Freetown vs Lusaka - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Freetown	Lusaka
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1346	$738
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1679	$2249
🏠 One person rent	$980	$312
🏘️ Family rent	$655	$948
🍽️ Food expenses	$255	$239
🚐 Transport expenses	$69	$127
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1273	$333
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	15 km	5 km
🎓 Higher education	23	37
😀 Quality of life	37	49
🏙️ Population	951K	2.47M

The cost of living in Freetown is 82% more expensive than in Lusaka. Cities ranked 4063rd and 6726th ($1346 vs $738) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 6th in Sierra Leone and Zambia, respectively. Check Sierra Leone vs Zambia comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.9 months in Freetown compared to 0.5 months in Lusaka. Freetown ranked 1st best city to live in Sierra Leone vs Lusaka ranked 1st in Zambia, while ranked 7302nd and 6269th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Freetown vs Lusaka infographic

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

Prices in Freetown vs Lusaka

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

	Freetown	Lusaka
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$2.9	$6.95
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$24.5	$27
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$7.28	$3.8
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.21	$0.91
☕ Cappuccino	$1.66	$2.02
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.04	$0.64
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$866	$194
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$801	$109
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1547	$1082
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$170	$641
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$80.8	$60.8
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$124	$94.7
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$85.5	$125
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	12.25%	21.29%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1087	$2003
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1072	$4875
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.46	$1.23
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$18.1	$36.8
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$10.8	$12
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.01	$1.22
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.93	$1.34
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.41	$0.75
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.73	$1.7
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.72	$1.79
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.91	$7.27
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.12	$3.63
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.52	$4.83
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.12	$2.33
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.02	$1.42
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.71	$2.63
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.65	$1.15
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.71	$1.98
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.63	$1.41
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.94	$0.34
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.08	$0.97
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$5.82	$6.86
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.9	$1.09
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.44	$2.37
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$1.51	$4.66
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$1.19	$2.39
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$0.78	$1.17
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.8	$1.07
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$40.4	$44.9
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$1.66	$4.6
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$12.6	$12.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$2.91	$4.45
👖 Brand Jeans	$10	$18.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$60.3	$89.8
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$82.4	$176
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$2773	$9642

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Freetown

Distance	City	Cost of living
126 km or 78 mi	Conakry	$1061
137 km or 85 mi	Forecariah	$998
174 km or 108 mi	Bo	$1278
207 km or 128 mi	Boffa	$998
235 km or 146 mi	Kenema	$1272
246 km or 153 mi	Mamou	$1019
341 km or 212 mi	Gueckedou	$1009
361 km or 224 mi	Monrovia	$523
385 km or 239 mi	Kakata	$487
439 km or 273 mi	Bafata	$804
456 km or 283 mi	Bissau	$827
480 km or 298 mi	Kankan	$1007
493 km or 306 mi	Nzerekore	$999
514 km or 319 mi	Sanniquellie	$487
525 km or 326 mi	Kolda	$964
527 km or 327 mi	Yekepa	$487
564 km or 350 mi	Ziguinchor	$953
603 km or 375 mi	Greenville	$487
650 km or 404 mi	Brikama	$552
660 km or 410 mi	Lamin	$507
662 km or 412 mi	Banjul	$477
701 km or 436 mi	Kaolack	$1000
709 km or 441 mi	Bougouni	$489
736 km or 457 mi	Fatick	$998
736 km or 458 mi	Bamako	$569
788 km or 490 mi	Koulikoro	$490
807 km or 502 mi	Thies	$1052
821 km or 510 mi	Rufisque	$1046
833 km or 518 mi	Dakar	$1114
842 km or 523 mi	Korhogo	$916
846 km or 526 mi	Banamba	$491
846 km or 526 mi	Gagnoa	$904
857 km or 532 mi	Louga	$970
887 km or 551 mi	Sikasso	$499
896 km or 557 mi	Yamoussoukro	$887
907 km or 564 mi	Bouake	$937
911 km or 566 mi	Saint-Louis	$960
917 km or 570 mi	Divo	$906
935 km or 581 mi	Rosso	$647
940 km or 584 mi	Segou	$490

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