Lima vs Soweto - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Lima	Soweto
🚶 Cost of living one person	$977	$923
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2440	$1686
🏠 One person rent	$407	$540
🏘️ Family rent	$726	$553
🍽️ Food expenses	$278	$231
🚐 Transport expenses	$203	$88.6
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$498	$1598
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	9 km	29 km
🎓 Higher education	78	63
😀 Quality of life	65	38
🏙️ Population	9.94M	1.27M

The cost of living in Lima is 6% more expensive than in Soweto. Cities ranked 5647th and 5917th ($977 vs $923) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 6th in Peru and South Africa, respectively. Check Peru vs South Africa comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.5 months in Lima compared to 1.7 months in Soweto. Lima ranked 1st best city to live in Peru vs Soweto ranked 10th in South Africa, while ranked 4234th and 7204th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Lima vs Soweto infographic

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Prices in Lima vs Soweto

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

	Lima	Soweto
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$4.73	$6.16
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$29	$26.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$6.33	$3.92
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.45	$2
☕ Cappuccino	$3.29	$2.01
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.88	$0.98
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$525	$827
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$305	$346
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$943	$511
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$577	$396
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$34.3	$64.8
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$52.6	$100
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$23.8	$33.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	10%	11.66%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1476	$850
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1418	$691
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.68	$1.98
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$33.7	$31
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$20.6	$8.52
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.35	$1.16
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.45	$1.02
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.9	$0.93
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.04	$1.31
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.94	$2.45
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.74	$7.54
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.28	$4.06
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.7	$6.2
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.02	$1.62
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.08	$1.47
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.12	$1.41
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.17	$1.46
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.06	$1.23
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1	$1.23
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.59	$0.59
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.24	$1.17
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$9.11	$7.06
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.64	$1.43
🚬 Cigarette pack	$5.28	$2.68
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.54	$2.86
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.11	$2.46
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.08	$1.17
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.1	$0.49
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$33.1	$12.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$7.4	$5.71
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$32.9	$21.2
💇 Haircut, simple	$10.4	$3
👖 Brand Jeans	$47.9	$45.4
👟 Brand Sneakers	$88.1	$70.7
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$201	$200
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$7764	$3805

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Lima

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 6.8 mi	Callao	$790
64 km or 40 mi	Huaral	$727
122 km or 76 mi	Huacho	$685
198 km or 123 mi	Huancayo	$562
205 km or 128 mi	Pisco	$614
251 km or 156 mi	Huanuco	$622
265 km or 165 mi	Ica	$656
285 km or 177 mi	Huaraz	$561
329 km or 204 mi	Ayacucho	$598
372 km or 231 mi	Chimbote	$504
483 km or 300 mi	Abancay	$591
489 km or 304 mi	Trujillo	$714
490 km or 304 mi	Pucallpa	$489
567 km or 352 mi	Cajamarca	$549
572 km or 355 mi	Cusco	$626
623 km or 387 mi	Tarapoto	$562
655 km or 407 mi	Chachapoyas	$549
663 km or 412 mi	Chiclayo	$598
685 km or 426 mi	Cruzeiro do Sul	$580
732 km or 455 mi	Jaen	$548
765 km or 475 mi	Arequipa	$588
838 km or 521 mi	Juliaca	$547
855 km or 531 mi	Puerto Maldonado	$560
858 km or 533 mi	Piura	$565
866 km or 538 mi	Puno	$520
891 km or 554 mi	Sullana	$505
896 km or 557 mi	Paita	$518
927 km or 576 mi	Loja	$600
952 km or 591 mi	Talara	$513
987 km or 614 mi	Mancora	$505
988 km or 614 mi	Tacna	$414
1014 km or 630 mi	Iquitos	$694
1014 km or 630 mi	Arica	$748
1015 km or 631 mi	Tumbes	$463
1029 km or 639 mi	Machala	$569
1032 km or 642 mi	Rio Branco	$735
1041 km or 647 mi	Cuenca	$758
1073 km or 666 mi	El Alto	$673
1077 km or 669 mi	La Paz	$688
1138 km or 707 mi	Milagro	$697

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