Johannesburg vs Lusaka - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Johannesburg	Lusaka
🚶 Cost of living one person	$993	$738
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2403	$2249
🏠 One person rent	$441	$312
🏘️ Family rent	$809	$948
🍽️ Food expenses	$288	$239
🚐 Transport expenses	$181	$127
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1383	$333
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	5 km
🎓 Higher education	72	37
😀 Quality of life	57	49
🏙️ Population	4.43M	2.47M

The cost of living in Johannesburg is 34% more expensive than in Lusaka. Cities ranked 5539th and 6726th ($993 vs $738) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 4th and 6th in South Africa and Zambia, respectively. Check South Africa vs Zambia comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.4 months in Johannesburg compared to 0.5 months in Lusaka. Johannesburg ranked 2nd best city to live in South Africa vs Lusaka ranked 1st in Zambia, while ranked 5667th and 6269th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Johannesburg vs Lusaka infographic

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Prices in Johannesburg vs Lusaka

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

	Johannesburg	Lusaka
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$9.65	$6.95
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$37.9	$27
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.9	$3.8
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.37	$0.91
☕ Cappuccino	$2.01	$2.02
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.99	$0.64
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$377	$194
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$318	$109
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$790	$1082
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$627	$641
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$71.9	$60.8
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$110	$94.7
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$39.5	$125
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.55%	21.29%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1031	$2003
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$684	$4875
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.62	$1.23
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$72	$36.8
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$9.35	$12
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.28	$1.22
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.18	$1.34
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.95	$0.75
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.36	$1.7
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.58	$1.79
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10	$7.27
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.04	$3.63
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.12	$4.83
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.6	$2.33
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.49	$1.42
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.41	$2.63
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.59	$1.15
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.35	$1.98
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.44	$1.41
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.58	$0.34
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.44	$0.97
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$5.96	$6.86
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.25	$1.09
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.97	$2.37
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.59	$4.66
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.94	$2.39
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.88	$1.17
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.42	$1.07
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$33.2	$44.9
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$7.2	$4.6
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$27.8	$12.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$5.55	$4.45
👖 Brand Jeans	$48.5	$18.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$88.8	$89.8
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$214	$176
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$5271	$9642

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Johannesburg

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 6.8 mi	Sandton	$953
13 km or 8 mi	Randburg	$837
19 km or 12 mi	Soweto	$923
28 km or 17 mi	Benoni	$785
40 km or 25 mi	Springs	$678
41 km or 25 mi	Centurion	$807
53 km or 33 mi	Pretoria	$906
53 km or 33 mi	Vereeniging	$672
59 km or 36 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$773
71 km or 44 mi	Brits	$820
101 km or 62 mi	Rustenburg	$889
109 km or 68 mi	Potchefstroom	$695
143 km or 89 mi	Bethal	$784
152 km or 94 mi	Middelburg	$795
155 km or 97 mi	Klerksdorp	$722
179 km or 111 mi	Kroonstad	$768
237 km or 147 mi	Welkom	$748
244 km or 152 mi	Mmabatho	$780
262 km or 163 mi	Lobatse	$665
275 km or 171 mi	Gaborone	$691
287 km or 179 mi	Butha-Buthe	$535
302 km or 188 mi	Kanye	$664
311 km or 193 mi	Mbabane	$562
323 km or 201 mi	Vryheid	$763
325 km or 202 mi	Molepolole	$628
329 km or 204 mi	Teyateyaneng	$500
333 km or 207 mi	Manzini	$442
350 km or 217 mi	Maseru	$621
366 km or 228 mi	Mahalapye	$631
369 km or 229 mi	Bloemfontein	$657
409 km or 254 mi	Mafeteng	$567
417 km or 259 mi	Palapye	$540
429 km or 267 mi	Kimberley	$814
442 km or 275 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$640
443 km or 275 mi	Matola	$964
446 km or 277 mi	Serowe	$583
454 km or 282 mi	Maputo	$1068
501 km or 311 mi	Durban	$809
562 km or 349 mi	Francistown	$624
577 km or 358 mi	Xai-Xai	$1003

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