Cape Town vs Lusaka - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Cape Town	Lusaka
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1071	$738
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2522	$2249
🏠 One person rent	$582	$312
🏘️ Family rent	$1083	$948
🍽️ Food expenses	$273	$239
🚐 Transport expenses	$124	$127
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1532	$333
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	7 km	5 km
🎓 Higher education	56	37
😀 Quality of life	58	49
🏙️ Population	3.78M	2.47M

The cost of living in Cape Town is 45% more expensive than in Lusaka. Cities ranked 5016th and 6726th ($1071 vs $738) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd and 6th in South Africa and Zambia, respectively. Check South Africa vs Zambia comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.4 months in Cape Town compared to 0.5 months in Lusaka. Cape Town ranked 1st best city to live in South Africa vs Lusaka ranked 1st in Zambia, while ranked 5491st and 6269th 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	$8.4	$6.95
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$32.1	$27
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.87	$3.8
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.58	$0.91
☕ Cappuccino	$2.03	$2.02
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.03	$0.64
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$677	$194
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$435	$109
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1304	$1082
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$863	$641
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$59.9	$60.8
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$93.1	$94.7
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$38.9	$125
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.89%	21.29%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1804	$2003
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1180	$4875
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.09	$1.23
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$39	$36.8
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$8.47	$12
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.23	$1.22
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.08	$1.34
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.03	$0.75
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.48	$1.7
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.58	$1.79
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.33	$7.27
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.42	$3.63
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.24	$4.83
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.53	$2.33
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.45	$1.42
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.47	$2.63
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.57	$1.15
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.33	$1.98
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.13	$1.41
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.62	$0.34
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.43	$0.97
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$5.48	$6.86
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.39	$1.09
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.02	$2.37
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.02	$4.66
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.17	$2.39
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.11	$1.17
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.49	$1.07
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$34.4	$44.9
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$6.22	$4.6
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$35.7	$12.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$8.05	$4.45
👖 Brand Jeans	$51	$18.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$104	$89.8
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$204	$176
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$4806	$9642

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	$1147
99 km or 62 mi	Worcester	$619
371 km or 231 mi	George	$743
644 km or 400 mi	Uitenhage	$840
662 km or 411 mi	Port Elizabeth	$901
664 km or 413 mi	Upington	$699
754 km or 468 mi	Makhanda	$763
821 km or 510 mi	Komani	$915
833 km or 518 mi	Kimberley	$814
845 km or 525 mi	Bhisho	$1332
882 km or 548 mi	East London	$766
912 km or 567 mi	Bloemfontein	$657
950 km or 590 mi	Mafeteng	$567
999 km or 621 mi	Maseru	$621
1002 km or 622 mi	Mthatha	$852
1029 km or 639 mi	Teyateyaneng	$500
1030 km or 640 mi	Welkom	$748
1034 km or 643 mi	Mariental	$827
1092 km or 679 mi	Butha-Buthe	$535
1092 km or 679 mi	Kroonstad	$768
1113 km or 692 mi	Klerksdorp	$722
1135 km or 705 mi	Mmabatho	$780
1155 km or 718 mi	Potchefstroom	$695
1187 km or 737 mi	Rehoboth	$792
1194 km or 742 mi	Lobatse	$665
1198 km or 745 mi	Kanye	$664
1208 km or 751 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$773
1217 km or 756 mi	Vereeniging	$672
1231 km or 765 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$640
1244 km or 773 mi	Soweto	$923
1250 km or 777 mi	Rustenburg	$889
1260 km or 783 mi	Gaborone	$691
1261 km or 783 mi	Molepolole	$628
1261 km or 784 mi	Johannesburg	$993
1267 km or 788 mi	Randburg	$837
1269 km or 789 mi	Windhoek	$862
1270 km or 789 mi	Sandton	$953
1271 km or 790 mi	Durban	$809
1277 km or 794 mi	Gobabis	$813
1279 km or 795 mi	Walvis Bay	$740

Cities near Lusaka

Distance	City	Cost of living
166 km or 103 mi	Kapiri Mposhi	$687
209 km or 130 mi	Choma	$700
275 km or 171 mi	Ndola	$541
289 km or 179 mi	Kitwe	$917
297 km or 184 mi	Chinhoyi	$646
318 km or 198 mi	Mufulira	$1018
322 km or 200 mi	Chingola	$875
370 km or 230 mi	Kadoma	$723
373 km or 232 mi	Livingstone	$688
399 km or 248 mi	Harare	$992
411 km or 255 mi	Chitungwiza	$873
426 km or 265 mi	Lubumbashi	$1050
429 km or 267 mi	Kwekwe	$730
464 km or 288 mi	Marondera	$794
475 km or 295 mi	Mansa	$776
478 km or 297 mi	Gweru	$597
521 km or 324 mi	Likasi	$961
529 km or 329 mi	Bulawayo	$766
574 km or 356 mi	Tete	$825
584 km or 363 mi	Masvingo	$854
605 km or 376 mi	Kolwezi	$975
611 km or 380 mi	Mutare	$752
613 km or 381 mi	Lilongwe	$587
645 km or 401 mi	Francistown	$624
658 km or 409 mi	Kasama	$748
686 km or 426 mi	Chimoio	$947
688 km or 428 mi	Ntcheu	$492
694 km or 431 mi	Mzimba	$566
721 km or 448 mi	Blantyre	$507
729 km or 453 mi	Monkey Bay	$518
756 km or 470 mi	Zomba	$457
757 km or 471 mi	Mangochi	$493
762 km or 474 mi	Mzuzu	$525
775 km or 482 mi	Mulanje	$461
792 km or 492 mi	Serowe	$583
802 km or 499 mi	Palapye	$540
852 km or 529 mi	Beira	$1003
869 km or 540 mi	Mahalapye	$631
917 km or 570 mi	Mbeya	$461
956 km or 594 mi	Quelimane	$675