Johannesburg vs Soweto - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Johannesburg	Soweto
🚶 Cost of living one person	$993	$923
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2403	$1686
🏠 One person rent	$441	$540
🏘️ Family rent	$809	$553
🍽️ Food expenses	$288	$231
🚐 Transport expenses	$181	$88.6
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1383	$1598
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	29 km
🎓 Higher education	72	63
😀 Quality of life	57	38
🏙️ Population	4.43M	1.27M

The cost of living in Johannesburg is 8% more expensive than in Soweto. Cities ranked 5539th and 5917th ($993 vs $923) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 4th and 6th in South Africa.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.4 months in Johannesburg compared to 1.7 months in Soweto. Ranked 2nd vs 10th best cities to live in South Africa, and 5667th vs 7204th among the best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Johannesburg vs Soweto infographic

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

Prices in Johannesburg vs Soweto

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

	Johannesburg	Soweto
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$9.65	$6.16
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$37.9	$26.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.9	$3.92
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.37	$2
☕ Cappuccino	$2.01	$2.01
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.99	$0.98
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$377	$827
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$318	$346
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$790	$511
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$627	$396
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$71.9	$64.8
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$110	$100
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$39.5	$33.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.55%	11.66%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1031	$850
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$684	$691
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.62	$1.98
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$72	$31
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$9.35	$8.52
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.28	$1.16
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.18	$1.02
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.95	$0.93
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.36	$1.31
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.58	$2.45
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10	$7.54
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.04	$4.06
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.12	$6.2
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.6	$1.62
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.49	$1.47
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.41	$1.41
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.59	$1.46
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.35	$1.23
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.44	$1.23
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.58	$0.59
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.44	$1.17
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$5.96	$7.06
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.25	$1.43
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.97	$2.68
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.59	$2.86
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.94	$2.46
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.88	$1.17
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.42	$0.49
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$33.2	$12.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$7.2	$5.71
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$27.8	$21.2
💇 Haircut, simple	$5.55	$3
👖 Brand Jeans	$48.5	$45.4
👟 Brand Sneakers	$88.8	$70.7
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$214	$200
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$5271	$3805

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

$349

$907

$6.64K

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Johannesburg

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 6.8 mi	Sandton	$953
13 km or 8 mi	Randburg	$837
19 km or 12 mi	Soweto	$923
28 km or 17 mi	Benoni	$785
40 km or 25 mi	Springs	$678
41 km or 25 mi	Centurion	$807
53 km or 33 mi	Pretoria	$906
53 km or 33 mi	Vereeniging	$672
59 km or 36 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$773
71 km or 44 mi	Brits	$820
101 km or 62 mi	Rustenburg	$889
109 km or 68 mi	Potchefstroom	$695
143 km or 89 mi	Bethal	$784
152 km or 94 mi	Middelburg	$795
155 km or 97 mi	Klerksdorp	$722
179 km or 111 mi	Kroonstad	$768
237 km or 147 mi	Welkom	$748
244 km or 152 mi	Mmabatho	$780
262 km or 163 mi	Lobatse	$665
275 km or 171 mi	Gaborone	$691
287 km or 179 mi	Butha-Buthe	$535
302 km or 188 mi	Kanye	$664
311 km or 193 mi	Mbabane	$562
323 km or 201 mi	Vryheid	$763
325 km or 202 mi	Molepolole	$628
329 km or 204 mi	Teyateyaneng	$500
333 km or 207 mi	Manzini	$442
350 km or 217 mi	Maseru	$621
366 km or 228 mi	Mahalapye	$631
369 km or 229 mi	Bloemfontein	$657
409 km or 254 mi	Mafeteng	$567
417 km or 259 mi	Palapye	$540
429 km or 267 mi	Kimberley	$814
442 km or 275 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$640
443 km or 275 mi	Matola	$964
446 km or 277 mi	Serowe	$583
454 km or 282 mi	Maputo	$1068
501 km or 311 mi	Durban	$809
562 km or 349 mi	Francistown	$624
577 km or 358 mi	Xai-Xai	$1003

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