Freetown vs Lusaka - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 10, 2024

	Freetown	Lusaka
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1213	$685
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1492	$1880
🏠 One person rent	$849	$250
🏘️ Family rent	$470	$606
🍽️ Food expenses	$263	$245
🚐 Transport expenses	$61.2	$130
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1665	$332
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	15 km	5 km
🎓 Higher education	22	36
😀 Quality of life	38	48
🏙️ Population	951K	2.47M

The cost of living in Freetown is 77% more expensive than in Lusaka. Cities ranked 4564th and 7016th ($1213 vs $685) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 9th in Sierra Leone and Zambia, respectively. Check Sierra Leone vs Zambia comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.4 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 7131st and 6308th 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	$2.86	$6.96
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$24.9	$26.8
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$7.26	$3.84
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.22	$1.02
☕ Cappuccino	$1.58	$2.22
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.03	$0.9
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$880	$191
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$639	$103
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$642	$881
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$171	$330
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$76.1	$66.2
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$119	$102
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$85.6	$63.7
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	12.88%	21.22%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1086	$1988
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1068	$4865
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.5	$1.56
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$9.01	$37.2
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$10.8	$12.1
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.99	$1.29
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.64	$1.3
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.42	$0.76
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.76	$2.33
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.68	$1.97
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.32	$6.99
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.13	$3.87
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.43	$5.21
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.11	$2.56
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.99	$1.69
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.68	$2.66
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.69	$1.44
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.71	$1.89
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.61	$1.48
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.16	$0.4
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.09	$1.07
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$5.47	$6.63
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.8	$1.1
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.31	$2.65
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$1.51	$2.3
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$1.19	$2.57
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$0.78	$1.27
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.65	$1.15
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$39.6	$42.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$1.68	$3.5
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$11.9	$12.9
💇 Haircut, simple	$1.48	$4.8
👖 Brand Jeans	$10.1	$18.6
👟 Brand Sneakers	$61.4	$89.8
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$76.6	$176
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$2835	$5845

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	$1030
137 km or 85 mi	Forecariah	$974
174 km or 108 mi	Bo	$1138
207 km or 128 mi	Boffa	$972
235 km or 146 mi	Kenema	$1146
246 km or 153 mi	Mamou	$994
341 km or 212 mi	Gueckedou	$983
361 km or 224 mi	Monrovia	$528
385 km or 239 mi	Kakata	$494
439 km or 273 mi	Bafata	$866
456 km or 283 mi	Bissau	$889
480 km or 298 mi	Kankan	$979
493 km or 306 mi	Nzerekore	$971
514 km or 319 mi	Sanniquellie	$495
525 km or 326 mi	Kolda	$1039
527 km or 327 mi	Yekepa	$494
564 km or 350 mi	Ziguinchor	$1061
603 km or 375 mi	Greenville	$494
650 km or 404 mi	Brikama	$569
660 km or 410 mi	Lamin	$520
662 km or 412 mi	Banjul	$488
701 km or 436 mi	Kaolack	$1062
709 km or 441 mi	Bougouni	$496
736 km or 457 mi	Fatick	$1051
736 km or 458 mi	Bamako	$574
788 km or 490 mi	Koulikoro	$497
807 km or 502 mi	Thies	$1203
821 km or 510 mi	Rufisque	$1095
833 km or 518 mi	Dakar	$1198
842 km or 523 mi	Korhogo	$1047
846 km or 526 mi	Banamba	$495
846 km or 526 mi	Gagnoa	$1035
857 km or 532 mi	Louga	$1003
887 km or 551 mi	Sikasso	$503
896 km or 557 mi	Yamoussoukro	$1021
907 km or 564 mi	Bouake	$1071
911 km or 566 mi	Saint-Louis	$1018
917 km or 570 mi	Divo	$1034
935 km or 581 mi	Rosso	$649
940 km or 584 mi	Segou	$498

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