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

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Lusaka	San Jose
🚶 Cost of living one person	$655	$3952
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1696	$8290
🏠 One person rent	$218	$2795
🏘️ Family rent	$350	$4452
🍽️ Food expenses	$251	$775
🚐 Transport expenses	$127	$174
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$98	$5915
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	5 km	8 km
🎓 Higher education	36	87
😀 Quality of life	50	93
🏙️ Population	2.47M	1.01M

The cost of living in Lusaka is 83% less expensive than in San Jose, United States. Cities ranked 7398th and 6th ($655 vs $3952) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 8th and 4th 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 1.5 months in San Jose, United States. Lusaka ranked 1st best city to live in Zambia vs San Jose, United States ranked 21st in the United States, while ranked 6625th and 88th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Lusaka vs San Jose, United States infographic

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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	$7.48	$20.4
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$25.8	$99.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$3.82	$12
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.98	$9.08
☕ Cappuccino	$2.03	$5.87
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.62	$3.45
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$204	$2999
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$112	$2438
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$374	$4520
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$206	$4008
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$42.3	$175
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$64.9	$272
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$45.8	$70
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	25.21%	6.45%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2016	$10416
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4812	$9325
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.99	$2.48
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$38.7	$90.7
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$11.9	$18.3
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.22	$1.27
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.33	$1.5
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.77	$5.04
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.56	$3.21
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.76	$5.39
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.48	$22.6
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.95	$15.5
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.57	$23
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.69	$6.54
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.61	$2.61
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.68	$5.77
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.1	$6.69
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.94	$4.3
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.49	$3.17
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.35	$1.88
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.24	$3.06
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.82	$15.1
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.97	$2.31
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.68	$11.5
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.88	$10.5
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$2.99	$6.98
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.46	$6.98
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.36	$2.51
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$50.3	$113
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.17	$16
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$14.9	$176
💇 Haircut, simple	$5.62	$21
👖 Brand Jeans	$18.9	$56.4
👟 Brand Sneakers	$73.1	$88.7
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$177	$1874
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$11593	$22302

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 San Jose, United States

Distance	City	Cost of living
7.6 km or 4.7 mi	Campbell	$3424
9.7 km or 6.1 mi	Santa Clara	$3476
11 km or 6.8 mi	Los Gatos	$4335
13 km or 8.4 mi	Saratoga	$3356
15 km or 9.1 mi	Milpitas	$3202
15 km or 9.3 mi	Cupertino	$2942
16 km or 10 mi	Sunnyvale	$3426
18 km or 11 mi	Mountain View	$3415
21 km or 13 mi	Los Altos	$3182
27 km or 17 mi	Palo Alto	$3765
27 km or 17 mi	Morgan Hill	$3130
28 km or 18 mi	Fremont	$3328
29 km or 18 mi	Newark	$3133
29 km or 18 mi	East Palo Alto	$3333
32 km or 20 mi	Menlo Park	$3359
36 km or 22 mi	Union	$3045
38 km or 23 mi	Redwood	$3890
39 km or 24 mi	Santa Cruz	$3719
41 km or 25 mi	San Carlos	$3382
41 km or 25 mi	Pleasanton	$3462
42 km or 26 mi	Gilroy	$2955
43 km or 27 mi	Livermore	$3089
44 km or 27 mi	Watsonville	$3748
44 km or 27 mi	Belmont	$3553
44 km or 28 mi	Foster	$3634
45 km or 28 mi	Hayward	$2826
46 km or 28 mi	Dublin	$3070
47 km or 29 mi	San Lorenzo	$2810
48 km or 30 mi	San Mateo	$3756
48 km or 30 mi	Castro Valley	$2957
53 km or 33 mi	San Leandro	$3071
53 km or 33 mi	Burlingame	$3317
54 km or 33 mi	San Ramon	$2850
57 km or 36 mi	Millbrae	$3285
59 km or 36 mi	Danville	$3818
60 km or 38 mi	San Bruno	$3230
61 km or 38 mi	Alameda	$3255
62 km or 38 mi	Tracy	$2114
63 km or 39 mi	South San Francisco	$3227
64 km or 40 mi	Oakland	$3254