Gaborone vs Lusaka - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Gaborone	Lusaka
🚶 Cost of living one person	$668	$655
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1648	$1696
🏠 One person rent	$243	$218
🏘️ Family rent	$391	$350
🍽️ Food expenses	$297	$251
🚐 Transport expenses	$62.1	$127
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$382	$98
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	11 km	5 km
🎓 Higher education	39	36
😀 Quality of life	61	50
🏙️ Population	236K	2.47M

The cost of living in Gaborone is 2% more expensive than in Lusaka. Cities ranked 7301st and 7398th ($668 vs $655) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 8th in Botswana and Zambia, respectively. Check Botswana vs Zambia comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.6 months in Gaborone compared to 0.1 months in Lusaka. Gaborone ranked 1st best city to live in Botswana vs Lusaka ranked 1st in Zambia, while ranked 5842nd and 6625th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Gaborone vs Lusaka infographic

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Prices in Gaborone vs Lusaka

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

	Gaborone	Lusaka
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$9.79	$7.48
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$28.4	$25.8
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.66	$3.82
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.12	$0.98
☕ Cappuccino	$2.17	$2.03
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.76	$0.62
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$222	$204
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$137	$112
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$402	$374
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$249	$206
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$39.5	$42.3
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$61.1	$64.9
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$49.7	$45.8
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	9.04%	25.21%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1000	$2016
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$994	$4812
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.5	$0.99
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$29	$38.7
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$19.2	$11.9
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.08	$1.22
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.39	$1.33
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.82	$0.77
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.74	$1.56
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.22	$1.76
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.45	$7.48
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.87	$3.95
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.22	$4.57
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.71	$2.69
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.39	$1.61
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.78	$2.68
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.55	$1.1
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.37	$1.94
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.22	$1.49
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.57	$0.35
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.34	$1.24
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$4.24	$6.82
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.48	$0.97
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.55	$3.68
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$11.5	$5.88
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.31	$2.99
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$0.51	$1.46
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.89	$1.36
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$30.5	$50.3
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$6.36	$4.17
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$18.1	$14.9
💇 Haircut, simple	$4.46	$5.62
👖 Brand Jeans	$43.2	$18.9
👟 Brand Sneakers	$67.6	$73.1
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$138	$177
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$3401	$11593

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Gaborone

Distance	City	Cost of living
50 km or 31 mi	Molepolole	$607
67 km or 42 mi	Lobatse	$637
67 km or 42 mi	Kanye	$637
136 km or 84 mi	Mmabatho	$833
174 km or 108 mi	Rustenburg	$940
196 km or 122 mi	Mahalapye	$577
215 km or 134 mi	Brits	$875
257 km or 160 mi	Klerksdorp	$762
258 km or 160 mi	Potchefstroom	$731
259 km or 161 mi	Pretoria	$975
264 km or 164 mi	Randburg	$890
265 km or 165 mi	Palapye	$514
266 km or 165 mi	Centurion	$892
266 km or 165 mi	Soweto	$984
266 km or 165 mi	Serowe	$536
269 km or 167 mi	Sandton	$984
275 km or 171 mi	Johannesburg	$1082
296 km or 184 mi	Benoni	$826
298 km or 185 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$799
302 km or 188 mi	Vereeniging	$706
310 km or 193 mi	Springs	$740
358 km or 222 mi	Kroonstad	$808
379 km or 235 mi	Welkom	$762
380 km or 236 mi	Middelburg	$830
407 km or 253 mi	Bethal	$838
421 km or 261 mi	Francistown	$587
468 km or 291 mi	Kimberley	$861
495 km or 308 mi	Bloemfontein	$698
514 km or 319 mi	Butha-Buthe	$570
531 km or 330 mi	Teyateyaneng	$533
540 km or 336 mi	Maseru	$650
559 km or 347 mi	Mbabane	$599
569 km or 354 mi	Bulawayo	$658
584 km or 363 mi	Manzini	$469
589 km or 366 mi	Mafeteng	$598
597 km or 371 mi	Vryheid	$827
628 km or 390 mi	Upington	$746
675 km or 419 mi	Matola	$908
685 km or 425 mi	Maputo	$915
705 km or 438 mi	Gweru	$587

Cities near Lusaka

Distance	City	Cost of living
166 km or 103 mi	Kapiri Mposhi	$748
209 km or 130 mi	Choma	$687
275 km or 171 mi	Ndola	$577
289 km or 179 mi	Kitwe	$1062
297 km or 184 mi	Chinhoyi	$650
318 km or 198 mi	Mufulira	$1278
322 km or 200 mi	Chingola	$1069
370 km or 230 mi	Kadoma	$761
373 km or 232 mi	Livingstone	$653
399 km or 248 mi	Harare	$1021
411 km or 255 mi	Chitungwiza	$751
426 km or 265 mi	Lubumbashi	$1124
429 km or 267 mi	Kwekwe	$716
464 km or 288 mi	Marondera	$779
475 km or 295 mi	Mansa	$912
478 km or 297 mi	Gweru	$587
521 km or 324 mi	Likasi	$1032
529 km or 329 mi	Bulawayo	$658
574 km or 356 mi	Tete	$820
584 km or 363 mi	Masvingo	$873
605 km or 376 mi	Kolwezi	$1045
611 km or 380 mi	Mutare	$755
613 km or 381 mi	Lilongwe	$592
645 km or 401 mi	Francistown	$587
658 km or 409 mi	Kasama	$888
686 km or 426 mi	Chimoio	$916
688 km or 428 mi	Ntcheu	$493
694 km or 431 mi	Mzimba	$565
721 km or 448 mi	Blantyre	$506
729 km or 453 mi	Monkey Bay	$519
756 km or 470 mi	Zomba	$458
757 km or 471 mi	Mangochi	$496
762 km or 474 mi	Mzuzu	$527
775 km or 482 mi	Mulanje	$461
792 km or 492 mi	Serowe	$536
802 km or 499 mi	Palapye	$514
852 km or 529 mi	Beira	$996
869 km or 540 mi	Mahalapye	$577
917 km or 570 mi	Mbeya	$495
956 km or 594 mi	Quelimane	$692