Cairo vs Soweto - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Cairo	Soweto
🚶 Cost of living one person	$417	$923
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1080	$1686
🏠 One person rent	$154	$540
🏘️ Family rent	$315	$553
🍽️ Food expenses	$166	$231
🚐 Transport expenses	$38	$88.6
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$165	$1598
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	29 km
🎓 Higher education	83	63
😀 Quality of life	58	38
🏙️ Population	9.61M	1.27M

The cost of living in Cairo is 55% less expensive than in Soweto. Cities ranked 8923rd and 5917th ($417 vs $923) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 2nd and 6th in Egypt and South Africa, respectively. Check Egypt vs South Africa comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.4 months in Cairo compared to 1.7 months in Soweto. Cairo ranked 1st best city to live in Egypt vs Soweto ranked 10th in South Africa, while ranked 5545th and 7204th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Cairo vs Soweto infographic

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Prices in Cairo vs Soweto

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

	Cairo	Soweto
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$3.9	$6.16
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$18.6	$26.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.73	$3.92
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.26	$2
☕ Cappuccino	$1.5	$2.01
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.34	$0.98
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$185	$827
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$113	$346
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$386	$511
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$253	$396
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$16.8	$64.8
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$25.8	$100
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$10.1	$33.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	14.49%	11.66%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$690	$850
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$453	$691
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.3	$1.98
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$7.68	$31
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$3.17	$8.52
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.29	$1.16
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.89	$1.02
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.6	$0.93
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.65	$1.31
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.51	$2.45
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.48	$7.54
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.36	$4.06
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.58	$6.2
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.49	$1.62
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.55	$1.47
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.42	$1.41
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.39	$1.46
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.48	$1.23
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.41	$1.23
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.13	$0.59
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$0.72	$1.17
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$7.33	$7.06
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.13	$1.43
🚬 Cigarette pack	$1.84	$2.68
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$1.46	$2.86
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$2.31	$2.46
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$0.87	$1.17
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.69	$0.49
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$17.3	$12.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$2.97	$5.71
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$11	$21.2
💇 Haircut, simple	$2.86	$3
👖 Brand Jeans	$37	$45.4
👟 Brand Sneakers	$101	$70.7
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$90.2	$200
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$1985	$3805

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

$349

$907

$6.64K

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Cairo

Distance	City	Cost of living
5.9 km or 3.6 mi	Giza	$318
8.1 km or 5 mi	Shubra El Kheima	$365
26 km or 16 mi	Helwan	$335
46 km or 28 mi	Benha	$300
60 km or 37 mi	Shibin El Kom	$305
62 km or 39 mi	Zagazig	$307
84 km or 52 mi	Tanta	$288
93 km or 58 mi	Faiyum	$325
101 km or 63 mi	El Mahalla El Kubra	$269
111 km or 69 mi	Beni Suef	$319
111 km or 69 mi	Mansoura	$301
115 km or 71 mi	Ismailia	$295
125 km or 78 mi	Suez	$272
133 km or 83 mi	Damanhur	$268
161 km or 100 mi	Kafr El Dawwar	$289
161 km or 100 mi	Damietta	$298
166 km or 103 mi	Port Said	$276
179 km or 111 mi	Alexandria	$316
224 km or 139 mi	Minya	$339
319 km or 198 mi	Asyut	$290
347 km or 216 mi	Gaza	$640
351 km or 218 mi	Ofakim	$1684
354 km or 220 mi	Netivot	$1742
360 km or 223 mi	Sderot	$1732
361 km or 224 mi	Dahab	$381
362 km or 225 mi	Eilat	$1577
365 km or 226 mi	Ashkelon	$1511
366 km or 227 mi	Beersheba	$1471
367 km or 228 mi	Rahat	$1686
368 km or 229 mi	Aqaba	$809
379 km or 235 mi	Ashdod	$1837
379 km or 235 mi	Kiryat Gat	$1757
380 km or 236 mi	Dimona	$1716
381 km or 236 mi	El Gouna	$336
383 km or 238 mi	Kiryat Malakhi	$1809
384 km or 239 mi	Sharm El Sheikh	$464
390 km or 242 mi	Yavne	$1884
391 km or 243 mi	Sohag	$360
396 km or 246 mi	Dura	$813
397 km or 246 mi	Rehovot	$1811

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