Cape Town vs Lusaka - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Cape Town	Lusaka
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1386	$777
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$3160	$2003
🏠 One person rent	$775	$272
🏘️ Family rent	$1348	$437
🍽️ Food expenses	$359	$299
🚐 Transport expenses	$139	$144
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$405	$130
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	7 km	5 km
🎓 Higher education	55	35
😀 Quality of life	58	51
🏙️ Population	3.78M	2.47M

The cost of living in Cape Town is 78% more expensive than in Lusaka. Cities ranked 4336th and 6881st ($1386 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 0.3 months in Cape Town compared to 0.2 months in Lusaka. Cape Town ranked 2nd best city to live in South Africa vs Lusaka ranked 1st in Zambia, while ranked 6134th and 6622nd among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/cape-town/lusaka.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Cape Town vs Lusaka infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/cape-town/lusaka" target="_blank">Cape Town vs Lusaka - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

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	$12.2	$8.56
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$48.7	$26.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$6.19	$4.48
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.03	$1.18
☕ Cappuccino	$2.47	$2.35
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.39	$0.7
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$942	$273
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$591	$148
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1671	$496
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1075	$271
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$72.4	$41.3
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$112	$63.4
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$41.7	$58.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.35%	24.9%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2325	$1971
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1508	$4422
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.33	$1.14
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$37.4	$44.4
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$11	$13.5
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.33	$1.39
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.36	$1.58
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.2	$0.88
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.25	$1.82
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.97	$1.78
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.53	$8.25
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.77	$5.2
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.45	$6.06
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.94	$3.52
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.88	$2.13
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.82	$3.36
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.09	$1.44
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.6	$2.44
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.56	$1.74
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.78	$0.46
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.77	$1.57
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.22	$8.33
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.47	$1.29
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.38	$3.4
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$6.05	$6.91
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.91	$3.8
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.41	$1.87
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.62	$1.7
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$49.1	$49.3
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$9.14	$4.77
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$37.2	$19.2
💇 Haircut, simple	$11.1	$7.23
👖 Brand Jeans	$58.7	$21.9
👟 Brand Sneakers	$124	$62.3
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$272	$176
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$6197	$15258

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	$1421
99 km or 62 mi	Worcester	$763
371 km or 231 mi	George	$877
644 km or 400 mi	Uitenhage	$968
662 km or 411 mi	Port Elizabeth	$1020
664 km or 413 mi	Upington	$796
754 km or 468 mi	Makhanda	$863
821 km or 510 mi	Komani	$1033
833 km or 518 mi	Kimberley	$904
845 km or 525 mi	Bhisho	$1390
882 km or 548 mi	East London	$773
912 km or 567 mi	Bloemfontein	$742
950 km or 590 mi	Mafeteng	$611
999 km or 621 mi	Maseru	$660
1002 km or 622 mi	Mthatha	$953
1029 km or 639 mi	Teyateyaneng	$558
1030 km or 640 mi	Welkom	$811
1034 km or 643 mi	Mariental	$991
1092 km or 679 mi	Butha-Buthe	$589
1092 km or 679 mi	Kroonstad	$872
1113 km or 692 mi	Klerksdorp	$860
1135 km or 705 mi	Mmabatho	$903
1155 km or 718 mi	Potchefstroom	$789
1187 km or 737 mi	Rehoboth	$945
1194 km or 742 mi	Lobatse	$691
1198 km or 745 mi	Kanye	$691
1208 km or 751 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$867
1217 km or 756 mi	Vereeniging	$742
1231 km or 765 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$725
1244 km or 773 mi	Soweto	$1031
1250 km or 777 mi	Rustenburg	$994
1260 km or 783 mi	Gaborone	$723
1261 km or 783 mi	Molepolole	$663
1261 km or 784 mi	Johannesburg	$1204
1267 km or 788 mi	Randburg	$912
1269 km or 789 mi	Windhoek	$1040
1270 km or 789 mi	Sandton	$1104
1271 km or 790 mi	Durban	$938
1277 km or 794 mi	Gobabis	$998
1279 km or 795 mi	Walvis Bay	$893

Cities near Lusaka

Distance	City	Cost of living
166 km or 103 mi	Kapiri Mposhi	$925
209 km or 130 mi	Choma	$849
275 km or 171 mi	Ndola	$692
289 km or 179 mi	Kitwe	$1304
297 km or 184 mi	Chinhoyi	$629
318 km or 198 mi	Mufulira	$1602
322 km or 200 mi	Chingola	$1378
370 km or 230 mi	Kadoma	$727
373 km or 232 mi	Livingstone	$813
399 km or 248 mi	Harare	$1015
411 km or 255 mi	Chitungwiza	$780
426 km or 265 mi	Lubumbashi	$1125
429 km or 267 mi	Kwekwe	$677
464 km or 288 mi	Marondera	$755
475 km or 295 mi	Mansa	$1166
478 km or 297 mi	Gweru	$565
521 km or 324 mi	Likasi	$1029
529 km or 329 mi	Bulawayo	$632
574 km or 356 mi	Tete	$792
584 km or 363 mi	Masvingo	$840
605 km or 376 mi	Kolwezi	$1044
611 km or 380 mi	Mutare	$754
613 km or 381 mi	Lilongwe	$587
645 km or 401 mi	Francistown	$632
658 km or 409 mi	Kasama	$1132
686 km or 426 mi	Chimoio	$875
688 km or 428 mi	Ntcheu	$489
694 km or 431 mi	Mzimba	$559
721 km or 448 mi	Blantyre	$495
729 km or 453 mi	Monkey Bay	$516
756 km or 470 mi	Zomba	$452
757 km or 471 mi	Mangochi	$494
762 km or 474 mi	Mzuzu	$522
775 km or 482 mi	Mulanje	$456
792 km or 492 mi	Serowe	$590
802 km or 499 mi	Palapye	$549
852 km or 529 mi	Beira	$952
869 km or 540 mi	Mahalapye	$615
917 km or 570 mi	Mbeya	$463
956 km or 594 mi	Quelimane	$691