Dar es Salaam vs Lusaka - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Dar es Salaam	Lusaka
🚶 Cost of living one person	$811	$738
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2062	$2249
🏠 One person rent	$423	$312
🏘️ Family rent	$748	$948
🍽️ Food expenses	$225	$239
🚐 Transport expenses	$106	$127
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$323	$333
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	5 km
🎓 Higher education	44	37
😀 Quality of life	41	49
🏙️ Population	4.72M	2.47M

The cost of living in Dar es Salaam is 10% more expensive than in Lusaka. Cities ranked 6399th and 6726th ($811 vs $738) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 6th in Tanzania and Zambia, respectively. Check Tanzania vs Zambia comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.4 months in Dar es Salaam compared to 0.5 months in Lusaka. Dar es Salaam ranked 1st best city to live in Tanzania vs Lusaka ranked 1st in Zambia, while ranked 6871st and 6269th among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Dar es Salaam vs Lusaka infographic

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

Prices in Dar es Salaam vs Lusaka

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

	Dar es Salaam	Lusaka
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$2.93	$6.95
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$20.1	$27
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$7.15	$3.8
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.13	$0.91
☕ Cappuccino	$2.04	$2.02
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.4	$0.64
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$427	$194
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$325	$109
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1029	$1082
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$551	$641
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$44.9	$60.8
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$68.6	$94.7
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$33	$125
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	19.47%	21.29%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3163	$2003
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5427	$4875
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.29	$1.23
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$18.1	$36.8
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$10.2	$12
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.18	$1.22
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.1	$1.34
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.71	$0.75
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.99	$1.7
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.76	$1.79
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.55	$7.27
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.06	$3.63
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.28	$4.83
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.67	$2.33
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.05	$1.42
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.04	$2.63
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.04	$1.15
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.87	$1.98
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.42	$1.41
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.28	$0.34
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.26	$0.97
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.83	$6.86
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.46	$1.09
🚬 Cigarette pack	$1.88	$2.37
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$3.14	$4.66
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.76	$2.39
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.24	$1.17
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.96	$1.07
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$77.9	$44.9
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.94	$4.6
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$17.2	$12.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$4.84	$4.45
👖 Brand Jeans	$21.5	$18.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$39.3	$89.8
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$312	$176
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$19371	$9642

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

$349

$907

$6.64K

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Dar es Salaam

Distance	City	Cost of living
71 km or 44 mi	Zanzibar	$552
71 km or 44 mi	Stone Town	$523
179 km or 111 mi	Morogoro	$486
194 km or 120 mi	Tanga	$545
309 km or 192 mi	Mombasa	$580
395 km or 246 mi	Dodoma	$502
409 km or 254 mi	Malindi	$498
441 km or 274 mi	Moshi	$561
478 km or 297 mi	Arusha	$638
629 km or 391 mi	Machakos	$408
671 km or 417 mi	Nairobi	$760
684 km or 425 mi	Mbeya	$461
684 km or 425 mi	Thika	$589
698 km or 434 mi	Moroni	$1105
700 km or 435 mi	Pemba	$1506
774 km or 481 mi	Mzuzu	$525
783 km or 486 mi	Meru	$541
808 km or 502 mi	Nakuru	$500
836 km or 520 mi	Domoni	$1100
843 km or 524 mi	Mzimba	$566
853 km or 530 mi	Mwanza	$625
864 km or 537 mi	Nacala	$1150
899 km or 559 mi	Kisumu	$522
925 km or 575 mi	Nampula	$872
927 km or 576 mi	Eldoret	$483
931 km or 578 mi	Mamoudzou	$1465
938 km or 583 mi	Monkey Bay	$518
955 km or 594 mi	Mumias	$490
959 km or 596 mi	Mangochi	$493
969 km or 602 mi	Kasama	$748
1000 km or 621 mi	Lilongwe	$587
1007 km or 626 mi	Tororo	$602
1026 km or 637 mi	Ntcheu	$492
1044 km or 648 mi	Mbale	$605
1047 km or 651 mi	Zomba	$457
1049 km or 652 mi	Jinja	$562
1067 km or 663 mi	Ruyigi	$648
1074 km or 667 mi	Entebbe	$558
1076 km or 668 mi	Rutana	$648
1084 km or 674 mi	Muyinga	$650

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