Dar es Salaam vs Lusaka - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 10, 2024

	Dar es Salaam	Lusaka
🚶 Cost of living one person	$722	$685
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2042	$1880
🏠 One person rent	$353	$250
🏘️ Family rent	$883	$606
🍽️ Food expenses	$215	$245
🚐 Transport expenses	$106	$130
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$274	$332
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	5 km
🎓 Higher education	44	36
😀 Quality of life	55	48
🏙️ Population	4.72M	2.47M

The cost of living in Dar es Salaam is 6% more expensive than in Lusaka. Cities ranked 6805th and 7016th ($722 vs $685) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 2nd and 9th 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 5882nd and 6308th 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	$2.56	$6.96
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$18.3	$26.8
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$7.34	$3.84
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.91	$1.02
☕ Cappuccino	$2.51	$2.22
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.4	$0.9
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$441	$191
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$238	$103
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1146	$881
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$697	$330
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$37.8	$66.2
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$58.5	$102
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$37.2	$63.7
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	18.16%	21.22%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5041	$1988
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5974	$4865
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.24	$1.56
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$19.3	$37.2
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$10.2	$12.1
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.14	$1.29
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.09	$1.3
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.78	$0.76
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.16	$2.33
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.67	$1.97
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.27	$6.99
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.74	$3.87
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.11	$5.21
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.52	$2.56
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.04	$1.69
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.95	$2.66
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.98	$1.44
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.8	$1.89
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.33	$1.48
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.25	$0.4
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.17	$1.07
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$7.4	$6.63
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.95	$1.1
🚬 Cigarette pack	$1.84	$2.65
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$2.96	$2.3
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.55	$2.57
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.16	$1.27
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.9	$1.15
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$55.2	$42.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$3.68	$3.5
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$16.1	$12.9
💇 Haircut, simple	$3.31	$4.8
👖 Brand Jeans	$10.4	$18.6
👟 Brand Sneakers	$51.1	$89.8
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$315	$176
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$8603	$5845

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Dar es Salaam

Distance	City	Cost of living
71 km or 44 mi	Zanzibar	$736
71 km or 44 mi	Stone Town	$675
179 km or 111 mi	Morogoro	$639
194 km or 120 mi	Tanga	$601
309 km or 192 mi	Mombasa	$560
395 km or 246 mi	Dodoma	$564
409 km or 254 mi	Malindi	$502
441 km or 274 mi	Moshi	$548
478 km or 297 mi	Arusha	$543
629 km or 391 mi	Machakos	$482
671 km or 417 mi	Nairobi	$745
684 km or 425 mi	Mbeya	$433
684 km or 425 mi	Thika	$571
698 km or 434 mi	Moroni	$1091
700 km or 435 mi	Pemba	$1500
774 km or 481 mi	Mzuzu	$534
783 km or 486 mi	Meru	$535
808 km or 502 mi	Nakuru	$493
836 km or 520 mi	Domoni	$1093
843 km or 524 mi	Mzimba	$574
853 km or 530 mi	Mwanza	$466
864 km or 537 mi	Nacala	$1394
899 km or 559 mi	Kisumu	$518
925 km or 575 mi	Nampula	$1190
927 km or 576 mi	Eldoret	$460
931 km or 578 mi	Mamoudzou	$1549
938 km or 583 mi	Monkey Bay	$526
955 km or 594 mi	Mumias	$483
959 km or 596 mi	Mangochi	$516
969 km or 602 mi	Kasama	$1079
1000 km or 621 mi	Lilongwe	$582
1007 km or 626 mi	Tororo	$581
1026 km or 637 mi	Ntcheu	$515
1044 km or 648 mi	Mbale	$583
1047 km or 651 mi	Zomba	$498
1049 km or 652 mi	Jinja	$511
1067 km or 663 mi	Ruyigi	$509
1074 km or 667 mi	Entebbe	$559
1076 km or 668 mi	Rutana	$509
1084 km or 674 mi	Muyinga	$509

Cities near Lusaka

Distance	City	Cost of living
166 km or 103 mi	Kapiri Mposhi	$894
209 km or 130 mi	Choma	$725
275 km or 171 mi	Ndola	$1139
289 km or 179 mi	Kitwe	$1116
297 km or 184 mi	Chinhoyi	$830
318 km or 198 mi	Mufulira	$1090
322 km or 200 mi	Chingola	$1028
370 km or 230 mi	Kadoma	$729
373 km or 232 mi	Livingstone	$670
399 km or 248 mi	Harare	$1012
411 km or 255 mi	Chitungwiza	$890
426 km or 265 mi	Lubumbashi	$1007
429 km or 267 mi	Kwekwe	$731
464 km or 288 mi	Marondera	$810
475 km or 295 mi	Mansa	$1017
478 km or 297 mi	Gweru	$761
521 km or 324 mi	Likasi	$939
529 km or 329 mi	Bulawayo	$756
574 km or 356 mi	Tete	$834
584 km or 363 mi	Masvingo	$871
605 km or 376 mi	Kolwezi	$947
611 km or 380 mi	Mutare	$662
613 km or 381 mi	Lilongwe	$582
645 km or 401 mi	Francistown	$585
658 km or 409 mi	Kasama	$1079
686 km or 426 mi	Chimoio	$953
688 km or 428 mi	Ntcheu	$515
694 km or 431 mi	Mzimba	$574
721 km or 448 mi	Blantyre	$591
729 km or 453 mi	Monkey Bay	$526
756 km or 470 mi	Zomba	$498
757 km or 471 mi	Mangochi	$516
762 km or 474 mi	Mzuzu	$534
775 km or 482 mi	Mulanje	$500
792 km or 492 mi	Serowe	$600
802 km or 499 mi	Palapye	$554
852 km or 529 mi	Beira	$1000
869 km or 540 mi	Mahalapye	$663
917 km or 570 mi	Mbeya	$433
956 km or 594 mi	Quelimane	$670