Dakar vs Soweto - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Dakar	Soweto
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1221	$984
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2879	$1812
🏠 One person rent	$571	$567
🏘️ Family rent	$966	$581
🍽️ Food expenses	$393	$247
🚐 Transport expenses	$151	$104
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$158	$1672
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	4 km	29 km
🎓 Higher education	29	63
😀 Quality of life	49	45
🏙️ Population	1.44M	1.27M

The cost of living in Dakar is 24% more expensive than in Soweto. Cities ranked 4661st and 5704th ($1221 vs $984) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 7th in Senegal and South Africa, respectively. Check Senegal vs South Africa comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.1 months in Dakar compared to 1.7 months in Soweto. Dakar ranked 1st best city to live in Senegal vs Soweto ranked 9th in South Africa, while ranked 6722nd and 7050th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Dakar vs Soweto infographic

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Prices in Dakar vs Soweto

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

	Dakar	Soweto
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$7.61	$6.53
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$46.2	$28.3
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$10.2	$4.24
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.7	$2
☕ Cappuccino	$4.48	$2.14
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.88	$1.07
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$771	$867
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$351	$362
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1391	$538
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$630	$415
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$87.7	$69.9
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$135	$108
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$48	$33.8
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	8.31%	11.64%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2430	$907
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1452	$724
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.35	$2.49
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$60.3	$32.3
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$16.5	$11.3
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.63	$1.2
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$2.58	$1.14
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.78	$0.96
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.57	$1.33
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.66	$2.62
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.4	$8.24
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.2	$4.25
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.9	$6.66
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.97	$1.71
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.85	$1.56
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.64	$1.63
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.45	$1.55
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.54	$1.31
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.27	$1.2
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.52	$0.66
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.55	$1.21
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$12.2	$7.85
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.36	$1.65
🚬 Cigarette pack	$1.69	$2.69
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.13	$2.99
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.55	$2.57
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.73	$1.23
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.27	$0.51
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$43.5	$13.5
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$8	$6
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$43.7	$21.9
💇 Haircut, simple	$11.3	$3.1
👖 Brand Jeans	$56.6	$49.6
👟 Brand Sneakers	$103	$75.1
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$264	$202
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$7252	$3811

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Dakar

Distance	City	Cost of living
21 km or 13 mi	Rufisque	$1141
58 km or 36 mi	Thies	$1140
121 km or 75 mi	Fatick	$1084
163 km or 101 mi	Kaolack	$1088
166 km or 103 mi	Louga	$1060
171 km or 106 mi	Banjul	$516
174 km or 108 mi	Lamin	$541
177 km or 110 mi	Saint-Louis	$1062
185 km or 115 mi	Brikama	$598
266 km or 165 mi	Rosso	$630
271 km or 169 mi	Ziguinchor	$1031
340 km or 211 mi	Kolda	$1044
378 km or 235 mi	Bissau	$895
404 km or 251 mi	Nouakchott	$662
416 km or 258 mi	Bafata	$872
629 km or 391 mi	Boffa	$999
651 km or 404 mi	Praia	$964
668 km or 415 mi	Assomada	$962
709 km or 441 mi	Conakry	$1067
727 km or 452 mi	Forecariah	$999
757 km or 471 mi	Mamou	$1021
833 km or 518 mi	Freetown	$1347
841 km or 522 mi	Mindelo	$997
978 km or 607 mi	Bo	$1283
1009 km or 627 mi	Kankan	$1007
1023 km or 636 mi	Kenema	$1281
1048 km or 651 mi	Bamako	$583
1051 km or 653 mi	Gueckedou	$1010
1087 km or 675 mi	Banamba	$506
1088 km or 676 mi	Koulikoro	$506
1141 km or 709 mi	Bougouni	$508
1185 km or 736 mi	Monrovia	$536
1197 km or 744 mi	Kakata	$502
1215 km or 755 mi	Segou	$506
1220 km or 758 mi	Nzerekore	$1003
1232 km or 766 mi	Markala	$508
1256 km or 781 mi	Yekepa	$503
1258 km or 782 mi	Sanniquellie	$503
1332 km or 828 mi	Sikasso	$514
1413 km or 878 mi	Korhogo	$1099

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