789 mi	Sandton	$889
1271 km or 790 mi	Durban	$780
1277 km or 794 mi	Gobabis	$751
1279 km or 795 mi	Walvis Bay	$718

Cities near Lusaka

Distance	City	Cost of living
166 km or 103 mi	Kapiri Mposhi	$968
209 km or 130 mi	Choma	$795
275 km or 171 mi	Ndola	$1210
289 km or 179 mi	Kitwe	$1238
297 km or 184 mi	Chinhoyi	$784
318 km or 198 mi	Mufulira	$1236
322 km or 200 mi	Chingola	$1107
370 km or 230 mi	Kadoma	$689
373 km or 232 mi	Livingstone	$734
399 km or 248 mi	Harare	$957
411 km or 255 mi	Chitungwiza	$852
426 km or 265 mi	Lubumbashi	$1025
429 km or 267 mi	Kwekwe	$691
464 km or 288 mi	Marondera	$761
475 km or 295 mi	Mansa	$1121
478 km or 297 mi	Gweru	$722
521 km or 324 mi	Likasi	$953
529 km or 329 mi	Bulawayo	$777
574 km or 356 mi	Tete	$970
584 km or 363 mi	Masvingo	$837
605 km or 376 mi	Kolwezi	$961
611 km or 380 mi	Mutare	$645
613 km or 381 mi	Lilongwe	$367
645 km or 401 mi	Francistown	$550
658 km or 409 mi	Kasama	$1176
686 km or 426 mi	Chimoio	$993
688 km or 428 mi	Ntcheu	$332
694 km or 431 mi	Mzimba	$337
721 km or 448 mi	Blantyre	$363
729 km or 453 mi	Monkey Bay	$335
756 km or 470 mi	Zomba	$326
757 km or 471 mi	Mangochi	$332
762 km or 474 mi	Mzuzu	$338
775 km or 482 mi	Mulanje	$327
792 km or 492 mi	Serowe	$554
802 km or 499 mi	Palapye	$511
852 km or 529 mi	Beira	$1014
869 km or 540 mi	Mahalapye	$605
917 km or 570 mi	Mbeya	$457
956 km or 594 mi	Quelimane	$992