Lusaka vs Soweto - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Lusaka	Soweto
🚶 Cost of living one person	$738	$923
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2249	$1686
🏠 One person rent	$312	$540
🏘️ Family rent	$948	$553
🍽️ Food expenses	$239	$231
🚐 Transport expenses	$127	$88.6
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$333	$1598
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	5 km	29 km
🎓 Higher education	37	63
😀 Quality of life	49	38
🏙️ Population	2.47M	1.27M

The cost of living in Lusaka is 20% less expensive than in Soweto. Cities ranked 6726th and 5917th ($738 vs $923) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 6th and 6th in Zambia and South Africa, respectively. Check Zambia vs South Africa comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.5 months in Lusaka compared to 1.7 months in Soweto. Lusaka ranked 1st best city to live in Zambia vs Soweto ranked 10th in South Africa, while ranked 6269th and 7204th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Lusaka vs Soweto infographic

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

Prices in Lusaka vs Soweto

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

	Lusaka	Soweto
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$6.95	$6.16
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$27	$26.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$3.8	$3.92
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.91	$2
☕ Cappuccino	$2.02	$2.01
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.64	$0.98
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$194	$827
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$109	$346
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1082	$511
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$641	$396
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$60.8	$64.8
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$94.7	$100
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$125	$33.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	21.29%	11.66%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2003	$850
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4875	$691
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.23	$1.98
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$36.8	$31
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$12	$8.52
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.22	$1.16
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.34	$1.02
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.75	$0.93
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.7	$1.31
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.79	$2.45
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.27	$7.54
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.63	$4.06
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.83	$6.2
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.33	$1.62
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.42	$1.47
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.63	$1.41
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.15	$1.46
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.98	$1.23
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.41	$1.23
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.34	$0.59
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$0.97	$1.17
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.86	$7.06
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.09	$1.43
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.37	$2.68
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.66	$2.86
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$2.39	$2.46
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.17	$1.17
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.07	$0.49
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$44.9	$12.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.6	$5.71
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$12.1	$21.2
💇 Haircut, simple	$4.45	$3
👖 Brand Jeans	$18.3	$45.4
👟 Brand Sneakers	$89.8	$70.7
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$176	$200
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$9642	$3805

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

$349

$907

$6.64K

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Lusaka

Distance	City	Cost of living
166 km or 103 mi	Kapiri Mposhi	$687
209 km or 130 mi	Choma	$700
275 km or 171 mi	Ndola	$541
289 km or 179 mi	Kitwe	$917
297 km or 184 mi	Chinhoyi	$646
318 km or 198 mi	Mufulira	$1018
322 km or 200 mi	Chingola	$875
370 km or 230 mi	Kadoma	$723
373 km or 232 mi	Livingstone	$688
399 km or 248 mi	Harare	$992
411 km or 255 mi	Chitungwiza	$873
426 km or 265 mi	Lubumbashi	$1050
429 km or 267 mi	Kwekwe	$730
464 km or 288 mi	Marondera	$794
475 km or 295 mi	Mansa	$776
478 km or 297 mi	Gweru	$597
521 km or 324 mi	Likasi	$961
529 km or 329 mi	Bulawayo	$766
574 km or 356 mi	Tete	$825
584 km or 363 mi	Masvingo	$854
605 km or 376 mi	Kolwezi	$975
611 km or 380 mi	Mutare	$752
613 km or 381 mi	Lilongwe	$587
645 km or 401 mi	Francistown	$624
658 km or 409 mi	Kasama	$748
686 km or 426 mi	Chimoio	$947
688 km or 428 mi	Ntcheu	$492
694 km or 431 mi	Mzimba	$566
721 km or 448 mi	Blantyre	$507
729 km or 453 mi	Monkey Bay	$518
756 km or 470 mi	Zomba	$457
757 km or 471 mi	Mangochi	$493
762 km or 474 mi	Mzuzu	$525
775 km or 482 mi	Mulanje	$461
792 km or 492 mi	Serowe	$583
802 km or 499 mi	Palapye	$540
852 km or 529 mi	Beira	$1003
869 km or 540 mi	Mahalapye	$631
917 km or 570 mi	Mbeya	$461
956 km or 594 mi	Quelimane	$675

Cities near Soweto

Distance	City	Cost of living
19 km or 12 mi	Johannesburg	$993
24 km or 15 mi	Randburg	$837
26 km or 16 mi	Sandton	$953
46 km or 28 mi	Vereeniging	$672
46 km or 29 mi	Benoni	$785
48 km or 30 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$773
56 km or 34 mi	Centurion	$807
58 km or 36 mi	Springs	$678
66 km or 41 mi	Pretoria	$906
73 km or 45 mi	Brits	$820
91 km or 56 mi	Potchefstroom	$695
92 km or 57 mi	Rustenburg	$889
137 km or 85 mi	Klerksdorp	$722
159 km or 99 mi	Bethal	$784
166 km or 103 mi	Kroonstad	$768
170 km or 106 mi	Middelburg	$795
222 km or 138 mi	Welkom	$748
228 km or 142 mi	Mmabatho	$780
249 km or 155 mi	Lobatse	$665
266 km or 165 mi	Gaborone	$691
282 km or 175 mi	Butha-Buthe	$535
290 km or 180 mi	Kanye	$664
315 km or 196 mi	Molepolole	$628
321 km or 199 mi	Teyateyaneng	$500
329 km or 204 mi	Mbabane	$562
335 km or 208 mi	Vryheid	$763
341 km or 212 mi	Maseru	$621
350 km or 217 mi	Manzini	$442
354 km or 220 mi	Bloemfontein	$657
367 km or 228 mi	Mahalapye	$631
399 km or 248 mi	Mafeteng	$567
412 km or 256 mi	Kimberley	$814
420 km or 261 mi	Palapye	$540
446 km or 277 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$640
447 km or 278 mi	Serowe	$583
461 km or 286 mi	Matola	$964
472 km or 293 mi	Maputo	$1068
506 km or 314 mi	Durban	$809
567 km or 353 mi	Francistown	$624
595 km or 370 mi	Xai-Xai	$1003