Lusaka vs Mbabane - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Lusaka	Mbabane
🚶 Cost of living one person	$738	$562
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2249	$1439
🏠 One person rent	$312	$245
🏘️ Family rent	$948	$484
🍽️ Food expenses	$239	$202
🚐 Transport expenses	$127	$55.5
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$333	$701
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	5 km	27 km
🎓 Higher education	37	16
😀 Quality of life	49	38
🏙️ Population	2.47M	60.7K

The cost of living in Lusaka is 31% more expensive than in Mbabane. Cities ranked 6726th and 8102nd ($738 vs $562) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 6th 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 6269th and 7231st among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Lusaka vs Mbabane infographic

Share this infographic!

Use the link below to embed the infographic from our site and automatically keep the data layer up to date.

If you prefer to download the image, please credit us as a source.

<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/lusaka/mbabane.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Lusaka vs Mbabane infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/lusaka/mbabane" target="_blank">Lusaka vs Mbabane - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

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	$6.95	$2.96
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$27	$27.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$3.8	$2.22
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.91	$1.78
☕ Cappuccino	$2.02	$1.65
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.64	$0.9
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$194	$221
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$109	$159
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1082	$487
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$641	$360
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$60.8	$45.7
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$94.7	$70.6
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$125	$27.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	21.29%	11.73%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2003	$330
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4875	$245
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.23	$1.09
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$36.8	$28.3
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$12	$25.2
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.22	$1.14
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.34	$1.03
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.75	$0.74
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.7	$1.22
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.79	$1.63
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.27	$8.71
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.63	$4.82
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.83	$5
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.33	$1.47
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.42	$0.71
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.63	$0.9
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.15	$1.33
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.98	$1
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.41	$1.22
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.34	$0.49
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$0.97	$1.12
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.86	$5.45
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.09	$1.42
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.37	$2.51
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.66	$4.16
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$2.39	$3.07
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.17	$1.52
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.07	$1.27
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$44.9	$27.2
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.6	$3.51
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$12.1	$17.9
💇 Haircut, simple	$4.45	$4.52
👖 Brand Jeans	$18.3	$43.6
👟 Brand Sneakers	$89.8	$70.6
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$176	$104
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$9642	$4495

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	$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

Cities near Mbabane

Distance	City	Cost of living
27 km or 17 mi	Manzini	$442
136 km or 85 mi	Matola	$964
148 km or 92 mi	Maputo	$1068
165 km or 103 mi	Vryheid	$763
171 km or 106 mi	Bethal	$784
179 km or 111 mi	Middelburg	$795
271 km or 168 mi	Springs	$678
284 km or 176 mi	Benoni	$785
287 km or 178 mi	Xai-Xai	$1003
301 km or 187 mi	Centurion	$807
304 km or 189 mi	Pretoria	$906
311 km or 193 mi	Sandton	$953
311 km or 193 mi	Johannesburg	$993
316 km or 196 mi	Randburg	$837
324 km or 201 mi	Vereeniging	$672
329 km or 204 mi	Soweto	$923
334 km or 207 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$773
348 km or 216 mi	Brits	$820
370 km or 230 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$640
394 km or 245 mi	Durban	$809
398 km or 247 mi	Butha-Buthe	$535
399 km or 248 mi	Rustenburg	$889
406 km or 252 mi	Potchefstroom	$695
416 km or 259 mi	Kroonstad	$768
451 km or 280 mi	Klerksdorp	$722
461 km or 287 mi	Teyateyaneng	$500
477 km or 296 mi	Welkom	$748
491 km or 305 mi	Maseru	$621
546 km or 339 mi	Mafeteng	$567
555 km or 345 mi	Mmabatho	$780
559 km or 347 mi	Gaborone	$691
564 km or 350 mi	Lobatse	$665
566 km or 352 mi	Mahalapye	$631
576 km or 358 mi	Bloemfontein	$657
585 km or 363 mi	Palapye	$540
601 km or 374 mi	Kanye	$664
608 km or 378 mi	Molepolole	$628
628 km or 390 mi	Serowe	$583
628 km or 390 mi	Mthatha	$852
682 km or 424 mi	Francistown	$624