Asmara vs Soweto - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Asmara	Soweto
🚶 Cost of living one person	$520	$923
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1283	$1686
🏠 One person rent	$224	$540
🏘️ Family rent	$430	$553
🍽️ Food expenses	$202	$231
🚐 Transport expenses	$45.9	$88.6
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$389	$1598
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	5 km	29 km
🎓 Higher education	8	63
😀 Quality of life	27	38
🏙️ Population	963K	1.27M

The cost of living in Asmara is 44% less expensive than in Soweto. Cities ranked 8486th and 5917th ($520 vs $923) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 6th in Eritrea and South Africa, respectively. Check Eritrea vs South Africa comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.7 months in Asmara compared to 1.7 months in Soweto. Asmara ranked 1st best city to live in Eritrea vs Soweto ranked 10th in South Africa, while ranked 8455th and 7204th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Asmara vs Soweto infographic

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

Prices in Asmara vs Soweto

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

	Asmara	Soweto
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$3.04	$6.16
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$18.8	$26.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.54	$3.92
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.79	$2
☕ Cappuccino	$1.83	$2.01
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.46	$0.98
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$215	$827
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$145	$346
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$489	$511
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$310	$396
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$38.2	$64.8
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$57.7	$100
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$27.1	$33.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	12.33%	11.66%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1560	$850
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$933	$691
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.33	$1.98
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$11.9	$31
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$5.91	$8.52
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.04	$1.16
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.14	$1.02
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.61	$0.93
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.12	$1.31
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.53	$2.45
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.81	$7.54
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.28	$4.06
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.56	$6.2
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.21	$1.62
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.17	$1.47
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.58	$1.41
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.99	$1.46
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.88	$1.23
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.96	$1.23
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.32	$0.59
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.11	$1.17
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$7.74	$7.06
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.43	$1.43
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.82	$2.68
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$3.41	$2.86
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$2.77	$2.46
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.54	$1.17
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.24	$0.49
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$22.9	$12.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.07	$5.71
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$12.3	$21.2
💇 Haircut, simple	$3.71	$3
👖 Brand Jeans	$25.6	$45.4
👟 Brand Sneakers	$59.2	$70.7
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$80.8	$200
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$2756	$3805

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Asmara

Distance	City	Cost of living
51 km or 32 mi	Mendefera	$487
63 km or 39 mi	Massawa	$486
71 km or 44 mi	Keren	$488
214 km or 133 mi	Mekelle	$662
270 km or 168 mi	Kassala	$1006
342 km or 212 mi	Gondar	$897
407 km or 253 mi	El-Gadarif	$943
437 km or 272 mi	Al Hudaydah	$505
448 km or 279 mi	Bahir Dar	$752
473 km or 294 mi	Dessie	$838
490 km or 304 mi	Zabid	$482
498 km or 310 mi	Abha	$910
509 km or 316 mi	Port Sudan	$1003
513 km or 319 mi	Bareq	$902
548 km or 340 mi	Sa'dah	$482
567 km or 352 mi	Sanaa	$546
580 km or 361 mi	Sayyan	$481
583 km or 362 mi	Taiz	$507
585 km or 363 mi	Ibb	$496
589 km or 366 mi	Atbara	$1131
596 km or 370 mi	Dhamar	$486
600 km or 373 mi	Dikhil	$542
602 km or 374 mi	Obock	$540
606 km or 376 mi	Najran	$937
618 km or 384 mi	Djibouti City	$571
620 km or 385 mi	Ali Sabieh	$542
633 km or 393 mi	Ad-Damazin	$836
649 km or 403 mi	Bisha	$905
674 km or 419 mi	Khartoum North	$877
684 km or 425 mi	Mecca	$979
685 km or 426 mi	Khartoum	$888
691 km or 429 mi	Jeddah	$1146
693 km or 430 mi	Omdurman	$908
701 km or 436 mi	Addis Ababa	$1180
715 km or 444 mi	Dire Dawa	$756
715 km or 444 mi	Kosti	$860
717 km or 446 mi	Aden	$503
755 km or 469 mi	Harar	$718
758 km or 471 mi	Borama	$518
788 km or 489 mi	Jijiga	$764

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