London vs Soweto - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	London	Soweto
🚶 Cost of living one person	$3851	$984
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$8597	$1812
🏠 One person rent	$2689	$567
🏘️ Family rent	$4575	$581
🍽️ Food expenses	$592	$247
🚐 Transport expenses	$400	$104
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4336	$1672
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	13 km	29 km
🎓 Higher education	100	63
😀 Quality of life	99	45
🏙️ Population	8.8M	1.27M

The cost of living in London is 291% more expensive than in Soweto. Cities ranked 8th and 5704th ($3851 vs $984) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 7th in the United Kingdom and South Africa, respectively. Check the United Kingdom vs South Africa comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.1 months in London compared to 1.7 months in Soweto. London ranked 1st best city to live in the United Kingdom vs Soweto ranked 9th in South Africa, while ranked 5th and 7050th among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in London vs Soweto infographic

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

Prices in London vs Soweto

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

	London	Soweto
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$22.2	$6.53
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$91.7	$28.3
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$10.2	$4.24
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$9.11	$2
☕ Cappuccino	$5.24	$2.14
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.08	$1.07
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$3237	$867
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$2291	$362
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$4710	$538
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$4163	$415
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$170	$69.9
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$264	$108
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$39.1	$33.8
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	4.83%	11.64%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$21687	$907
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$11040	$724
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$4.04	$2.49
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$101	$32.3
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$31.5	$11.3
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.85	$1.2
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.65	$1.14
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.11	$0.96
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.38	$1.33
🥚 Eggs, x12	$5.16	$2.62
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12	$8.24
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.17	$4.25
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15.8	$6.66
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.05	$1.71
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.72	$1.56
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.18	$1.63
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.28	$1.55
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.43	$1.31
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.82	$1.2
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.2	$0.66
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.31	$1.21
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$13.2	$7.85
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.12	$1.65
🚬 Cigarette pack	$22.4	$2.69
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.31	$2.99
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$6	$2.57
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.76	$1.23
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.97	$0.51
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$59	$13.5
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$18.6	$6
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$69.9	$21.9
💇 Haircut, simple	$16.9	$3.1
👖 Brand Jeans	$110	$49.6
👟 Brand Sneakers	$120	$75.1
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$2511	$202
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$27583	$3811

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near London

Distance	City	Cost of living
1.3 km or 0.8 mi	Westminster	$2960
11 km or 7 mi	Wimbledon	$2512
13 km or 8.3 mi	Richmond	$2449
15 km or 9.3 mi	Croydon	$2514
16 km or 10 mi	Greenford	$2435
19 km or 12 mi	Ewell	$2367
21 km or 13 mi	Coulsdon	$2352
23 km or 14 mi	Esher	$2337
24 km or 15 mi	Walton-on-Thames	$2326
25 km or 15 mi	Watford	$2633
27 km or 17 mi	Upminster	$2299
28 km or 17 mi	Rickmansworth	$2374
31 km or 19 mi	St Albans	$2456
32 km or 20 mi	Grays	$2200
32 km or 20 mi	Hertford	$2197
32 km or 20 mi	Slough	$2273
32 km or 20 mi	Brentwood	$2655
35 km or 22 mi	Harlow	$2091
35 km or 22 mi	Gravesend	$2176
35 km or 22 mi	Hemel Hempstead	$2274
37 km or 23 mi	Woking	$2515
38 km or 24 mi	Harpenden	$2224
40 km or 25 mi	Billericay	$2205
41 km or 25 mi	Maidenhead	$2785
43 km or 27 mi	East Grinstead	$2206
43 km or 27 mi	Basildon	$2164
43 km or 27 mi	Guildford	$2559
44 km or 27 mi	Crawley	$2275
44 km or 27 mi	Stevenage	$2223
44 km or 27 mi	Bracknell	$2469
44 km or 28 mi	Rochester	$1780
44 km or 28 mi	Tonbridge	$2118
45 km or 28 mi	High Wycombe	$2122
46 km or 28 mi	Bishop's Stortford	$2132
46 km or 28 mi	Luton	$2160
47 km or 29 mi	Chatham	$2419
49 km or 30 mi	Chelmsford	$2000
49 km or 30 mi	Gillingham	$2245
49 km or 30 mi	Godalming	$2416
49 km or 31 mi	Farnborough	$2165

Cities near Soweto

Distance	City	Cost of living
19 km or 12 mi	Johannesburg	$1082
24 km or 15 mi	Randburg	$890
26 km or 16 mi	Sandton	$984
46 km or 28 mi	Vereeniging	$706
46 km or 29 mi	Benoni	$826
48 km or 30 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$799
56 km or 34 mi	Centurion	$892
58 km or 36 mi	Springs	$740
66 km or 41 mi	Pretoria	$975
73 km or 45 mi	Brits	$875
91 km or 56 mi	Potchefstroom	$731
92 km or 57 mi	Rustenburg	$940
137 km or 85 mi	Klerksdorp	$762
159 km or 99 mi	Bethal	$838
166 km or 103 mi	Kroonstad	$808
170 km or 106 mi	Middelburg	$830
222 km or 138 mi	Welkom	$762
228 km or 142 mi	Mmabatho	$833
249 km or 155 mi	Lobatse	$637
266 km or 165 mi	Gaborone	$668
282 km or 175 mi	Butha-Buthe	$570
290 km or 180 mi	Kanye	$637
315 km or 196 mi	Molepolole	$607
321 km or 199 mi	Teyateyaneng	$533
329 km or 204 mi	Mbabane	$599
335 km or 208 mi	Vryheid	$827
341 km or 212 mi	Maseru	$650
350 km or 217 mi	Manzini	$469
354 km or 220 mi	Bloemfontein	$698
367 km or 228 mi	Mahalapye	$577
399 km or 248 mi	Mafeteng	$598
412 km or 256 mi	Kimberley	$861
420 km or 261 mi	Palapye	$514
446 km or 277 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$705
447 km or 278 mi	Serowe	$536
461 km or 286 mi	Matola	$908
472 km or 293 mi	Maputo	$915
506 km or 314 mi	Durban	$892
567 km or 353 mi	Francistown	$587
595 km or 370 mi	Xai-Xai	$915