Gaborone vs Sao Tome - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Gaborone	Sao Tome
🚶 Cost of living one person	$723	$1011
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1750	$2409
🏠 One person rent	$281	$322
🏘️ Family rent	$453	$515
🍽️ Food expenses	$309	$552
🚐 Transport expenses	$66.2	$42.2
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$454	$271
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	11 km	6 km
🎓 Higher education	39	1
😀 Quality of life	61	29
🏙️ Population	236K	65.5K

The cost of living in Gaborone is 28% less expensive than in Sao Tome. Cities ranked 7140th and 5493rd ($723 vs $1011) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 2nd in Botswana and Sao Tome and Principe, respectively. Check Botswana vs Sao Tome and Principe comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.6 months in Gaborone compared to 0.3 months in Sao Tome. Gaborone ranked 1st best city to live in Botswana vs Sao Tome ranked 1st in Sao Tome and Principe, while ranked 5784th and 8825th among best cities to live in the world.

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Prices in Gaborone vs Sao Tome

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

	Gaborone	Sao Tome
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$11.1	$25.3
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$29.6	$35.7
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.95	$11.7
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.02	$1.65
☕ Cappuccino	$2.39	$2.31
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.74	$1.89
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$279	$266
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$180	$183
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$475	$488
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$321	$332
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$37	$52.9
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$57.2	$81.7
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$43.9	$69.7
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	10.92%	7.34%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1314	$1893
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1290	$1191
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.59	$1.41
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$30	$47.7
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$20.3	$9.19
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.25	$1.77
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.46	$1.59
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.86	$1.04
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.86	$2.02
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.46	$5.06
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.96	$20.4
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.6	$14.8
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.93	$25.1
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.6	$3.83
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.43	$1.24
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.04	$3.72
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.66	$3.54
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.39	$2.98
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.19	$2.43
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.59	$1.28
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.4	$1.31
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$4.24	$8.11
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.43	$1.43
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.73	$2.35
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$11.7	$4.19
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.6	$3.13
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$0.53	$1.55
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.01	$1.29
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$34	$35.4
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$6.24	$20.8
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$19	$21.9
💇 Haircut, simple	$4.68	$4.66
👖 Brand Jeans	$47.1	$34.5
👟 Brand Sneakers	$67.2	$68.8
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$131	$171
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$2568	$2877

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Gaborone

Distance	City	Cost of living
50 km or 31 mi	Molepolole	$663
67 km or 42 mi	Lobatse	$691
67 km or 42 mi	Kanye	$691
136 km or 84 mi	Mmabatho	$903
174 km or 108 mi	Rustenburg	$994
196 km or 122 mi	Mahalapye	$615
215 km or 134 mi	Brits	$950
257 km or 160 mi	Klerksdorp	$860
258 km or 160 mi	Potchefstroom	$789
259 km or 161 mi	Pretoria	$1015
264 km or 164 mi	Randburg	$912
265 km or 165 mi	Palapye	$549
266 km or 165 mi	Centurion	$997
266 km or 165 mi	Soweto	$1031
266 km or 165 mi	Serowe	$590
269 km or 167 mi	Sandton	$1104
275 km or 171 mi	Johannesburg	$1204
296 km or 184 mi	Benoni	$851
298 km or 185 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$867
302 km or 188 mi	Vereeniging	$742
310 km or 193 mi	Springs	$784
358 km or 222 mi	Kroonstad	$872
379 km or 235 mi	Welkom	$811
380 km or 236 mi	Middelburg	$875
407 km or 253 mi	Bethal	$902
421 km or 261 mi	Francistown	$632
468 km or 291 mi	Kimberley	$904
495 km or 308 mi	Bloemfontein	$742
514 km or 319 mi	Butha-Buthe	$589
531 km or 330 mi	Teyateyaneng	$558
540 km or 336 mi	Maseru	$660
559 km or 347 mi	Mbabane	$607
569 km or 354 mi	Bulawayo	$632
584 km or 363 mi	Manzini	$494
589 km or 366 mi	Mafeteng	$611
597 km or 371 mi	Vryheid	$882
628 km or 390 mi	Upington	$796
675 km or 419 mi	Matola	$912
685 km or 425 mi	Maputo	$1014
705 km or 438 mi	Gweru	$565

Cities near Sao Tome

Distance	City	Cost of living
8.3 km or 5.1 mi	Trindade	$1013
256 km or 159 mi	Port-Gentil	$698
303 km or 188 mi	Libreville	$743
375 km or 233 mi	Bata	$1209
443 km or 275 mi	Malabo	$1272
492 km or 306 mi	Port Harcourt	$559
494 km or 307 mi	Limbe	$738
509 km or 316 mi	Buea	$627
529 km or 328 mi	Douala	$1156
537 km or 333 mi	Aba	$591
543 km or 337 mi	Calabar	$373
565 km or 351 mi	Kumba	$821
574 km or 356 mi	Owerri	$1364
584 km or 363 mi	Umuahia	$773
587 km or 365 mi	Warri	$786
649 km or 403 mi	Onitsha	$795
653 km or 406 mi	Awka	$693
660 km or 410 mi	Yaounde	$666
677 km or 421 mi	Benin	$627
684 km or 425 mi	Enugu	$564
702 km or 436 mi	Bafoussam	$759
730 km or 454 mi	Bamenda	$699
772 km or 480 mi	Owo	$531
774 km or 481 mi	Lagos	$946
788 km or 490 mi	Akure	$488
806 km or 501 mi	Pointe-Noire	$578
822 km or 511 mi	Porto-Novo	$768
824 km or 512 mi	Cotonou	$830
827 km or 514 mi	Ado Ekiti	$597
829 km or 515 mi	Ife	$670
845 km or 525 mi	Ibadan	$658
846 km or 526 mi	Abeokuta	$995
861 km or 535 mi	Osogbo	$575
884 km or 549 mi	Kayes	$533
889 km or 552 mi	Lome	$759
890 km or 553 mi	Oyo	$639
892 km or 555 mi	Cabinda	$673
907 km or 564 mi	Madingou	$531
924 km or 574 mi	Gamboma	$531
926 km or 575 mi	Abomey	$596