Dhaka vs Soweto - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Dhaka	Soweto
🚶 Cost of living one person	$430	$923
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1093	$1686
🏠 One person rent	$118	$540
🏘️ Family rent	$238	$553
🍽️ Food expenses	$194	$231
🚐 Transport expenses	$80.1	$88.6
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$274	$1598
😷 Air quality	Unhealthy	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	14 km	29 km
🎓 Higher education	72	63
😀 Quality of life	54	38
🏙️ Population	16.8M	1.27M

The cost of living in Dhaka is 53% less expensive than in Soweto. Cities ranked 8899th and 5917th ($430 vs $923) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 6th in Bangladesh and South Africa, respectively. Check Bangladesh vs South Africa comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.6 months in Dhaka compared to 1.7 months in Soweto. Dhaka ranked 1st best city to live in Bangladesh vs Soweto ranked 10th in South Africa, while ranked 5971st and 7204th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Dhaka vs Soweto infographic

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Prices in Dhaka vs Soweto

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

	Dhaka	Soweto
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$1.89	$6.16
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$12.4	$26.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.54	$3.92
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$4.23	$2
☕ Cappuccino	$2.06	$2.01
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.31	$0.98
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$123	$827
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$73.8	$346
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$290	$511
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$168	$396
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$21.6	$64.8
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$33.3	$100
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$12.5	$33.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	10.62%	11.66%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$963	$850
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$528	$691
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.41	$1.98
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$21.5	$31
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$4.43	$8.52
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.01	$1.16
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.77	$1.02
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.66	$0.93
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.62	$1.31
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.3	$2.45
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.37	$7.54
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.32	$4.06
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.55	$6.2
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.57	$1.62
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.08	$1.47
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.46	$1.41
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.87	$1.46
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.51	$1.23
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.92	$1.23
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.19	$0.59
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.14	$1.17
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$9.86	$7.06
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.46	$1.43
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.86	$2.68
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$3.55	$2.86
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.89	$2.46
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$0.78	$1.17
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.66	$0.49
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$17.3	$12.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.04	$5.71
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$11.9	$21.2
💇 Haircut, simple	$2.37	$3
👖 Brand Jeans	$18.5	$45.4
👟 Brand Sneakers	$40.3	$70.7
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$47.4	$200
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$1681	$3805

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Dhaka

Distance	City	Cost of living
15 km or 9.5 mi	Narayanganj	$309
38 km or 24 mi	Narsingdi	$295
77 km or 48 mi	Brahmanbaria	$297
90 km or 56 mi	Agartala	$367
113 km or 70 mi	Barisal	$287
115 km or 71 mi	Mymensingh	$264
132 km or 82 mi	Khulna	$303
135 km or 84 mi	Jessore	$289
164 km or 102 mi	Bogra	$280
196 km or 122 mi	Rajshahi	$274
196 km or 122 mi	Krishnanagar	$281
199 km or 124 mi	Sylhet	$305
207 km or 129 mi	Shantipur	$294
213 km or 132 mi	Chittagong	$351
221 km or 137 mi	Naihati	$328
222 km or 138 mi	Berhampore	$304
223 km or 139 mi	Bhatpara	$337
224 km or 139 mi	Hugli-Chuchura	$327
226 km or 141 mi	Chandannagar	$327
228 km or 142 mi	Rajarhat	$347
229 km or 142 mi	Madhyamgram	$334
234 km or 145 mi	Barrackpore	$329
234 km or 146 mi	North Dumdum	$337
235 km or 146 mi	Balurghat	$307
236 km or 147 mi	Serampore	$330
236 km or 147 mi	Aizawl	$478
236 km or 147 mi	Panihati	$338
238 km or 148 mi	Kamarhati	$336
238 km or 148 mi	South Dumdum	$345
238 km or 148 mi	Bidhannagar	$355
239 km or 149 mi	Baranagar	$333
239 km or 149 mi	Uttarpara	$327
241 km or 150 mi	Bally	$331
247 km or 154 mi	Howrah	$332
248 km or 154 mi	Kolkata	$404
248 km or 154 mi	Rajpur Sonarpur	$354
254 km or 158 mi	Rangpur	$296
255 km or 159 mi	Shillong	$408
259 km or 161 mi	Barasat	$350
265 km or 165 mi	Bardhaman	$314

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