London vs Soweto - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	London	Soweto
🚶 Cost of living one person	$3740	$1057
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$8537	$1932
🏠 One person rent	$2516	$620
🏘️ Family rent	$4294	$639
🍽️ Food expenses	$631	$268
🚐 Transport expenses	$412	$99.3
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3678	$1631
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	13 km	29 km
🎓 Higher education	100	63
😀 Quality of life	96	48
🏙️ Population	8.8M	1.27M

The cost of living in London is 254% more expensive than in Soweto. Cities ranked 20th and 5251st ($3740 vs $1057) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 6th 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 months in London compared to 1.5 months in Soweto. London ranked 1st best city to live in the United Kingdom vs Soweto ranked 8th in South Africa, while ranked 12th and 6890th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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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	$22.5	$7.11
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$98	$30.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$11.7	$4.5
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$9.2	$2.17
☕ Cappuccino	$5.94	$2.37
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.15	$1.15
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$2958	$942
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$2140	$394
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$4865	$587
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3773	$452
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$169	$79.7
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$260	$124
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$42.3	$36.5
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	4.75%	11.11%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$20369	$933
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$10989	$779
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$4.62	$2.16
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$105	$35.3
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$31.9	$9.53
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.86	$1.29
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.87	$1.19
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.25	$1.06
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.42	$1.52
🥚 Eggs, x12	$5.71	$2.77
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.7	$8.88
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.98	$4.58
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$18.3	$7.57
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.13	$1.88
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.59	$1.65
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.98	$1.79
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.8	$1.68
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.46	$1.38
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.82	$1.39
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.2	$0.75
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.79	$1.34
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$14	$7.95
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.33	$1.81
🚬 Cigarette pack	$23.6	$3.08
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.84	$3.28
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$6.87	$2.8
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.9	$1.33
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.44	$0.56
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$68.5	$15.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$20.3	$5.97
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$79.9	$23.9
💇 Haircut, simple	$15.2	$3.44
👖 Brand Jeans	$117	$52.7
👟 Brand Sneakers	$122	$76.9
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$2594	$229
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$30567	$4370

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	$3038
11 km or 7 mi	Wimbledon	$2559
13 km or 8.3 mi	Richmond	$2498
15 km or 9.3 mi	Croydon	$2564
16 km or 10 mi	Greenford	$2419
19 km or 12 mi	Ewell	$2417
21 km or 13 mi	Coulsdon	$2406
23 km or 14 mi	Esher	$2395
24 km or 15 mi	Walton-on-Thames	$2382
25 km or 15 mi	Watford	$2661
27 km or 17 mi	Upminster	$2336
28 km or 17 mi	Rickmansworth	$2426
31 km or 19 mi	St Albans	$2490
32 km or 20 mi	Grays	$2227
32 km or 20 mi	Hertford	$2271
32 km or 20 mi	Slough	$2345
32 km or 20 mi	Brentwood	$2675
35 km or 22 mi	Harlow	$2152
35 km or 22 mi	Gravesend	$2259
35 km or 22 mi	Hemel Hempstead	$2321
37 km or 23 mi	Woking	$2567
38 km or 24 mi	Harpenden	$2276
40 km or 25 mi	Billericay	$2260
41 km or 25 mi	Maidenhead	$2846
43 km or 27 mi	East Grinstead	$2265
43 km or 27 mi	Basildon	$2188
43 km or 27 mi	Guildford	$2622
44 km or 27 mi	Crawley	$2385
44 km or 27 mi	Stevenage	$2262
44 km or 27 mi	Bracknell	$2485
44 km or 28 mi	Rochester	$1860
44 km or 28 mi	Tonbridge	$2191
45 km or 28 mi	High Wycombe	$2215
46 km or 28 mi	Bishop's Stortford	$2223
46 km or 28 mi	Luton	$2212
47 km or 29 mi	Chatham	$2576
49 km or 30 mi	Chelmsford	$2111
49 km or 30 mi	Gillingham	$2377
49 km or 30 mi	Godalming	$2472
49 km or 31 mi	Farnborough	$2199

Cities near Soweto

Distance	City	Cost of living
19 km or 12 mi	Johannesburg	$1171
24 km or 15 mi	Randburg	$958
26 km or 16 mi	Sandton	$1089
46 km or 28 mi	Vereeniging	$765
46 km or 29 mi	Benoni	$892
48 km or 30 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$865
56 km or 34 mi	Centurion	$967
58 km or 36 mi	Springs	$792
66 km or 41 mi	Pretoria	$1049
73 km or 45 mi	Brits	$950
91 km or 56 mi	Potchefstroom	$791
92 km or 57 mi	Rustenburg	$1017
137 km or 85 mi	Klerksdorp	$826
159 km or 99 mi	Bethal	$910
166 km or 103 mi	Kroonstad	$875
170 km or 106 mi	Middelburg	$899
222 km or 138 mi	Welkom	$826
228 km or 142 mi	Mmabatho	$901
249 km or 155 mi	Lobatse	$697
266 km or 165 mi	Gaborone	$731
282 km or 175 mi	Butha-Buthe	$604
290 km or 180 mi	Kanye	$694
315 km or 196 mi	Molepolole	$662
321 km or 199 mi	Teyateyaneng	$573
329 km or 204 mi	Mbabane	$652
335 km or 208 mi	Vryheid	$912
341 km or 212 mi	Maseru	$681
350 km or 217 mi	Manzini	$511
354 km or 220 mi	Bloemfontein	$763
367 km or 228 mi	Mahalapye	$628
399 km or 248 mi	Mafeteng	$630
412 km or 256 mi	Kimberley	$927
420 km or 261 mi	Palapye	$551
446 km or 277 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$716
447 km or 278 mi	Serowe	$583
461 km or 286 mi	Matola	$916
472 km or 293 mi	Maputo	$966
506 km or 314 mi	Durban	$948
567 km or 353 mi	Francistown	$633
595 km or 370 mi	Xai-Xai	$950