Beijing vs Soweto - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Beijing	Soweto
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1016	$923
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2879	$1686
🏠 One person rent	$575	$540
🏘️ Family rent	$1275	$553
🍽️ Food expenses	$245	$231
🚐 Transport expenses	$102	$88.6
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1443	$1598
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	13 km	29 km
🎓 Higher education	100	63
😀 Quality of life	75	38
🏙️ Population	21.9M	1.27M

The cost of living in Beijing is 10% more expensive than in Soweto. Cities ranked 5387th and 5917th ($1016 vs $923) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 7th and 6th in China and South Africa, respectively. Check China vs South Africa comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.4 months in Beijing compared to 1.7 months in Soweto. Beijing ranked 5th best city to live in China vs Soweto ranked 10th in South Africa, while ranked 989th and 7204th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Beijing vs Soweto infographic

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Prices in Beijing vs Soweto

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

	Beijing	Soweto
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$3.86	$6.16
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$29.5	$26.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.36	$3.92
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.22	$2
☕ Cappuccino	$3.58	$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	$819	$827
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$456	$346
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1965	$511
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1021	$396
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$33.6	$64.8
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$51.7	$100
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$13	$33.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.78%	11.66%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$14717	$850
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6695	$691
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.69	$1.98
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$32.3	$31
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$4.77	$8.52
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.12	$1.16
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.76	$1.02
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.46	$0.93
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.21	$1.31
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.84	$2.45
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.7	$7.54
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.23	$4.06
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.64	$6.2
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.1	$1.62
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.53	$1.47
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.79	$1.41
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.23	$1.46
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.84	$1.23
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.96	$1.23
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.35	$0.59
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.33	$1.17
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$9.26	$7.06
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.83	$1.43
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.43	$2.68
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.49	$2.86
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.51	$2.46
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.33	$1.17
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.93	$0.49
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$53.9	$12.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$8.3	$5.71
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$33.2	$21.2
💇 Haircut, simple	$9.62	$3
👖 Brand Jeans	$60.8	$45.4
👟 Brand Sneakers	$76.9	$70.7
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$698	$200
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$22456	$3805

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Beijing

Distance	City	Cost of living
50 km or 31 mi	Langfang	$716
58 km or 36 mi	Zhuozhou	$729
58 km or 36 mi	Sanhe	$756
78 km or 49 mi	Gaobeidian	$644
87 km or 54 mi	Bazhou	$649
109 km or 68 mi	Tianjin	$687
135 km or 84 mi	Renqiu	$586
137 km or 85 mi	Zunhua	$680
139 km or 87 mi	Baoding	$472
151 km or 94 mi	Binhai	$665
155 km or 97 mi	Tangshan	$702
163 km or 101 mi	Zhangjiakou	$634
164 km or 102 mi	Hejian	$592
176 km or 110 mi	Chengde	$711
182 km or 113 mi	Cangzhou	$679
189 km or 117 mi	Huanghua	$655
189 km or 118 mi	Anguo	$550
196 km or 122 mi	Dingzhou	$584
197 km or 122 mi	Qian'an	$642
198 km or 123 mi	Luanzhou	$635
204 km or 127 mi	Botou	$618
224 km or 139 mi	Shenzhou	$581
228 km or 142 mi	Xinle	$533
229 km or 142 mi	Pingquan	$629
239 km or 148 mi	Jinzhou	$544
241 km or 150 mi	Xinji	$564
249 km or 155 mi	Gaocheng	$524
249 km or 155 mi	Hengshui	$642
252 km or 156 mi	Laoling	$638
263 km or 164 mi	Shijiazhuang	$481
265 km or 165 mi	Datong	$703
272 km or 169 mi	Jizhou	$590
273 km or 169 mi	Qinhuangdao	$664
273 km or 170 mi	Dezhou	$638
281 km or 175 mi	Fengzhen	$616
282 km or 175 mi	Huairen	$624
294 km or 183 mi	Lingyuan	$620
296 km or 184 mi	Nangong	$600
302 km or 187 mi	Ulanqab	$620
314 km or 195 mi	Binzhou	$815

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