Kampala vs Soweto - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Kampala	Soweto
🚶 Cost of living one person	$698	$923
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1738	$1686
🏠 One person rent	$314	$540
🏘️ Family rent	$645	$553
🍽️ Food expenses	$255	$231
🚐 Transport expenses	$78.5	$88.6
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$178	$1598
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	34 km	29 km
🎓 Higher education	53	63
😀 Quality of life	44	38
🏙️ Population	1.68M	1.27M

The cost of living in Kampala is 24% less expensive than in Soweto. Cities ranked 6903rd and 5917th ($698 vs $923) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 6th in Uganda and South Africa, respectively. Check Uganda vs South Africa comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.3 months in Kampala compared to 1.7 months in Soweto. Kampala ranked 1st best city to live in Uganda vs Soweto ranked 10th in South Africa, while ranked 6624th and 7204th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Kampala vs Soweto infographic

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

Prices in Kampala vs Soweto

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

	Kampala	Soweto
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$2.45	$6.16
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$27.1	$26.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$8.92	$3.92
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.37	$2
☕ Cappuccino	$2.65	$2.01
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.49	$0.98
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$352	$827
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$200	$346
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1184	$511
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$387	$396
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$25	$64.8
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$39	$100
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$59.1	$33.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	21.44%	11.66%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1111	$850
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$976	$691
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.82	$1.98
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$40.8	$31
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$2.68	$8.52
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.45	$1.16
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.68	$1.02
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.23	$0.93
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.34	$1.31
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.78	$2.45
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.09	$7.54
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.73	$4.06
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.11	$6.2
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.64	$1.62
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.49	$1.47
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.85	$1.41
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.53	$1.46
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.44	$1.23
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.88	$1.23
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.38	$0.59
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.5	$1.17
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$10.9	$7.06
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.16	$1.43
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.79	$2.68
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.2	$2.86
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.98	$2.46
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.49	$1.17
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.29	$0.49
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$42.5	$12.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$6.39	$5.71
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$17	$21.2
💇 Haircut, simple	$5.64	$3
👖 Brand Jeans	$17.5	$45.4
👟 Brand Sneakers	$33.6	$70.7
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$125	$200
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$4369	$3805

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Kampala

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 7 mi	Kira Town	$646
32 km or 20 mi	Entebbe	$558
70 km or 44 mi	Jinja	$562
183 km or 114 mi	Tororo	$602
197 km or 122 mi	Mbale	$605
212 km or 131 mi	Mumias	$490
246 km or 153 mi	Kisumu	$522
274 km or 171 mi	Gulu	$594
288 km or 179 mi	Kasese	$573
294 km or 183 mi	Bunia	$801
301 km or 187 mi	Eldoret	$483
317 km or 197 mi	Mwanza	$625
347 km or 216 mi	Beni	$785
350 km or 217 mi	Byumba	$613
355 km or 220 mi	Arua	$585
366 km or 227 mi	Butembo	$768
377 km or 234 mi	Kigali	$771
384 km or 238 mi	Ruhengeri	$492
393 km or 244 mi	Nakuru	$500
431 km or 268 mi	Muyinga	$650
432 km or 269 mi	Nyanza	$518
432 km or 269 mi	Gisenyi	$381
446 km or 277 mi	Kibuye	$479
452 km or 281 mi	Butare	$413
471 km or 293 mi	Ngozi	$648
494 km or 307 mi	Ruyigi	$648
503 km or 313 mi	Nairobi	$760
510 km or 317 mi	Gitega	$651
514 km or 320 mi	Cyangugu	$496
516 km or 321 mi	Juba	$513
517 km or 321 mi	Bubanza	$648
520 km or 323 mi	Bukavu	$759
523 km or 325 mi	Thika	$589
545 km or 339 mi	Bujumbura	$719
551 km or 343 mi	Rutana	$648
559 km or 348 mi	Machakos	$408
563 km or 350 mi	Uvira	$803
564 km or 351 mi	Meru	$541
583 km or 362 mi	Makamba	$647
613 km or 381 mi	Arusha	$638

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