Lusaka vs Mbabane - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 10, 2024

	Lusaka	Mbabane
🚶 Cost of living one person	$685	$623
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1880	$1573
🏠 One person rent	$250	$287
🏘️ Family rent	$606	$548
🍽️ Food expenses	$245	$210
🚐 Transport expenses	$130	$58.9
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$332	$761
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	5 km	27 km
🎓 Higher education	36	16
😀 Quality of life	48	38
🏙️ Population	2.47M	60.7K

The cost of living in Lusaka is 10% more expensive than in Mbabane. Cities ranked 7016th and 7532nd ($685 vs $623) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 9th and 1st in Zambia and Eswatini, respectively. Check Zambia vs Eswatini comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.5 months in Lusaka compared to 1.2 months in Mbabane. Lusaka ranked 1st best city to live in Zambia vs Mbabane ranked 1st in Eswatini, while ranked 6308th and 7128th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Lusaka vs Mbabane infographic

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Prices in Lusaka vs Mbabane

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

	Lusaka	Mbabane
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$6.96	$3.14
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$26.8	$29.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$3.84	$2.4
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.02	$1.91
☕ Cappuccino	$2.22	$1.79
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.9	$0.97
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$191	$211
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$103	$173
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$881	$521
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$330	$389
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$66.2	$48.8
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$102	$75.2
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$63.7	$57.8
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	21.22%	10.07%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1988	$354
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4865	$262
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.56	$1.17
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$37.2	$30.7
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$12.1	$26.3
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.29	$1.27
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.3	$1.09
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.76	$0.78
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.33	$1.3
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.97	$1.76
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.99	$9.95
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.87	$4.42
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.21	$5.41
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.56	$1.67
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.69	$0.76
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.66	$0.97
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.44	$1.44
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.89	$1.03
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.48	$1.2
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.4	$0.52
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.07	$1.21
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.63	$5.91
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.1	$1.23
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.65	$2.65
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$2.3	$4.15
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$2.57	$3.12
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.27	$1.57
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.15	$1.31
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$42.1	$29.3
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$3.5	$3.83
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$12.9	$20.4
💇 Haircut, simple	$4.8	$4.74
👖 Brand Jeans	$18.6	$53.8
👟 Brand Sneakers	$89.8	$76.8
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$176	$130
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$5845	$5172

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	$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

Cities near Mbabane

Distance	City	Cost of living
27 km or 17 mi	Manzini	$459
136 km or 85 mi	Matola	$1003
148 km or 92 mi	Maputo	$1116
165 km or 103 mi	Vryheid	$791
171 km or 106 mi	Bethal	$819
179 km or 111 mi	Middelburg	$841
271 km or 168 mi	Springs	$696
284 km or 176 mi	Benoni	$822
287 km or 178 mi	Xai-Xai	$1045
301 km or 187 mi	Centurion	$838
304 km or 189 mi	Pretoria	$909
311 km or 193 mi	Sandton	$997
311 km or 193 mi	Johannesburg	$1079
316 km or 196 mi	Randburg	$874
324 km or 201 mi	Vereeniging	$717
329 km or 204 mi	Soweto	$971
334 km or 207 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$768
348 km or 216 mi	Brits	$848
370 km or 230 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$674
394 km or 245 mi	Durban	$834
398 km or 247 mi	Butha-Buthe	$559
399 km or 248 mi	Rustenburg	$943
406 km or 252 mi	Potchefstroom	$717
416 km or 259 mi	Kroonstad	$788
451 km or 280 mi	Klerksdorp	$689
461 km or 287 mi	Teyateyaneng	$533
477 km or 296 mi	Welkom	$774
491 km or 305 mi	Maseru	$627
546 km or 339 mi	Mafeteng	$581
555 km or 345 mi	Mmabatho	$809
559 km or 347 mi	Gaborone	$718
564 km or 350 mi	Lobatse	$692
566 km or 352 mi	Mahalapye	$663
576 km or 358 mi	Bloemfontein	$696
585 km or 363 mi	Palapye	$554
601 km or 374 mi	Kanye	$690
608 km or 378 mi	Molepolole	$654
628 km or 390 mi	Serowe	$600
628 km or 390 mi	Mthatha	$862
682 km or 424 mi	Francistown	$585