Karachi vs Soweto - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Karachi	Soweto
🚶 Cost of living one person	$442	$923
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1064	$1686
🏠 One person rent	$188	$540
🏘️ Family rent	$342	$553
🍽️ Food expenses	$147	$231
🚐 Transport expenses	$64.1	$88.6
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$179	$1598
😷 Air quality	Unhealthy	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	8 km	29 km
🎓 Higher education	63	63
😀 Quality of life	50	38
🏙️ Population	14.9M	1.27M

The cost of living in Karachi is 52% less expensive than in Soweto. Cities ranked 8872nd and 5917th ($442 vs $923) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd and 6th in Pakistan and South Africa, respectively. Check Pakistan vs South Africa comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.4 months in Karachi compared to 1.7 months in Soweto. Karachi ranked 1st best city to live in Pakistan vs Soweto ranked 10th in South Africa, while ranked 6253rd 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 Karachi vs Soweto infographic

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Prices in Karachi vs Soweto

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

	Karachi	Soweto
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$1.99	$6.16
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$12	$26.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.2	$3.92
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.17	$2
☕ Cappuccino	$2.16	$2.01
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.37	$0.98
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$142	$827
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$97.4	$346
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$316	$511
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$197	$396
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$71.4	$64.8
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$110	$100
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$10.6	$33.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	19.17%	11.66%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$545	$850
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$359	$691
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.21	$1.98
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$8.21	$31
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$5.29	$8.52
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.96	$1.16
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.81	$1.02
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.53	$0.93
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.98	$1.31
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.15	$2.45
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.81	$7.54
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.27	$4.06
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.8	$6.2
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.01	$1.62
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.57	$1.47
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.82	$1.41
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.65	$1.46
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.39	$1.23
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.54	$1.23
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.27	$0.59
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$0.82	$1.17
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$3.49	$7.06
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.38	$1.43
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.04	$2.68
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$1.65	$2.86
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$2.9	$2.46
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.37	$1.17
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.98	$0.49
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$16.7	$12.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.05	$5.71
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$12.9	$21.2
💇 Haircut, simple	$1.95	$3
👖 Brand Jeans	$16.8	$45.4
👟 Brand Sneakers	$57.6	$70.7
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$50.7	$200
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$1405	$3805

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

$349

$907

$6.64K

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Karachi

Distance	City	Cost of living
148 km or 92 mi	Hyderabad	$334
208 km or 129 mi	Nawabshah	$325
213 km or 132 mi	Mirpur Khas	$394
324 km or 201 mi	Larkana	$338
324 km or 201 mi	Bhuj	$288
366 km or 227 mi	Sukkur	$339
406 km or 252 mi	Jacobabad	$325
445 km or 277 mi	Porbandar	$333
480 km or 298 mi	Rajkot	$311
564 km or 351 mi	Mehsana	$389
593 km or 368 mi	Quetta	$266
601 km or 374 mi	Ahmedabad	$452
604 km or 375 mi	Gandhinagar	$415
626 km or 389 mi	Bhavnagar	$298
629 km or 391 mi	Jodhpur	$366
643 km or 399 mi	Pali	$324
643 km or 399 mi	Nadiad	$382
645 km or 401 mi	Chabahar	$585
675 km or 419 mi	Udaipur	$310
679 km or 422 mi	Dera Ghazi Khan	$297
683 km or 425 mi	Bahawalpur	$342
683 km or 425 mi	Iranshahr	$605
692 km or 430 mi	Vadodara	$376
711 km or 442 mi	Godhra	$371
719 km or 447 mi	Bikaner	$297
723 km or 449 mi	Surat	$771
736 km or 457 mi	Multan	$392
745 km or 463 mi	Navsari	$286
761 km or 473 mi	Kandahar	$468
769 km or 478 mi	Bhilwara	$340
775 km or 482 mi	Khanewal	$361
785 km or 488 mi	Ajmer	$279
792 km or 492 mi	Lashkargah	$476
796 km or 494 mi	Zahedan	$829
812 km or 504 mi	Burewala	$356
836 km or 519 mi	Ratlam	$311
845 km or 525 mi	Vasai	$284
865 km or 537 mi	Muscat	$1090
866 km or 538 mi	Sikar	$350
874 km or 543 mi	Zabol	$552

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