Gaborone vs Soweto - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Gaborone	Soweto
🚶 Cost of living one person	$731	$1057
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1792	$1932
🏠 One person rent	$272	$620
🏘️ Family rent	$439	$639
🍽️ Food expenses	$320	$268
🚐 Transport expenses	$66.9	$99.3
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$437	$1631
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	11 km	29 km
🎓 Higher education	39	63
😀 Quality of life	60	48
🏙️ Population	236K	1.27M

The cost of living in Gaborone is 31% less expensive than in Soweto. Cities ranked 7094th and 5251st ($731 vs $1057) 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 0.6 months in Gaborone compared to 1.5 months in Soweto. Gaborone ranked 1st best city to live in Botswana vs Soweto ranked 8th in South Africa, while ranked 5910th and 6890th among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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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	$10.4	$7.11
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$30	$30.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$6.02	$4.5
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.26	$2.17
☕ Cappuccino	$2.36	$2.37
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.87	$1.15
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$257	$942
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$157	$394
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$462	$587
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$286	$452
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$42.8	$79.7
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$66.2	$124
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$52	$36.5
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	9.49%	11.11%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1146	$933
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1146	$779
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.53	$2.16
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$31.1	$35.3
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$20.7	$9.53
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.15	$1.29
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.51	$1.19
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.87	$1.06
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.01	$1.52
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.46	$2.77
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.05	$8.88
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.32	$4.58
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.57	$7.57
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.72	$1.88
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.49	$1.65
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.01	$1.79
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.72	$1.68
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.58	$1.38
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.24	$1.39
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.62	$0.75
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.41	$1.34
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$4.54	$7.95
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.48	$1.81
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.81	$3.08
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$12.8	$3.28
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.65	$2.8
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$0.54	$1.33
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.1	$0.56
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$35.2	$15.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$6.88	$5.97
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$18.9	$23.9
💇 Haircut, simple	$4.69	$3.44
👖 Brand Jeans	$47	$52.7
👟 Brand Sneakers	$77.2	$76.9
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$147	$229
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$2881	$4370

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	$662
67 km or 42 mi	Lobatse	$697
67 km or 42 mi	Kanye	$694
136 km or 84 mi	Mmabatho	$901
174 km or 108 mi	Rustenburg	$1017
196 km or 122 mi	Mahalapye	$628
215 km or 134 mi	Brits	$950
257 km or 160 mi	Klerksdorp	$826
258 km or 160 mi	Potchefstroom	$791
259 km or 161 mi	Pretoria	$1049
264 km or 164 mi	Randburg	$958
265 km or 165 mi	Palapye	$551
266 km or 165 mi	Centurion	$967
266 km or 165 mi	Soweto	$1057
266 km or 165 mi	Serowe	$583
269 km or 167 mi	Sandton	$1089
275 km or 171 mi	Johannesburg	$1171
296 km or 184 mi	Benoni	$892
298 km or 185 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$865
302 km or 188 mi	Vereeniging	$765
310 km or 193 mi	Springs	$792
358 km or 222 mi	Kroonstad	$875
379 km or 235 mi	Welkom	$826
380 km or 236 mi	Middelburg	$899
407 km or 253 mi	Bethal	$910
421 km or 261 mi	Francistown	$633
468 km or 291 mi	Kimberley	$927
495 km or 308 mi	Bloemfontein	$763
514 km or 319 mi	Butha-Buthe	$604
531 km or 330 mi	Teyateyaneng	$573
540 km or 336 mi	Maseru	$681
559 km or 347 mi	Mbabane	$652
569 km or 354 mi	Bulawayo	$630
584 km or 363 mi	Manzini	$511
589 km or 366 mi	Mafeteng	$630
597 km or 371 mi	Vryheid	$912
628 km or 390 mi	Upington	$811
675 km or 419 mi	Matola	$916
685 km or 425 mi	Maputo	$966
705 km or 438 mi	Gweru	$577

Cities near Soweto

Distance	City	Cost of living
19 km or 12 mi	Johannesburg	$1171
24 km or 15 mi	Randburg	$958
26 km or 16 mi	Sandton	$1089
46 km or 28 mi	Vereeniging	$765
46 km or 29 mi	Benoni	$892
48 km or 30 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$865
56 km or 34 mi	Centurion	$967
58 km or 36 mi	Springs	$792
66 km or 41 mi	Pretoria	$1049
73 km or 45 mi	Brits	$950
91 km or 56 mi	Potchefstroom	$791
92 km or 57 mi	Rustenburg	$1017
137 km or 85 mi	Klerksdorp	$826
159 km or 99 mi	Bethal	$910
166 km or 103 mi	Kroonstad	$875
170 km or 106 mi	Middelburg	$899
222 km or 138 mi	Welkom	$826
228 km or 142 mi	Mmabatho	$901
249 km or 155 mi	Lobatse	$697
266 km or 165 mi	Gaborone	$731
282 km or 175 mi	Butha-Buthe	$604
290 km or 180 mi	Kanye	$694
315 km or 196 mi	Molepolole	$662
321 km or 199 mi	Teyateyaneng	$573
329 km or 204 mi	Mbabane	$652
335 km or 208 mi	Vryheid	$912
341 km or 212 mi	Maseru	$681
350 km or 217 mi	Manzini	$511
354 km or 220 mi	Bloemfontein	$763
367 km or 228 mi	Mahalapye	$628
399 km or 248 mi	Mafeteng	$630
412 km or 256 mi	Kimberley	$927
420 km or 261 mi	Palapye	$551
446 km or 277 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$716
447 km or 278 mi	Serowe	$583
461 km or 286 mi	Matola	$916
472 km or 293 mi	Maputo	$966
506 km or 314 mi	Durban	$948
567 km or 353 mi	Francistown	$633
595 km or 370 mi	Xai-Xai	$950