Lusaka vs San Jose, United States - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Lusaka	San Jose
🚶 Cost of living one person	$686	$3962
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1784	$8268
🏠 One person rent	$237	$2809
🏘️ Family rent	$381	$4461
🍽️ Food expenses	$263	$768
🚐 Transport expenses	$127	$184
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$113	$5742
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	5 km	8 km
🎓 Higher education	35	87
😀 Quality of life	50	91
🏙️ Population	2.47M	1.01M

The cost of living in Lusaka is 83% less expensive than in San Jose, United States. Cities ranked 7322nd and 8th ($686 vs $3962) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 9th and 5th 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 0.2 months in Lusaka compared to 1.4 months in San Jose, United States. Lusaka ranked 1st best city to live in Zambia vs San Jose, United States ranked 31st in the United States, while ranked 6732nd and 148th among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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

Prices in Lusaka vs San Jose, United States

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

	Lusaka	San Jose
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$7.41	$23.2
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$23.1	$100
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$3.86	$12
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.02	$9
☕ Cappuccino	$2.05	$5.63
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.61	$3.41
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$236	$3015
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$129	$2454
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$431	$4507
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$236	$4037
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$35.7	$169
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$55.1	$256
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$51	$74.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	25.19%	6.44%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1955	$9481
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4123	$9796
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.98	$2.5
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$38.6	$89.6
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$12	$21.2
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.22	$1.26
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.38	$1.57
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.77	$4.69
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.57	$3.72
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.55	$5.55
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.18	$20.3
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.53	$13.1
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.26	$22.5
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.08	$6.41
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.85	$2.24
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.95	$5.8
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.26	$5.84
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.13	$3.97
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.53	$3.62
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.4	$1.82
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.42	$3.29
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$7.32	$15.2
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.12	$2.52
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.16	$11.5
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$6.74	$10.4
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.41	$6.94
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.69	$6.98
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.56	$2.5
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$43	$130
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.16	$16.6
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$17.1	$150
💇 Haircut, simple	$6.47	$20.6
👖 Brand Jeans	$18.9	$56.4
👟 Brand Sneakers	$73.8	$97.5
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$178	$1802
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$13300	$23160

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	$815
209 km or 130 mi	Choma	$750
275 km or 171 mi	Ndola	$613
289 km or 179 mi	Kitwe	$1189
297 km or 184 mi	Chinhoyi	$639
318 km or 198 mi	Mufulira	$1473
322 km or 200 mi	Chingola	$1229
370 km or 230 mi	Kadoma	$754
373 km or 232 mi	Livingstone	$718
399 km or 248 mi	Harare	$1024
411 km or 255 mi	Chitungwiza	$770
426 km or 265 mi	Lubumbashi	$1133
429 km or 267 mi	Kwekwe	$706
464 km or 288 mi	Marondera	$768
475 km or 295 mi	Mansa	$1030
478 km or 297 mi	Gweru	$577
521 km or 324 mi	Likasi	$1039
529 km or 329 mi	Bulawayo	$630
574 km or 356 mi	Tete	$828
584 km or 363 mi	Masvingo	$861
605 km or 376 mi	Kolwezi	$1039
611 km or 380 mi	Mutare	$764
613 km or 381 mi	Lilongwe	$591
645 km or 401 mi	Francistown	$633
658 km or 409 mi	Kasama	$1002
686 km or 426 mi	Chimoio	$924
688 km or 428 mi	Ntcheu	$495
694 km or 431 mi	Mzimba	$530
721 km or 448 mi	Blantyre	$505
729 km or 453 mi	Monkey Bay	$521
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	$583
802 km or 499 mi	Palapye	$551
852 km or 529 mi	Beira	$1000
869 km or 540 mi	Mahalapye	$628
917 km or 570 mi	Mbeya	$469
956 km or 594 mi	Quelimane	$692

Cities near San Jose, United States

Distance	City	Cost of living
7.6 km or 4.7 mi	Campbell	$3488
9.7 km or 6.1 mi	Santa Clara	$3608
11 km or 6.8 mi	Los Gatos	$4273
13 km or 8.4 mi	Saratoga	$3379
15 km or 9.1 mi	Milpitas	$3257
15 km or 9.3 mi	Cupertino	$2871
16 km or 10 mi	Sunnyvale	$3508
18 km or 11 mi	Mountain View	$3603
21 km or 13 mi	Los Altos	$3254
27 km or 17 mi	Palo Alto	$3805
27 km or 17 mi	Morgan Hill	$3181
28 km or 18 mi	Fremont	$3589
29 km or 18 mi	Newark	$3261
29 km or 18 mi	East Palo Alto	$3382
32 km or 20 mi	Menlo Park	$3395
36 km or 22 mi	Union	$3137
38 km or 23 mi	Redwood	$3771
39 km or 24 mi	Santa Cruz	$3489
41 km or 25 mi	San Carlos	$3359
41 km or 25 mi	Pleasanton	$3520
42 km or 26 mi	Gilroy	$3017
43 km or 27 mi	Livermore	$3065
44 km or 27 mi	Watsonville	$3676
44 km or 27 mi	Belmont	$3593
44 km or 28 mi	Foster	$3604
45 km or 28 mi	Hayward	$2910
46 km or 28 mi	Dublin	$3094
47 km or 29 mi	San Lorenzo	$2802
48 km or 30 mi	San Mateo	$3831
48 km or 30 mi	Castro Valley	$2983
53 km or 33 mi	San Leandro	$3007
53 km or 33 mi	Burlingame	$3346
54 km or 33 mi	San Ramon	$2859
57 km or 36 mi	Millbrae	$3282
59 km or 36 mi	Danville	$3778
60 km or 38 mi	San Bruno	$3264
61 km or 38 mi	Alameda	$3277
62 km or 38 mi	Tracy	$2089
63 km or 39 mi	South San Francisco	$3245
64 km or 40 mi	Oakland	$3212