Kabul vs Soweto - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Kabul	Soweto
🚶 Cost of living one person	$474	$923
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1052	$1686
🏠 One person rent	$203	$540
🏘️ Family rent	$302	$553
🍽️ Food expenses	$158	$231
🚐 Transport expenses	$81.8	$88.6
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$218	$1598
😷 Air quality	Unhealthy	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	6 km	29 km
🎓 Higher education	30	63
😀 Quality of life	14	38
🏙️ Population	4.27M	1.27M

The cost of living in Kabul is 49% less expensive than in Soweto. Cities ranked 8769th and 5917th ($474 vs $923) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd and 6th in Afghanistan and South Africa, respectively. Check Afghanistan vs South Africa comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.5 months in Kabul compared to 1.7 months in Soweto. Kabul ranked 1st best city to live in Afghanistan vs Soweto ranked 10th in South Africa, while ranked 9071st and 7204th among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Kabul vs Soweto infographic

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Prices in Kabul vs Soweto

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

	Kabul	Soweto
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$2.38	$6.16
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$9.34	$26.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.64	$3.92
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.11	$2
☕ Cappuccino	$1.53	$2.01
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.32	$0.98
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$140	$827
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$90	$346
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$312	$511
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$141	$396
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$43.2	$64.8
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$66.8	$100
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$59.8	$33.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	18.54%	11.66%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$404	$850
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$202	$691
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.2	$1.98
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$18.8	$31
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$7.27	$8.52
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.88	$1.16
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.8	$1.02
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.27	$0.93
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.18	$1.31
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.39	$2.45
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.36	$7.54
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.8	$4.06
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.88	$6.2
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.71	$1.62
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.77	$1.47
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.77	$1.41
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.55	$1.46
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.39	$1.23
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.41	$1.23
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.2	$0.59
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$0.88	$1.17
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$8.12	$7.06
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.49	$1.43
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.38	$2.68
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$2.97	$2.86
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.48	$2.46
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.01	$1.17
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.37	$0.49
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$12.8	$12.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$2.15	$5.71
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$13.2	$21.2
💇 Haircut, simple	$2.79	$3
👖 Brand Jeans	$16.1	$45.4
👟 Brand Sneakers	$34.4	$70.7
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$17.2	$200
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$1356	$3805

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Kabul

Distance	City	Cost of living
105 km or 65 mi	Gardez	$386
119 km or 74 mi	Jalalabad	$303
129 km or 80 mi	Ghazni	$389
150 km or 93 mi	Khost	$366
163 km or 101 mi	Puli Khumri	$381
223 km or 138 mi	Peshawar	$346
235 km or 146 mi	Kohat	$379
246 km or 153 mi	Kunduz	$394
266 km or 166 mi	Mardan	$366
293 km or 182 mi	Mingora	$364
304 km or 189 mi	Mazar-i-Sharif	$408
336 km or 209 mi	Wah	$382
368 km or 229 mi	Islamabad	$442
369 km or 229 mi	Qurghonteppa	$596
374 km or 232 mi	Rawalpindi	$401
389 km or 242 mi	Sheberghan	$414
425 km or 264 mi	Sargodha	$458
450 km or 280 mi	Tursunzoda	$593
451 km or 280 mi	Dushanbe	$605
451 km or 280 mi	Mirpur	$354
456 km or 284 mi	Mandi Bahauddin	$355
458 km or 285 mi	Kandahar	$468
467 km or 290 mi	Jhang	$292
474 km or 294 mi	Chiniot	$389
476 km or 296 mi	Baramulla	$273
499 km or 310 mi	Gojra	$342
501 km or 312 mi	Hafizabad	$380
503 km or 313 mi	Faisalabad	$306
505 km or 314 mi	Gujrat	$373
517 km or 321 mi	Dera Ghazi Khan	$297
520 km or 323 mi	Srinagar	$354
523 km or 325 mi	Quetta	$266
526 km or 327 mi	Multan	$392
534 km or 332 mi	Sahiwal	$305
536 km or 333 mi	Gujranwala	$308
538 km or 334 mi	Khanewal	$361
546 km or 340 mi	Sialkot	$281
549 km or 341 mi	Sheikhupura	$374
550 km or 342 mi	Kamoke	$321
553 km or 344 mi	Lashkargah	$476

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