Chongqing vs Soweto - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Chongqing	Soweto
🚶 Cost of living one person	$634	$923
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1938	$1686
🏠 One person rent	$224	$540
🏘️ Family rent	$442	$553
🍽️ Food expenses	$235	$231
🚐 Transport expenses	$87.1	$88.6
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$957	$1598
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	16 km	29 km
🎓 Higher education	88	63
😀 Quality of life	72	38
🏙️ Population	32.1M	1.27M

The cost of living in Chongqing is 31% less expensive than in Soweto. Cities ranked 7340th and 5917th ($634 vs $923) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 145th 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 1.5 months in Chongqing compared to 1.7 months in Soweto. Chongqing ranked 8th best city to live in China vs Soweto ranked 10th in South Africa, while ranked 1675th and 7204th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Chongqing vs Soweto infographic

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

Prices in Chongqing vs Soweto

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

	Chongqing	Soweto
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$3.91	$6.16
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$19.5	$26.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.63	$3.92
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.7	$2
☕ Cappuccino	$2.9	$2.01
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.42	$0.98
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$261	$827
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$161	$346
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$550	$511
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$337	$396
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$34.3	$64.8
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$53.1	$100
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$8.91	$33.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	4.37%	11.66%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2326	$850
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1374	$691
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.28	$1.98
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$29.2	$31
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$3.83	$8.52
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.05	$1.16
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.71	$1.02
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.26	$0.93
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.02	$1.31
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.87	$2.45
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.4	$7.54
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.45	$4.06
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.6	$6.2
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.6	$1.62
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.36	$1.47
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.33	$1.41
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.19	$1.46
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.77	$1.23
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.01	$1.23
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.41	$0.59
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.09	$1.17
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$10.3	$7.06
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.89	$1.43
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.31	$2.68
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$8.08	$2.86
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.01	$2.46
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$0.94	$1.17
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.25	$0.49
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$24.5	$12.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$5.52	$5.71
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$56.5	$21.2
💇 Haircut, simple	$7.26	$3
👖 Brand Jeans	$49.1	$45.4
👟 Brand Sneakers	$69.9	$70.7
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$315	$200
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$26796	$3805

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Chongqing

Distance	City	Cost of living
97 km or 60 mi	Huaying	$553
103 km or 64 mi	Guang'an	$584
120 km or 75 mi	Longchang	$593
127 km or 79 mi	Luzhou	$613
140 km or 87 mi	Suining	$579
140 km or 87 mi	Neijiang	$652
145 km or 90 mi	Nanchong	$526
170 km or 106 mi	Zigong	$584
183 km or 113 mi	Shehong	$546
191 km or 119 mi	Ziyang	$592
194 km or 120 mi	Renhuai	$540
201 km or 125 mi	Yibin	$590
208 km or 129 mi	Dazhou	$591
209 km or 130 mi	Zunyi	$554
211 km or 131 mi	Jianyang	$580
232 km or 144 mi	Langzhong	$530
249 km or 154 mi	Lichuan	$570
258 km or 160 mi	Bazhong	$610
264 km or 164 mi	Meishan	$590
265 km or 165 mi	Chengdu	$623
266 km or 165 mi	Leshan	$554
266 km or 166 mi	Guanghan	$554
268 km or 167 mi	Deyang	$549
272 km or 169 mi	Mianyang	$527
277 km or 172 mi	Bijie	$584
285 km or 177 mi	Shifang	$540
292 km or 181 mi	Emeishan	$540
294 km or 183 mi	Pengzhou	$572
298 km or 185 mi	Enshi	$575
298 km or 185 mi	Mianzhu	$529
298 km or 185 mi	Chongzhou	$581
300 km or 186 mi	Jiangyou	$532
309 km or 192 mi	Qionglai	$572
316 km or 196 mi	Wanyuan	$585
320 km or 199 mi	Dujiangyan	$570
327 km or 203 mi	Guangyuan	$599
331 km or 206 mi	Guiyang	$559
331 km or 206 mi	Tongren	$573
342 km or 212 mi	Ya'an	$573
342 km or 213 mi	Jishou	$539

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