Freetown vs Soweto - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Freetown	Soweto
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1346	$923
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1679	$1686
🏠 One person rent	$980	$540
🏘️ Family rent	$655	$553
🍽️ Food expenses	$255	$231
🚐 Transport expenses	$69	$88.6
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1273	$1598
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	15 km	29 km
🎓 Higher education	23	63
😀 Quality of life	37	38
🏙️ Population	951K	1.27M

The cost of living in Freetown is 46% more expensive than in Soweto. Cities ranked 4063rd and 5917th ($1346 vs $923) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 6th in Sierra Leone and South Africa, respectively. Check Sierra Leone vs South Africa comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.9 months in Freetown compared to 1.7 months in Soweto. Freetown ranked 1st best city to live in Sierra Leone vs Soweto ranked 10th in South Africa, while ranked 7302nd and 7204th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Freetown vs Soweto infographic

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

Prices in Freetown vs Soweto

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

	Freetown	Soweto
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$2.9	$6.16
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$24.5	$26.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$7.28	$3.92
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.21	$2
☕ Cappuccino	$1.66	$2.01
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.04	$0.98
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$866	$827
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$801	$346
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1547	$511
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$170	$396
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$80.8	$64.8
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$124	$100
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$85.5	$33.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	12.25%	11.66%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1087	$850
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1072	$691
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.46	$1.98
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$18.1	$31
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$10.8	$8.52
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.01	$1.16
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.93	$1.02
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.41	$0.93
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.73	$1.31
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.72	$2.45
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.91	$7.54
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.12	$4.06
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.52	$6.2
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.12	$1.62
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.02	$1.47
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.71	$1.41
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.65	$1.46
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.71	$1.23
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.63	$1.23
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.94	$0.59
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.08	$1.17
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$5.82	$7.06
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.9	$1.43
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.44	$2.68
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$1.51	$2.86
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$1.19	$2.46
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$0.78	$1.17
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.8	$0.49
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$40.4	$12.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$1.66	$5.71
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$12.6	$21.2
💇 Haircut, simple	$2.91	$3
👖 Brand Jeans	$10	$45.4
👟 Brand Sneakers	$60.3	$70.7
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$82.4	$200
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$2773	$3805

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Freetown

Distance	City	Cost of living
126 km or 78 mi	Conakry	$1061
137 km or 85 mi	Forecariah	$998
174 km or 108 mi	Bo	$1278
207 km or 128 mi	Boffa	$998
235 km or 146 mi	Kenema	$1272
246 km or 153 mi	Mamou	$1019
341 km or 212 mi	Gueckedou	$1009
361 km or 224 mi	Monrovia	$523
385 km or 239 mi	Kakata	$487
439 km or 273 mi	Bafata	$804
456 km or 283 mi	Bissau	$827
480 km or 298 mi	Kankan	$1007
493 km or 306 mi	Nzerekore	$999
514 km or 319 mi	Sanniquellie	$487
525 km or 326 mi	Kolda	$964
527 km or 327 mi	Yekepa	$487
564 km or 350 mi	Ziguinchor	$953
603 km or 375 mi	Greenville	$487
650 km or 404 mi	Brikama	$552
660 km or 410 mi	Lamin	$507
662 km or 412 mi	Banjul	$477
701 km or 436 mi	Kaolack	$1000
709 km or 441 mi	Bougouni	$489
736 km or 457 mi	Fatick	$998
736 km or 458 mi	Bamako	$569
788 km or 490 mi	Koulikoro	$490
807 km or 502 mi	Thies	$1052
821 km or 510 mi	Rufisque	$1046
833 km or 518 mi	Dakar	$1114
842 km or 523 mi	Korhogo	$916
846 km or 526 mi	Banamba	$491
846 km or 526 mi	Gagnoa	$904
857 km or 532 mi	Louga	$970
887 km or 551 mi	Sikasso	$499
896 km or 557 mi	Yamoussoukro	$887
907 km or 564 mi	Bouake	$937
911 km or 566 mi	Saint-Louis	$960
917 km or 570 mi	Divo	$906
935 km or 581 mi	Rosso	$647
940 km or 584 mi	Segou	$490

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