Cape Town vs Soweto - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Cape Town	Soweto
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1366	$1057
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$3099	$1932
🏠 One person rent	$773	$620
🏘️ Family rent	$1343	$639
🍽️ Food expenses	$355	$268
🚐 Transport expenses	$124	$99.3
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$404	$1631
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	7 km	29 km
🎓 Higher education	55	63
😀 Quality of life	55	48
🏙️ Population	3.78M	1.27M

The cost of living in Cape Town is 29% more expensive than in Soweto. Cities ranked 4432nd and 5251st ($1366 vs $1057) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 2nd and 6th in South Africa.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.3 months in Cape Town compared to 1.5 months in Soweto. Ranked 4th vs 8th best cities to live in South Africa, and 6382nd vs 6890th among the best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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

Prices in Cape Town vs Soweto

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

	Cape Town	Soweto
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$12.5	$7.11
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$49.7	$30.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.71	$4.5
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.13	$2.17
☕ Cappuccino	$2.42	$2.37
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.39	$1.15
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$874	$942
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$594	$394
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1556	$587
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1079	$452
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$84.1	$79.7
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$129	$124
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$39	$36.5
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.25%	11.11%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2160	$933
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1500	$779
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.16	$2.16
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$32.7	$35.3
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$9.46	$9.53
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.36	$1.29
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.35	$1.19
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.21	$1.06
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.24	$1.52
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.91	$2.77
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.29	$8.88
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.21	$4.58
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.46	$7.57
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.83	$1.88
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.81	$1.65
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.79	$1.79
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.94	$1.68
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.52	$1.38
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.47	$1.39
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.79	$0.75
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.84	$1.34
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.59	$7.95
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.49	$1.81
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.44	$3.08
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.94	$3.28
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.02	$2.8
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.49	$1.33
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.67	$0.56
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$49.6	$15.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$8.6	$5.97
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$39.1	$23.9
💇 Haircut, simple	$11.2	$3.44
👖 Brand Jeans	$59.9	$52.7
👟 Brand Sneakers	$127	$76.9
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$264	$229
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$5378	$4370

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Cape Town

Distance	City	Cost of living
54 km or 33 mi	Paarl	$1345
99 km or 62 mi	Worcester	$718
371 km or 231 mi	George	$927
644 km or 400 mi	Uitenhage	$980
662 km or 411 mi	Port Elizabeth	$1036
664 km or 413 mi	Upington	$811
754 km or 468 mi	Makhanda	$874
821 km or 510 mi	Komani	$1050
833 km or 518 mi	Kimberley	$927
845 km or 525 mi	Bhisho	$1419
882 km or 548 mi	East London	$795
912 km or 567 mi	Bloemfontein	$763
950 km or 590 mi	Mafeteng	$630
999 km or 621 mi	Maseru	$681
1002 km or 622 mi	Mthatha	$952
1029 km or 639 mi	Teyateyaneng	$573
1030 km or 640 mi	Welkom	$826
1034 km or 643 mi	Mariental	$986
1092 km or 679 mi	Butha-Buthe	$604
1092 km or 679 mi	Kroonstad	$875
1113 km or 692 mi	Klerksdorp	$826
1135 km or 705 mi	Mmabatho	$901
1155 km or 718 mi	Potchefstroom	$791
1187 km or 737 mi	Rehoboth	$934
1194 km or 742 mi	Lobatse	$697
1198 km or 745 mi	Kanye	$694
1208 km or 751 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$865
1217 km or 756 mi	Vereeniging	$765
1231 km or 765 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$716
1244 km or 773 mi	Soweto	$1057
1250 km or 777 mi	Rustenburg	$1017
1260 km or 783 mi	Gaborone	$731
1261 km or 783 mi	Molepolole	$662
1261 km or 784 mi	Johannesburg	$1171
1267 km or 788 mi	Randburg	$958
1269 km or 789 mi	Windhoek	$1023
1270 km or 789 mi	Sandton	$1089
1271 km or 790 mi	Durban	$948
1277 km or 794 mi	Gobabis	$968
1279 km or 795 mi	Walvis Bay	$905

Cities near Soweto

Distance	City	Cost of living
19 km or 12 mi	Johannesburg	$1171
24 km or 15 mi	Randburg	$958
26 km or 16 mi	Sandton	$1089
46 km or 28 mi	Vereeniging	$765
46 km or 29 mi	Benoni	$892
48 km or 30 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$865
56 km or 34 mi	Centurion	$967
58 km or 36 mi	Springs	$792
66 km or 41 mi	Pretoria	$1049
73 km or 45 mi	Brits	$950
91 km or 56 mi	Potchefstroom	$791
92 km or 57 mi	Rustenburg	$1017
137 km or 85 mi	Klerksdorp	$826
159 km or 99 mi	Bethal	$910
166 km or 103 mi	Kroonstad	$875
170 km or 106 mi	Middelburg	$899
222 km or 138 mi	Welkom	$826
228 km or 142 mi	Mmabatho	$901
249 km or 155 mi	Lobatse	$697
266 km or 165 mi	Gaborone	$731
282 km or 175 mi	Butha-Buthe	$604
290 km or 180 mi	Kanye	$694
315 km or 196 mi	Molepolole	$662
321 km or 199 mi	Teyateyaneng	$573
329 km or 204 mi	Mbabane	$652
335 km or 208 mi	Vryheid	$912
341 km or 212 mi	Maseru	$681
350 km or 217 mi	Manzini	$511
354 km or 220 mi	Bloemfontein	$763
367 km or 228 mi	Mahalapye	$628
399 km or 248 mi	Mafeteng	$630
412 km or 256 mi	Kimberley	$927
420 km or 261 mi	Palapye	$551
446 km or 277 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$716
447 km or 278 mi	Serowe	$583
461 km or 286 mi	Matola	$916
472 km or 293 mi	Maputo	$966
506 km or 314 mi	Durban	$948
567 km or 353 mi	Francistown	$633
595 km or 370 mi	Xai-Xai	$950