Lubumbashi vs Lusaka - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Lubumbashi	Lusaka
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1050	$738
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$3163	$2249
🏠 One person rent	$489	$312
🏘️ Family rent	$1593	$948
🍽️ Food expenses	$329	$239
🚐 Transport expenses	$158	$127
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1100	$333
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	5 km
🎓 Higher education	14	37
😀 Quality of life	17	49
🏙️ Population	1.79M	2.47M

The cost of living in Lubumbashi is 42% more expensive than in Lusaka. Cities ranked 5160th and 6726th ($1050 vs $738) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 2nd and 6th in the DR Congo and Zambia, respectively. Check the DR Congo vs Zambia comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1 months in Lubumbashi compared to 0.5 months in Lusaka. Lubumbashi ranked 2nd best city to live in the DR Congo vs Lusaka ranked 1st in Zambia, while ranked 8961st and 6269th among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Lubumbashi vs Lusaka infographic

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Prices in Lubumbashi vs Lusaka

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

	Lubumbashi	Lusaka
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$11.5	$6.95
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$38.4	$27
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.26	$3.8
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.31	$0.91
☕ Cappuccino	$3.34	$2.02
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.23	$0.64
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$694	$194
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$227	$109
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2119	$1082
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1165	$641
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$130	$60.8
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$199	$94.7
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$38.4	$125
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	12.13%	21.29%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6963	$2003
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$495	$4875
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1	$1.23
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$62.7	$36.8
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$15.7	$12
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.24	$1.22
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.64	$1.34
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.92	$0.75
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.52	$1.7
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.25	$1.79
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.95	$7.27
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.39	$3.63
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.7	$4.83
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.8	$2.33
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2	$1.42
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.02	$2.63
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.72	$1.15
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.36	$1.98
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.01	$1.41
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.01	$0.34
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$0.95	$0.97
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$9.6	$6.86
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.11	$1.09
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.1	$2.37
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$3.26	$4.66
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$2.52	$2.39
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.59	$1.17
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.79	$1.07
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$69.8	$44.9
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$8.08	$4.6
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$30.1	$12.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$3.53	$4.45
👖 Brand Jeans	$20.2	$18.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$63.9	$89.8
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$101	$176
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$5003	$9642

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Lubumbashi

Distance	City	Cost of living
107 km or 67 mi	Chingola	$875
110 km or 68 mi	Likasi	$961
131 km or 82 mi	Mufulira	$1018
152 km or 94 mi	Kitwe	$917
165 km or 102 mi	Mansa	$776
193 km or 120 mi	Ndola	$541
242 km or 150 mi	Kolwezi	$975
289 km or 180 mi	Kapiri Mposhi	$687
426 km or 265 mi	Lusaka	$738
437 km or 272 mi	Kasama	$748
575 km or 357 mi	Choma	$700
668 km or 415 mi	Kalemie	$747
668 km or 415 mi	Gandajika	$828
668 km or 415 mi	Mzimba	$566
680 km or 423 mi	Mwene-Ditu	$843
697 km or 433 mi	Chinhoyi	$646
708 km or 440 mi	Livingstone	$688
717 km or 445 mi	Mzuzu	$525
724 km or 450 mi	Mbeya	$461
732 km or 455 mi	Lilongwe	$587
749 km or 465 mi	Mbuji-Mayi	$1011
786 km or 489 mi	Harare	$992
788 km or 490 mi	Kadoma	$723
802 km or 498 mi	Chitungwiza	$873
822 km or 510 mi	Luena	$634
829 km or 515 mi	Tete	$825
845 km or 525 mi	Kananga	$976
847 km or 526 mi	Marondera	$794
850 km or 528 mi	Kwekwe	$730
851 km or 529 mi	Monkey Bay	$518
856 km or 532 mi	Ntcheu	$492
877 km or 545 mi	Makamba	$647
901 km or 560 mi	Mangochi	$493
902 km or 561 mi	Gweru	$597
906 km or 563 mi	Rutana	$648
935 km or 581 mi	Blantyre	$507
936 km or 581 mi	Tshikapa	$934
937 km or 583 mi	Uvira	$803
945 km or 587 mi	Bujumbura	$719
946 km or 588 mi	Zomba	$457

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