Johannesburg vs Lusaka - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 10, 2024

	Johannesburg	Lusaka
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1079	$685
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2553	$1880
🏠 One person rent	$487	$250
🏘️ Family rent	$837	$606
🍽️ Food expenses	$302	$245
🚐 Transport expenses	$204	$130
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1695	$332
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	5 km
🎓 Higher education	72	36
😀 Quality of life	58	48
🏙️ Population	4.43M	2.47M

The cost of living in Johannesburg is 58% more expensive than in Lusaka. Cities ranked 5069th and 7016th ($1079 vs $685) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd and 9th in South Africa and Zambia, respectively. Check South Africa vs Zambia comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.6 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 5446th and 6308th 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	$9.91	$6.96
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$40.5	$26.8
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.08	$3.84
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.31	$1.02
☕ Cappuccino	$2.04	$2.22
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.01	$0.9
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$405	$191
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$361	$103
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$781	$881
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$657	$330
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$72.2	$66.2
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$111	$102
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$44.3	$63.7
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.54%	21.22%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1096	$1988
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$753	$4865
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.89	$1.56
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$81.8	$37.2
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$10.6	$12.1
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.37	$1.29
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.21	$1.3
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1	$0.76
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.44	$2.33
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.66	$1.97
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.3	$6.99
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.16	$3.87
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.49	$5.21
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.7	$2.56
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.62	$1.69
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.48	$2.66
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.66	$1.44
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.4	$1.89
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.53	$1.48
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.62	$0.4
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.51	$1.07
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.14	$6.63
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.36	$1.1
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.19	$2.65
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$6.05	$2.3
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.18	$2.57
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2	$1.27
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.53	$1.15
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$33.1	$42.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$7.67	$3.5
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$29.8	$12.9
💇 Haircut, simple	$6.42	$4.8
👖 Brand Jeans	$51.5	$18.6
👟 Brand Sneakers	$91.2	$89.8
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$241	$176
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$5865	$5845

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	$997
13 km or 8 mi	Randburg	$874
19 km or 12 mi	Soweto	$971
28 km or 17 mi	Benoni	$822
40 km or 25 mi	Springs	$696
41 km or 25 mi	Centurion	$838
53 km or 33 mi	Pretoria	$909
53 km or 33 mi	Vereeniging	$717
59 km or 36 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$768
71 km or 44 mi	Brits	$848
101 km or 62 mi	Rustenburg	$943
109 km or 68 mi	Potchefstroom	$717
143 km or 89 mi	Bethal	$819
152 km or 94 mi	Middelburg	$841
155 km or 97 mi	Klerksdorp	$689
179 km or 111 mi	Kroonstad	$788
237 km or 147 mi	Welkom	$774
244 km or 152 mi	Mmabatho	$809
262 km or 163 mi	Lobatse	$692
275 km or 171 mi	Gaborone	$718
287 km or 179 mi	Butha-Buthe	$559
302 km or 188 mi	Kanye	$690
311 km or 193 mi	Mbabane	$623
323 km or 201 mi	Vryheid	$791
325 km or 202 mi	Molepolole	$654
329 km or 204 mi	Teyateyaneng	$533
333 km or 207 mi	Manzini	$459
350 km or 217 mi	Maseru	$627
366 km or 228 mi	Mahalapye	$663
369 km or 229 mi	Bloemfontein	$696
409 km or 254 mi	Mafeteng	$581
417 km or 259 mi	Palapye	$554
429 km or 267 mi	Kimberley	$859
442 km or 275 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$674
443 km or 275 mi	Matola	$1003
446 km or 277 mi	Serowe	$600
454 km or 282 mi	Maputo	$1116
501 km or 311 mi	Durban	$834
562 km or 349 mi	Francistown	$585
577 km or 358 mi	Xai-Xai	$1045

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