Lusaka vs Male - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Lusaka	Male
🚶 Cost of living one person	$655	$1320
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1696	$2817
🏠 One person rent	$218	$818
🏘️ Family rent	$350	$1403
🍽️ Food expenses	$251	$368
🚐 Transport expenses	$127	$43.1
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$98	$988
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	5 km	3 km
🎓 Higher education	36	7
😀 Quality of life	50	66
🏙️ Population	2.47M	133K

The cost of living in Lusaka is 50% less expensive than in Male. Cities ranked 7398th and 4439th ($655 vs $1320) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 8th and 2nd in Zambia and Maldives, respectively. Check Zambia vs Maldives comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.1 months in Lusaka compared to 0.7 months in Male. Lusaka ranked 1st best city to live in Zambia vs Male ranked 1st in Maldives, while ranked 6625th and 5057th among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Lusaka vs Male infographic

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Prices in Lusaka vs Male

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

	Lusaka	Male
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$7.48	$5.55
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$25.8	$29.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$3.82	$9.82
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.98	$4.77
☕ Cappuccino	$2.03	$3.29
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.62	$1.45
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$204	$870
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$112	$609
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$374	$1575
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$206	$1116
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$42.3	$75
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$64.9	$114
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$45.8	$81.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	25.21%	14%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2016	$2585
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4812	$1897
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.99	$0.65
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$38.7	$29.1
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$11.9	$17.5
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.22	$0.93
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.33	$1.85
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.77	$1.59
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.56	$1.34
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.76	$1.78
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.48	$9.08
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.95	$6.15
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.57	$8.98
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.69	$4.03
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.61	$3.83
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.68	$4.35
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.1	$3.26
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.94	$1.53
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.49	$1.22
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.35	$0.35
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.24	$1.97
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.82	$8.87
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.97	$2.96
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.68	$13
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.88	$5.39
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$2.99	$3.83
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.46	$3.18
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.36	$1.81
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$50.3	$80.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.17	$9.82
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$14.9	$23.2
💇 Haircut, simple	$5.62	$4.39
👖 Brand Jeans	$18.9	$42.7
👟 Brand Sneakers	$73.1	$90.5
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$177	$166
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$11593	$3575

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

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

Cities near Male

Distance	City	Cost of living
5.4 km or 3.4 mi	Hulhumale	$1445
610 km or 379 mi	Thiruvananthapuram	$344
618 km or 384 mi	Varkala	$308
621 km or 386 mi	Nagercoil	$279
624 km or 388 mi	Kollam	$253
687 km or 427 mi	Tirunelveli	$270
688 km or 428 mi	Kottayam	$300
713 km or 443 mi	Kochi	$382
714 km or 444 mi	Ernakulam	$351
724 km or 450 mi	Thoothukudi	$296
761 km or 473 mi	Beruwala	$590
763 km or 474 mi	Colombo	$646
766 km or 476 mi	Thrissur	$356
771 km or 479 mi	Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte	$626
772 km or 479 mi	Galle	$512
777 km or 483 mi	Negombo	$469
788 km or 490 mi	Gampaha	$420
803 km or 499 mi	Matara	$479
814 km or 506 mi	Malappuram	$286
817 km or 507 mi	Madurai	$347
825 km or 513 mi	Kozhikode	$321
843 km or 524 mi	Dindigul	$310
849 km or 528 mi	Coimbatore	$326
862 km or 535 mi	Kandy	$440
879 km or 546 mi	Kannur	$317
892 km or 554 mi	Anuradhapura	$535
899 km or 559 mi	Tiruppur	$347
922 km or 573 mi	Erode	$286
935 km or 581 mi	Tiruchirappalli	$300
964 km or 599 mi	Thanjavur	$275
968 km or 602 mi	Mysore	$346
977 km or 607 mi	Salem	$295
979 km or 608 mi	Mangalore	$400
983 km or 611 mi	Trincomalee	$530
1027 km or 638 mi	Udupi	$283
1076 km or 669 mi	Bangalore	$524
1087 km or 675 mi	Cuddalore	$300
1093 km or 679 mi	Tumkur	$355
1106 km or 688 mi	Shimoga	$340
1108 km or 688 mi	Pondicherry	$327