Gaborone vs Soweto - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Gaborone	Soweto
🚶 Cost of living one person	$691	$923
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1793	$1686
🏠 One person rent	$268	$540
🏘️ Family rent	$520	$553
🍽️ Food expenses	$287	$231
🚐 Transport expenses	$66	$88.6
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$373	$1598
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	11 km	29 km
🎓 Higher education	39	63
😀 Quality of life	56	38
🏙️ Population	236K	1.27M

The cost of living in Gaborone is 25% less expensive than in Soweto. Cities ranked 6941st and 5917th ($691 vs $923) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 6th in Botswana and South Africa, respectively. Check Botswana vs South Africa comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.5 months in Gaborone compared to 1.7 months in Soweto. Gaborone ranked 1st best city to live in Botswana vs Soweto ranked 10th in South Africa, while ranked 5825th and 7204th 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	$7.24	$6.16
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$29.1	$26.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.77	$3.92
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.19	$2
☕ Cappuccino	$2.19	$2.01
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.79	$0.98
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$223	$827
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$133	$346
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$537	$511
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$341	$396
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$41.7	$64.8
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$64.4	$100
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$75.6	$33.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	9.07%	11.66%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1028	$850
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$949	$691
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.51	$1.98
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$25.3	$31
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$21.9	$8.52
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.08	$1.16
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.33	$1.02
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.79	$0.93
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.71	$1.31
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.23	$2.45
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.31	$7.54
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.83	$4.06
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.4	$6.2
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.68	$1.62
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.31	$1.47
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.83	$1.41
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.44	$1.46
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.4	$1.23
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.2	$1.23
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.56	$0.59
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.34	$1.17
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$5.11	$7.06
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.64	$1.43
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.65	$2.68
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$11.7	$2.86
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.46	$2.46
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$0.52	$1.17
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.95	$0.49
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$34	$12.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$6.49	$5.71
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$19	$21.2
💇 Haircut, simple	$4.58	$3
👖 Brand Jeans	$41.1	$45.4
👟 Brand Sneakers	$76.6	$70.7
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$171	$200
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$4190	$3805

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	$628
67 km or 42 mi	Lobatse	$665
67 km or 42 mi	Kanye	$664
136 km or 84 mi	Mmabatho	$780
174 km or 108 mi	Rustenburg	$889
196 km or 122 mi	Mahalapye	$631
215 km or 134 mi	Brits	$820
257 km or 160 mi	Klerksdorp	$722
258 km or 160 mi	Potchefstroom	$695
259 km or 161 mi	Pretoria	$906
264 km or 164 mi	Randburg	$837
265 km or 165 mi	Palapye	$540
266 km or 165 mi	Centurion	$807
266 km or 165 mi	Soweto	$923
266 km or 165 mi	Serowe	$583
269 km or 167 mi	Sandton	$953
275 km or 171 mi	Johannesburg	$993
296 km or 184 mi	Benoni	$785
298 km or 185 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$773
302 km or 188 mi	Vereeniging	$672
310 km or 193 mi	Springs	$678
358 km or 222 mi	Kroonstad	$768
379 km or 235 mi	Welkom	$748
380 km or 236 mi	Middelburg	$795
407 km or 253 mi	Bethal	$784
421 km or 261 mi	Francistown	$624
468 km or 291 mi	Kimberley	$814
495 km or 308 mi	Bloemfontein	$657
514 km or 319 mi	Butha-Buthe	$535
531 km or 330 mi	Teyateyaneng	$500
540 km or 336 mi	Maseru	$621
559 km or 347 mi	Mbabane	$562
569 km or 354 mi	Bulawayo	$766
584 km or 363 mi	Manzini	$442
589 km or 366 mi	Mafeteng	$567
597 km or 371 mi	Vryheid	$763
628 km or 390 mi	Upington	$699
675 km or 419 mi	Matola	$964
685 km or 425 mi	Maputo	$1068
705 km or 438 mi	Gweru	$597

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