Gaborone vs Soweto - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Gaborone	Soweto
🚶 Cost of living one person	$723	$1031
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1750	$1903
🏠 One person rent	$281	$604
🏘️ Family rent	$453	$628
🍽️ Food expenses	$309	$268
🚐 Transport expenses	$66.2	$90.8
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$454	$382
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	11 km	29 km
🎓 Higher education	39	63
😀 Quality of life	61	43
🏙️ Population	236K	1.27M

The cost of living in Gaborone is 30% less expensive than in Soweto. Cities ranked 7140th and 5331st ($723 vs $1031) 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 0.4 months in Soweto. Gaborone ranked 1st best city to live in Botswana vs Soweto ranked 10th in South Africa, while ranked 5784th and 7513th among best cities to live in the world.

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

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	$11.1	$6.93
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$29.6	$29.8
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.95	$4.63
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.02	$2.12
☕ Cappuccino	$2.39	$2.31
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.74	$1.08
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$279	$911
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$180	$382
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$475	$566
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$321	$444
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$37	$81.4
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$57.2	$125
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$43.9	$34.5
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	10.92%	11.01%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1314	$980
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1290	$760
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.59	$2
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$30	$34
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$20.3	$8.05
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.25	$1.25
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.46	$1.13
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.86	$1.03
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.86	$1.46
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.46	$2.74
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.96	$8.54
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.6	$4.62
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.93	$7.66
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.6	$1.89
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.43	$1.76
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.04	$1.82
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.66	$1.63
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.39	$1.36
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.19	$1.39
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.59	$0.87
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.4	$1.29
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$4.24	$8.13
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.43	$1.69
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.73	$2.98
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$11.7	$3.15
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.6	$2.75
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$0.53	$1.3
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.01	$0.54
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$34	$14.3
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$6.24	$5.86
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$19	$23
💇 Haircut, simple	$4.68	$3.31
👖 Brand Jeans	$47.1	$53.1
👟 Brand Sneakers	$67.2	$78.8
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$131	$243
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$2568	$5012

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 Soweto

Distance	City	Cost of living
19 km or 12 mi	Johannesburg	$1204
24 km or 15 mi	Randburg	$912
26 km or 16 mi	Sandton	$1104
46 km or 28 mi	Vereeniging	$742
46 km or 29 mi	Benoni	$851
48 km or 30 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$867
56 km or 34 mi	Centurion	$997
58 km or 36 mi	Springs	$784
66 km or 41 mi	Pretoria	$1015
73 km or 45 mi	Brits	$950
91 km or 56 mi	Potchefstroom	$789
92 km or 57 mi	Rustenburg	$994
137 km or 85 mi	Klerksdorp	$860
159 km or 99 mi	Bethal	$902
166 km or 103 mi	Kroonstad	$872
170 km or 106 mi	Middelburg	$875
222 km or 138 mi	Welkom	$811
228 km or 142 mi	Mmabatho	$903
249 km or 155 mi	Lobatse	$691
266 km or 165 mi	Gaborone	$723
282 km or 175 mi	Butha-Buthe	$589
290 km or 180 mi	Kanye	$691
315 km or 196 mi	Molepolole	$663
321 km or 199 mi	Teyateyaneng	$558
329 km or 204 mi	Mbabane	$607
335 km or 208 mi	Vryheid	$882
341 km or 212 mi	Maseru	$660
350 km or 217 mi	Manzini	$494
354 km or 220 mi	Bloemfontein	$742
367 km or 228 mi	Mahalapye	$615
399 km or 248 mi	Mafeteng	$611
412 km or 256 mi	Kimberley	$904
420 km or 261 mi	Palapye	$549
446 km or 277 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$725
447 km or 278 mi	Serowe	$590
461 km or 286 mi	Matola	$912
472 km or 293 mi	Maputo	$1014
506 km or 314 mi	Durban	$938
567 km or 353 mi	Francistown	$632
595 km or 370 mi	Xai-Xai	$965