Lusaka vs Melbourne - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Lusaka	Melbourne
🚶 Cost of living one person	$777	$2543
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2003	$6242
🏠 One person rent	$272	$1414
🏘️ Family rent	$437	$2478
🍽️ Food expenses	$299	$607
🚐 Transport expenses	$144	$361
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$130	$4489
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	5 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	35	100
😀 Quality of life	51	100
🏙️ Population	2.47M	5.35M

The cost of living in Lusaka is 69% less expensive than in Melbourne. Cities ranked 6881st and 829th ($777 vs $2543) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 9th and 4th in Zambia and Australia, respectively. Check Zambia vs Australia comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.2 months in Lusaka compared to 1.8 months in Melbourne. Lusaka ranked 1st best city to live in Zambia vs Melbourne ranked 1st in Australia, while ranked 6622nd and 1st among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Share this picture

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

Prices in Lusaka vs Melbourne

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

	Lusaka	Melbourne
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$8.56	$15.5
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$26.6	$67.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.48	$12
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.18	$9.51
☕ Cappuccino	$2.35	$4.02
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.7	$3.15
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$273	$1557
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$148	$1162
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$496	$2836
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$271	$2092
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$41.3	$122
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$63.4	$186
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$58.1	$51.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	24.9%	5.58%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1971	$6978
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4422	$6027
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.14	$3.85
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$44.4	$140
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$13.5	$19.7
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.39	$1.42
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.58	$1.67
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.88	$2.67
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.82	$2.28
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.78	$5.94
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.25	$13.1
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.2	$9.76
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.06	$15
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.52	$3.92
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.13	$3.2
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.36	$3.2
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.44	$5.07
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.44	$3.08
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.74	$2.76
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.46	$1.19
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.57	$2.68
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$8.33	$14.3
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.29	$5.54
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.4	$26
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$6.91	$8.16
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.8	$6.98
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.87	$3.14
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.7	$3.17
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$49.3	$55.5
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.77	$16.4
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$19.2	$56.8
💇 Haircut, simple	$7.23	$28
👖 Brand Jeans	$21.9	$80.1
👟 Brand Sneakers	$62.3	$123
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$176	$2326
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$15258	$22313

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	$925
209 km or 130 mi	Choma	$849
275 km or 171 mi	Ndola	$692
289 km or 179 mi	Kitwe	$1304
297 km or 184 mi	Chinhoyi	$629
318 km or 198 mi	Mufulira	$1602
322 km or 200 mi	Chingola	$1378
370 km or 230 mi	Kadoma	$727
373 km or 232 mi	Livingstone	$813
399 km or 248 mi	Harare	$1015
411 km or 255 mi	Chitungwiza	$780
426 km or 265 mi	Lubumbashi	$1125
429 km or 267 mi	Kwekwe	$677
464 km or 288 mi	Marondera	$755
475 km or 295 mi	Mansa	$1166
478 km or 297 mi	Gweru	$565
521 km or 324 mi	Likasi	$1029
529 km or 329 mi	Bulawayo	$632
574 km or 356 mi	Tete	$792
584 km or 363 mi	Masvingo	$840
605 km or 376 mi	Kolwezi	$1044
611 km or 380 mi	Mutare	$754
613 km or 381 mi	Lilongwe	$587
645 km or 401 mi	Francistown	$632
658 km or 409 mi	Kasama	$1132
686 km or 426 mi	Chimoio	$875
688 km or 428 mi	Ntcheu	$489
694 km or 431 mi	Mzimba	$559
721 km or 448 mi	Blantyre	$495
729 km or 453 mi	Monkey Bay	$516
756 km or 470 mi	Zomba	$452
757 km or 471 mi	Mangochi	$494
762 km or 474 mi	Mzuzu	$522
775 km or 482 mi	Mulanje	$456
792 km or 492 mi	Serowe	$590
802 km or 499 mi	Palapye	$549
852 km or 529 mi	Beira	$952
869 km or 540 mi	Mahalapye	$615
917 km or 570 mi	Mbeya	$463
956 km or 594 mi	Quelimane	$691

Cities near Melbourne

Distance	City	Cost of living
3.2 km or 2 mi	South Yarra	$1834
24 km or 15 mi	Hoppers Crossing	$1847
25 km or 16 mi	Tarneit	$1813
29 km or 18 mi	Dandenong	$1913
34 km or 21 mi	Sunbury	$1933
37 km or 23 mi	Melton	$1896
40 km or 25 mi	Frankston	$1889
41 km or 25 mi	Berwick	$1915
42 km or 26 mi	Cranbourne	$1810
54 km or 34 mi	Pakenham	$1936
65 km or 40 mi	Geelong	$2179
102 km or 64 mi	Ballarat	$1606
134 km or 83 mi	Bendigo	$1493
144 km or 90 mi	Traralgon	$2000
164 km or 102 mi	Shepparton	$1816
226 km or 140 mi	Warrnambool	$1876
367 km or 228 mi	Mount Gambier	$1880
369 km or 230 mi	Wagga Wagga	$1608
392 km or 244 mi	Devonport	$1868
404 km or 251 mi	Griffith	$1825
444 km or 276 mi	Launceston	$1728
466 km or 290 mi	Canberra	$2258
477 km or 296 mi	Mildura	$1905
546 km or 339 mi	Goulburn	$1795
597 km or 371 mi	Hobart	$2364
628 km or 390 mi	Orange	$1460
643 km or 399 mi	Bathurst	$1701
651 km or 405 mi	Wollongong	$1695
655 km or 407 mi	Adelaide	$2355
700 km or 435 mi	Blacktown	$1709
702 km or 436 mi	Dubbo	$1855
703 km or 437 mi	Parramatta	$2481
707 km or 440 mi	Kellyville	$2040
713 km or 443 mi	Sydney	$2844
728 km or 452 mi	Dee Why	$2354
822 km or 511 mi	Newcastle	$1995
891 km or 554 mi	Whyalla	$2133
1015 km or 631 mi	Port Macquarie	$1786
1021 km or 634 mi	Armidale	$1273
1123 km or 698 mi	Coffs Harbour	$2132