Beijing vs Soweto - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Beijing	Soweto
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1029	$984
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2645	$1812
🏠 One person rent	$589	$567
🏘️ Family rent	$1040	$581
🍽️ Food expenses	$246	$247
🚐 Transport expenses	$98	$104
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$658	$1672
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	13 km	29 km
🎓 Higher education	100	63
😀 Quality of life	73	45
🏙️ Population	21.9M	1.27M

The cost of living in Beijing is 5% more expensive than in Soweto. Cities ranked 5355th and 5704th ($1029 vs $984) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 6th and 7th in China and South Africa, respectively. Check China vs South Africa comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.6 months in Beijing compared to 1.7 months in Soweto. Beijing ranked 11th best city to live in China vs Soweto ranked 9th in South Africa, while ranked 2546th and 7050th 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	$4.24	$6.53
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$27.8	$28.3
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.16	$4.24
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.12	$2
☕ Cappuccino	$2.82	$2.14
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.49	$1.07
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$850	$867
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$469	$362
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1549	$538
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$839	$415
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$30.5	$69.9
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$46.5	$108
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$13.3	$33.8
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.51%	11.64%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$14720	$907
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6180	$724
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.56	$2.49
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$31.3	$32.3
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$4.61	$11.3
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.1	$1.2
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.82	$1.14
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.69	$0.96
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.1	$1.33
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.84	$2.62
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.3	$8.24
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.4	$4.25
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.5	$6.66
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.21	$1.71
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.65	$1.56
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.76	$1.63
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.34	$1.55
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.77	$1.31
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.88	$1.2
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.37	$0.66
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.18	$1.21
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$8.33	$7.85
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.79	$1.65
🚬 Cigarette pack	$4.04	$2.69
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.55	$2.99
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.55	$2.57
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.7	$1.23
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.96	$0.51
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$59.4	$13.5
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$8.35	$6
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$33.7	$21.9
💇 Haircut, simple	$8.03	$3.1
👖 Brand Jeans	$61.1	$49.6
👟 Brand Sneakers	$78.2	$75.1
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$713	$202
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$22823	$3811

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	$707
58 km or 36 mi	Zhuozhou	$724
58 km or 36 mi	Sanhe	$750
78 km or 49 mi	Gaobeidian	$634
87 km or 54 mi	Bazhou	$634
109 km or 68 mi	Tianjin	$646
135 km or 84 mi	Renqiu	$565
137 km or 85 mi	Zunhua	$660
139 km or 87 mi	Baoding	$456
151 km or 94 mi	Binhai	$641
155 km or 97 mi	Tangshan	$688
163 km or 101 mi	Zhangjiakou	$652
164 km or 102 mi	Hejian	$558
176 km or 110 mi	Chengde	$694
182 km or 113 mi	Cangzhou	$638
189 km or 117 mi	Huanghua	$619
189 km or 118 mi	Anguo	$533
196 km or 122 mi	Dingzhou	$574
197 km or 122 mi	Qian'an	$616
198 km or 123 mi	Luanzhou	$614
204 km or 127 mi	Botou	$564
224 km or 139 mi	Shenzhou	$505
228 km or 142 mi	Xinle	$535
229 km or 142 mi	Pingquan	$615
239 km or 148 mi	Jinzhou	$527
241 km or 150 mi	Xinji	$523
249 km or 155 mi	Gaocheng	$527
249 km or 155 mi	Hengshui	$454
252 km or 156 mi	Laoling	$580
263 km or 164 mi	Shijiazhuang	$505
265 km or 165 mi	Datong	$748
272 km or 169 mi	Jizhou	$499
273 km or 169 mi	Qinhuangdao	$558
273 km or 170 mi	Dezhou	$480
281 km or 175 mi	Fengzhen	$642
282 km or 175 mi	Huairen	$654
294 km or 183 mi	Lingyuan	$601
296 km or 184 mi	Nangong	$550
302 km or 187 mi	Ulanqab	$629
314 km or 195 mi	Binzhou	$741

Cities near Soweto

Distance	City	Cost of living
19 km or 12 mi	Johannesburg	$1082
24 km or 15 mi	Randburg	$890
26 km or 16 mi	Sandton	$984
46 km or 28 mi	Vereeniging	$706
46 km or 29 mi	Benoni	$826
48 km or 30 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$799
56 km or 34 mi	Centurion	$892
58 km or 36 mi	Springs	$740
66 km or 41 mi	Pretoria	$975
73 km or 45 mi	Brits	$875
91 km or 56 mi	Potchefstroom	$731
92 km or 57 mi	Rustenburg	$940
137 km or 85 mi	Klerksdorp	$762
159 km or 99 mi	Bethal	$838
166 km or 103 mi	Kroonstad	$808
170 km or 106 mi	Middelburg	$830
222 km or 138 mi	Welkom	$762
228 km or 142 mi	Mmabatho	$833
249 km or 155 mi	Lobatse	$637
266 km or 165 mi	Gaborone	$668
282 km or 175 mi	Butha-Buthe	$570
290 km or 180 mi	Kanye	$637
315 km or 196 mi	Molepolole	$607
321 km or 199 mi	Teyateyaneng	$533
329 km or 204 mi	Mbabane	$599
335 km or 208 mi	Vryheid	$827
341 km or 212 mi	Maseru	$650
350 km or 217 mi	Manzini	$469
354 km or 220 mi	Bloemfontein	$698
367 km or 228 mi	Mahalapye	$577
399 km or 248 mi	Mafeteng	$598
412 km or 256 mi	Kimberley	$861
420 km or 261 mi	Palapye	$514
446 km or 277 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$705
447 km or 278 mi	Serowe	$536
461 km or 286 mi	Matola	$908
472 km or 293 mi	Maputo	$915
506 km or 314 mi	Durban	$892
567 km or 353 mi	Francistown	$587
595 km or 370 mi	Xai-Xai	$915