Lusaka vs Sydney - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Lusaka	Sydney
🚶 Cost of living one person	$686	$2844
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1784	$6700
🏠 One person rent	$237	$1749
🏘️ Family rent	$381	$3002
🍽️ Food expenses	$263	$597
🚐 Transport expenses	$127	$337
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$113	$4145
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	5 km	9 km
🎓 Higher education	35	99
😀 Quality of life	50	98
🏙️ Population	2.47M	5.45M

The cost of living in Lusaka is 76% less expensive than in Sydney. Cities ranked 7322nd and 348th ($686 vs $2844) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 9th and 1st in Zambia and Australia, respectively. Check Zambia vs Australia comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.2 months in Lusaka compared to 1.5 months in Sydney. Lusaka ranked 1st best city to live in Zambia vs Sydney ranked 2nd in Australia, while ranked 6732nd and 2nd among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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Prices in Lusaka vs Sydney

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

	Lusaka	Sydney
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$7.41	$15.8
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$23.1	$79.7
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$3.86	$11.2
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.02	$7.36
☕ Cappuccino	$2.05	$3.85
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.61	$2.82
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$236	$2123
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$129	$1437
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$431	$3835
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$236	$2492
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$35.7	$123
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$55.1	$190
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$51	$51.6
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	25.19%	6.09%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1955	$13218
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4123	$7866
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.98	$3.77
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$38.6	$118
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$12	$20.6
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.22	$1.37
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.38	$1.84
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.77	$2.46
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.57	$2.13
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.55	$5.78
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.18	$13.9
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.53	$9.78
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.26	$15.8
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.08	$3.56
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.85	$3.1
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.95	$3.24
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.26	$4.66
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.13	$2.86
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.53	$2.53
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.4	$0.82
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.42	$2.8
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$7.32	$15.8
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.12	$4.69
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.16	$24.9
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$6.74	$9.5
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.41	$4.93
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.69	$3.1
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.56	$3.03
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$43	$63.4
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.16	$16.6
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$17.1	$70.3
💇 Haircut, simple	$6.47	$21.7
👖 Brand Jeans	$18.9	$80.9
👟 Brand Sneakers	$73.8	$111
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$178	$2281
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$13300	$21946

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 Sydney

Distance	City	Cost of living
15 km or 9.2 mi	Dee Why	$2379
19 km or 12 mi	Parramatta	$2482
29 km or 18 mi	Kellyville	$2050
29 km or 18 mi	Blacktown	$1710
69 km or 43 mi	Wollongong	$1695
117 km or 73 mi	Newcastle	$1997
158 km or 98 mi	Bathurst	$1699
168 km or 104 mi	Goulburn	$1821
205 km or 127 mi	Orange	$1477
247 km or 154 mi	Canberra	$2223
301 km or 187 mi	Dubbo	$1867
314 km or 195 mi	Port Macquarie	$1796
377 km or 234 mi	Armidale	$1288
378 km or 235 mi	Wagga Wagga	$1583
436 km or 271 mi	Coffs Harbour	$2172
478 km or 297 mi	Griffith	$1824
597 km or 371 mi	Shepparton	$1815
624 km or 388 mi	Byron Bay	$2703
638 km or 396 mi	Traralgon	$1979
683 km or 425 mi	Gold Coast	$2528
689 km or 428 mi	Southport	$2352
695 km or 432 mi	Pakenham	$1896
701 km or 436 mi	Berwick	$1860
706 km or 439 mi	Bendigo	$1487
706 km or 439 mi	Toowoomba	$1766
707 km or 439 mi	Dandenong	$1894
711 km or 442 mi	Ipswich	$1813
711 km or 442 mi	Cranbourne	$1798
713 km or 443 mi	South Yarra	$1829
713 km or 443 mi	Melbourne	$2496
716 km or 445 mi	Sunbury	$1928
724 km or 450 mi	Frankston	$1889
732 km or 455 mi	Melton	$1906
733 km or 455 mi	Brisbane	$2269
735 km or 457 mi	Tarneit	$1822
736 km or 457 mi	Hoppers Crossing	$1854
775 km or 481 mi	Caboolture	$1988
778 km or 484 mi	Geelong	$2217
779 km or 484 mi	Ballarat	$1604
807 km or 502 mi	Caloundra	$1864