Gaborone vs Soweto - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Gaborone	Soweto
🚶 Cost of living one person	$668	$984
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1648	$1812
🏠 One person rent	$243	$567
🏘️ Family rent	$391	$581
🍽️ Food expenses	$297	$247
🚐 Transport expenses	$62.1	$104
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$382	$1672
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	11 km	29 km
🎓 Higher education	39	63
😀 Quality of life	61	45
🏙️ Population	236K	1.27M

The cost of living in Gaborone is 32% less expensive than in Soweto. Cities ranked 7301st and 5704th ($668 vs $984) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 7th in Botswana and South Africa, respectively. Check Botswana vs South Africa comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.6 months in Gaborone compared to 1.7 months in Soweto. Gaborone ranked 1st best city to live in Botswana vs Soweto ranked 9th in South Africa, while ranked 5842nd and 7050th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Gaborone vs Soweto infographic

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Prices in Gaborone vs Soweto

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

	Gaborone	Soweto
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$9.79	$6.53
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$28.4	$28.3
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.66	$4.24
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.12	$2
☕ Cappuccino	$2.17	$2.14
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.76	$1.07
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$222	$867
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$137	$362
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$402	$538
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$249	$415
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$39.5	$69.9
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$61.1	$108
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$49.7	$33.8
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	9.04%	11.64%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1000	$907
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$994	$724
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.5	$2.49
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$29	$32.3
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$19.2	$11.3
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.08	$1.2
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.39	$1.14
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.82	$0.96
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.74	$1.33
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.22	$2.62
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.45	$8.24
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.87	$4.25
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.22	$6.66
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.71	$1.71
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.39	$1.56
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.78	$1.63
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.55	$1.55
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.37	$1.31
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.22	$1.2
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.57	$0.66
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.34	$1.21
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$4.24	$7.85
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.48	$1.65
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.55	$2.69
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$11.5	$2.99
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.31	$2.57
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$0.51	$1.23
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.89	$0.51
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$30.5	$13.5
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$6.36	$6
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$18.1	$21.9
💇 Haircut, simple	$4.46	$3.1
👖 Brand Jeans	$43.2	$49.6
👟 Brand Sneakers	$67.6	$75.1
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$138	$202
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$3401	$3811

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	$607
67 km or 42 mi	Lobatse	$637
67 km or 42 mi	Kanye	$637
136 km or 84 mi	Mmabatho	$833
174 km or 108 mi	Rustenburg	$940
196 km or 122 mi	Mahalapye	$577
215 km or 134 mi	Brits	$875
257 km or 160 mi	Klerksdorp	$762
258 km or 160 mi	Potchefstroom	$731
259 km or 161 mi	Pretoria	$975
264 km or 164 mi	Randburg	$890
265 km or 165 mi	Palapye	$514
266 km or 165 mi	Centurion	$892
266 km or 165 mi	Soweto	$984
266 km or 165 mi	Serowe	$536
269 km or 167 mi	Sandton	$984
275 km or 171 mi	Johannesburg	$1082
296 km or 184 mi	Benoni	$826
298 km or 185 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$799
302 km or 188 mi	Vereeniging	$706
310 km or 193 mi	Springs	$740
358 km or 222 mi	Kroonstad	$808
379 km or 235 mi	Welkom	$762
380 km or 236 mi	Middelburg	$830
407 km or 253 mi	Bethal	$838
421 km or 261 mi	Francistown	$587
468 km or 291 mi	Kimberley	$861
495 km or 308 mi	Bloemfontein	$698
514 km or 319 mi	Butha-Buthe	$570
531 km or 330 mi	Teyateyaneng	$533
540 km or 336 mi	Maseru	$650
559 km or 347 mi	Mbabane	$599
569 km or 354 mi	Bulawayo	$658
584 km or 363 mi	Manzini	$469
589 km or 366 mi	Mafeteng	$598
597 km or 371 mi	Vryheid	$827
628 km or 390 mi	Upington	$746
675 km or 419 mi	Matola	$908
685 km or 425 mi	Maputo	$915
705 km or 438 mi	Gweru	$587

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