Lusaka vs New York City - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Lusaka	New York City
🚶 Cost of living one person	$655	$4203
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1696	$9136
🏠 One person rent	$218	$2713
🏘️ Family rent	$350	$4396
🍽️ Food expenses	$251	$874
🚐 Transport expenses	$127	$379
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$98	$5599
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	5 km	13 km
🎓 Higher education	36	100
😀 Quality of life	50	98
🏙️ Population	2.47M	8.8M

The cost of living in Lusaka is 84% less expensive than in New York City. Cities ranked 7398th and 4th ($655 vs $4203) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 8th and 2nd in Zambia and the United States, respectively. Check Zambia vs the United States comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.1 months in Lusaka compared to 1.3 months in New York City. Lusaka ranked 1st best city to live in Zambia vs New York City ranked 1st in the United States, while ranked 6625th and 11th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Lusaka vs New York City infographic

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

Prices in Lusaka vs New York City

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

	Lusaka	New York City
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$7.48	$23.2
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$25.8	$92.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$3.82	$14
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.98	$8.67
☕ Cappuccino	$2.03	$6.18
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.62	$3.07
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$204	$3669
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$112	$2221
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$374	$5076
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$206	$3880
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$42.3	$137
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$64.9	$211
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$45.8	$66.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	25.21%	6.42%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2016	$15299
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4812	$11127
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.99	$2.93
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$38.7	$134
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$11.9	$25
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.22	$0.9
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.33	$1.58
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.77	$4.49
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.56	$6.71
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.76	$7.75
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.48	$19.9
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.95	$15.9
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.57	$19.5
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.69	$7.19
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.61	$2.5
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.68	$5.91
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.1	$6.35
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.94	$3.38
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.49	$3.71
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.35	$1.66
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.24	$3.76
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.82	$18.1
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.97	$4.3
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.68	$18.8
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.88	$23.2
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$2.99	$13.9
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.46	$8.03
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.36	$2.87
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$50.3	$128
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.17	$20.7
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$14.9	$157
💇 Haircut, simple	$5.62	$37.3
👖 Brand Jeans	$18.9	$63.2
👟 Brand Sneakers	$73.1	$119
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$177	$1884
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$11593	$22663

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 New York City

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 6.6 mi	Astoria	$2569
11 km or 6.8 mi	Hoboken	$3364
11 km or 7.1 mi	Jersey	$3066
13 km or 8.3 mi	Union	$2913
14 km or 8.8 mi	West New York	$2733
14 km or 8.9 mi	Bayonne	$3253
15 km or 9.6 mi	North Bergen	$2717
17 km or 10 mi	Secaucus	$2783
17 km or 11 mi	Cliffside Park	$2727
18 km or 11 mi	Kearny	$2725
20 km or 12 mi	Valley Stream	$2735
20 km or 13 mi	Fort Lee	$2811
20 km or 13 mi	Lyndhurst	$2671
22 km or 14 mi	Newark	$2712
23 km or 14 mi	Elizabeth	$2765
23 km or 14 mi	Belleville	$2538
25 km or 15 mi	Hillside	$2688
25 km or 15 mi	Long Beach	$2756
25 km or 15 mi	Nutley	$2545
25 km or 16 mi	East Orange	$2475
25 km or 16 mi	Irvington	$2614
26 km or 16 mi	Rockville Centre	$2647
26 km or 16 mi	Linden	$2770
26 km or 16 mi	Hackensack	$2705
26 km or 16 mi	Bloomfield	$2513
26 km or 16 mi	Teaneck	$2749
26 km or 16 mi	Carteret	$2774
26 km or 16 mi	Passaic	$2695
27 km or 17 mi	Roselle	$2769
27 km or 17 mi	Hempstead	$2655
28 km or 17 mi	Union Township	$2730
28 km or 18 mi	Clifton	$2718
28 km or 18 mi	Maplewood	$2609
29 km or 18 mi	Montclair	$2506
29 km or 18 mi	Bergenfield	$2723
29 km or 18 mi	Mount Vernon	$2911
30 km or 18 mi	Rahway	$2779
30 km or 18 mi	Uniondale	$2680
30 km or 18 mi	West Orange	$2470
30 km or 18 mi	New Rochelle	$3174