Lusaka vs Sao Tome - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Lusaka	Sao Tome
🚶 Cost of living one person	$655	$1046
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1696	$2477
🏠 One person rent	$218	$343
🏘️ Family rent	$350	$551
🍽️ Food expenses	$251	$571
🚐 Transport expenses	$127	$38.8
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$98	$218
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	5 km	6 km
🎓 Higher education	36	1
😀 Quality of life	50	28
🏙️ Population	2.47M	65.5K

The cost of living in Lusaka is 37% less expensive than in Sao Tome. Cities ranked 7398th and 5224th ($655 vs $1046) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 8th and 1st in Zambia and Sao Tome and Principe, respectively. Check Zambia vs Sao Tome and Principe comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.1 months in Lusaka compared to 0.2 months in Sao Tome. Lusaka ranked 1st best city to live in Zambia vs Sao Tome ranked 1st in Sao Tome and Principe, while ranked 6625th and 8852nd among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Lusaka vs Sao Tome infographic

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Prices in Lusaka vs Sao Tome

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

	Lusaka	Sao Tome
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$7.48	$29.1
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$25.8	$32.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$3.82	$11.5
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.98	$1.67
☕ Cappuccino	$2.03	$2.31
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.62	$1.93
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$204	$315
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$112	$209
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$374	$581
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$206	$375
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$42.3	$40.7
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$64.9	$62.8
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$45.8	$71.6
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	25.21%	7.41%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2016	$1452
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4812	$943
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.99	$1.23
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$38.7	$47.9
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$11.9	$7.43
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.22	$1.68
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.33	$1.58
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.77	$1.06
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.56	$2.32
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.76	$5.03
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.48	$20.3
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.95	$15
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.57	$25.2
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.69	$4.63
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.61	$1.16
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.68	$4.03
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.1	$3.5
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.94	$2.59
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.49	$2.02
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.35	$1.28
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.24	$1.31
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.82	$9.26
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.97	$1.31
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.68	$2.31
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.88	$4.08
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$2.99	$3.08
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.46	$1.54
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.36	$1.29
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$50.3	$37.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.17	$21
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$14.9	$20.3
💇 Haircut, simple	$5.62	$4.09
👖 Brand Jeans	$18.9	$33.6
👟 Brand Sneakers	$73.1	$68
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$177	$130
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$11593	$4068

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 Sao Tome

Distance	City	Cost of living
8.3 km or 5.1 mi	Trindade	$1044
256 km or 159 mi	Port-Gentil	$660
303 km or 188 mi	Libreville	$708
375 km or 233 mi	Bata	$1241
443 km or 275 mi	Malabo	$1413
492 km or 306 mi	Port Harcourt	$676
494 km or 307 mi	Limbe	$755
509 km or 316 mi	Buea	$665
529 km or 328 mi	Douala	$1363
537 km or 333 mi	Aba	$674
543 km or 337 mi	Calabar	$397
565 km or 351 mi	Kumba	$849
574 km or 356 mi	Owerri	$1774
584 km or 363 mi	Umuahia	$961
587 km or 365 mi	Warri	$926
649 km or 403 mi	Onitsha	$1051
653 km or 406 mi	Awka	$878
660 km or 410 mi	Yaounde	$671
677 km or 421 mi	Benin	$632
684 km or 425 mi	Enugu	$563
702 km or 436 mi	Bafoussam	$793
730 km or 454 mi	Bamenda	$698
772 km or 480 mi	Owo	$664
774 km or 481 mi	Lagos	$1102
788 km or 490 mi	Akure	$644
806 km or 501 mi	Pointe-Noire	$585
822 km or 511 mi	Porto-Novo	$743
824 km or 512 mi	Cotonou	$793
827 km or 514 mi	Ado Ekiti	$642
829 km or 515 mi	Ife	$778
845 km or 525 mi	Ibadan	$752
846 km or 526 mi	Abeokuta	$1013
861 km or 535 mi	Osogbo	$705
884 km or 549 mi	Kayes	$536
889 km or 552 mi	Lome	$835
890 km or 553 mi	Oyo	$664
892 km or 555 mi	Cabinda	$706
907 km or 564 mi	Madingou	$536
924 km or 574 mi	Gamboma	$536
926 km or 575 mi	Abomey	$598