Lilongwe vs Soweto - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Lilongwe	Soweto
🚶 Cost of living one person	$587	$923
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1571	$1686
🏠 One person rent	$251	$540
🏘️ Family rent	$555	$553
🍽️ Food expenses	$237	$231
🚐 Transport expenses	$51.8	$88.6
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$275	$1598
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	22 km	29 km
🎓 Higher education	13	63
😀 Quality of life	20	38
🏙️ Population	989K	1.27M

The cost of living in Lilongwe is 36% less expensive than in Soweto. Cities ranked 7807th and 5917th ($587 vs $923) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 6th in Malawi and South Africa, respectively. Check Malawi vs South Africa comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.5 months in Lilongwe compared to 1.7 months in Soweto. Lilongwe ranked 4th best city to live in Malawi vs Soweto ranked 10th in South Africa, while ranked 8847th and 7204th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Lilongwe vs Soweto infographic

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Prices in Lilongwe vs Soweto

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

	Lilongwe	Soweto
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$4.27	$6.16
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$24.2	$26.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$8.14	$3.92
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.37	$2
☕ Cappuccino	$2.32	$2.01
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.93	$0.98
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$373	$827
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$114	$346
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$362	$511
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$474	$396
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$34.6	$64.8
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$53.6	$100
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$50.1	$33.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	12.4%	11.66%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$10555	$850
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$588	$691
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.91	$1.98
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$11.7	$31
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$5.67	$8.52
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.35	$1.16
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.95	$1.02
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.95	$0.93
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.29	$1.31
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.29	$2.45
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.2	$7.54
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.29	$4.06
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4	$6.2
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.36	$1.62
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1	$1.47
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.49	$1.41
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.32	$1.46
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.26	$1.23
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.24	$1.23
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.42	$0.59
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.15	$1.17
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$12.1	$7.06
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.91	$1.43
🚬 Cigarette pack	$1.57	$2.68
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$2.11	$2.86
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.11	$2.46
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$0.75	$1.17
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.68	$0.49
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$28.8	$12.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.17	$5.71
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$17	$21.2
💇 Haircut, simple	$3.6	$3
👖 Brand Jeans	$23.1	$45.4
👟 Brand Sneakers	$49.4	$70.7
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$349	$200
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$2351	$3805

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Lilongwe

Distance	City	Cost of living
123 km or 76 mi	Monkey Bay	$518
134 km or 83 mi	Ntcheu	$492
169 km or 105 mi	Mangochi	$493
228 km or 142 mi	Zomba	$457
233 km or 145 mi	Mzimba	$566
240 km or 149 mi	Blantyre	$507
243 km or 151 mi	Tete	$825
283 km or 176 mi	Mzuzu	$525
293 km or 182 mi	Mulanje	$461
506 km or 314 mi	Kasama	$748
518 km or 322 mi	Harare	$992
524 km or 326 mi	Marondera	$794
533 km or 331 mi	Chitungwiza	$873
536 km or 333 mi	Chinhoyi	$646
545 km or 339 mi	Quelimane	$675
550 km or 342 mi	Kapiri Mposhi	$687
566 km or 352 mi	Mbeya	$461
567 km or 353 mi	Mutare	$752
568 km or 353 mi	Ndola	$541
572 km or 355 mi	Chimoio	$947
603 km or 375 mi	Nampula	$872
613 km or 381 mi	Lusaka	$738
616 km or 383 mi	Mansa	$776
616 km or 383 mi	Kitwe	$917
618 km or 384 mi	Mufulira	$1018
637 km or 396 mi	Kadoma	$723
660 km or 410 mi	Chingola	$875
660 km or 410 mi	Beira	$1003
682 km or 424 mi	Kwekwe	$730
732 km or 455 mi	Lubumbashi	$1050
740 km or 460 mi	Pemba	$1506
741 km or 460 mi	Gweru	$597
744 km or 462 mi	Nacala	$1150
746 km or 464 mi	Masvingo	$854
795 km or 494 mi	Choma	$700
835 km or 519 mi	Likasi	$961
883 km or 549 mi	Bulawayo	$766
886 km or 551 mi	Dodoma	$502
902 km or 560 mi	Morogoro	$486
949 km or 590 mi	Livingstone	$688

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