London vs Soweto - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	London	Soweto
🚶 Cost of living one person	$3296	$923
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$7841	$1686
🏠 One person rent	$2211	$540
🏘️ Family rent	$4100	$553
🍽️ Food expenses	$551	$231
🚐 Transport expenses	$375	$88.6
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4153	$1598
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	13 km	29 km
🎓 Higher education	100	63
😀 Quality of life	99	38
🏙️ Population	8.8M	1.27M

The cost of living in London is 257% more expensive than in Soweto. Cities ranked 58th and 5917th ($3296 vs $923) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 2nd 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 1.3 months in London compared to 1.7 months in Soweto. London ranked 1st best city to live in the United Kingdom vs Soweto ranked 10th in South Africa, while ranked 4th 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 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	$21.4	$6.16
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$84	$26.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.67	$3.92
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$8.03	$2
☕ Cappuccino	$4.64	$2.01
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.46	$0.98
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$2704	$827
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1831	$346
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$5123	$511
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3478	$396
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$167	$64.8
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$255	$100
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$38.5	$33.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	5.06%	11.66%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$20412	$850
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$10524	$691
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$3.62	$1.98
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$91.9	$31
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$30.2	$8.52
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.82	$1.16
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.53	$1.02
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.86	$0.93
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.25	$1.31
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.77	$2.45
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11	$7.54
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.95	$4.06
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.5	$6.2
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.95	$1.62
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.75	$1.47
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.99	$1.41
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.14	$1.46
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.43	$1.23
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.59	$1.23
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.1	$0.59
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.87	$1.17
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$11.9	$7.06
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.74	$1.43
🚬 Cigarette pack	$20.2	$2.68
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$3.29	$2.86
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.99	$2.46
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.7	$1.17
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.61	$0.49
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$55.7	$12.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$17.6	$5.71
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$69.7	$21.2
💇 Haircut, simple	$15.3	$3
👖 Brand Jeans	$97.6	$45.4
👟 Brand Sneakers	$113	$70.7
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$2250	$200
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$26090	$3805

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	$2868
11 km or 7 mi	Wimbledon	$2332
13 km or 8.3 mi	Richmond	$2273
15 km or 9.3 mi	Croydon	$2414
16 km or 10 mi	Greenford	$2209
19 km or 12 mi	Ewell	$2207
21 km or 13 mi	Coulsdon	$2214
23 km or 14 mi	Esher	$2185
24 km or 15 mi	Walton-on-Thames	$2182
25 km or 15 mi	Watford	$2470
27 km or 17 mi	Upminster	$2136
28 km or 17 mi	Rickmansworth	$2217
31 km or 19 mi	St Albans	$2261
32 km or 20 mi	Grays	$2028
32 km or 20 mi	Hertford	$2076
32 km or 20 mi	Slough	$2112
32 km or 20 mi	Brentwood	$2433
35 km or 22 mi	Harlow	$2199
35 km or 22 mi	Gravesend	$2035
35 km or 22 mi	Hemel Hempstead	$2122
37 km or 23 mi	Woking	$2429
38 km or 24 mi	Harpenden	$2052
40 km or 25 mi	Billericay	$2048
41 km or 25 mi	Maidenhead	$2623
43 km or 27 mi	East Grinstead	$2052
43 km or 27 mi	Basildon	$1924
43 km or 27 mi	Guildford	$2422
44 km or 27 mi	Crawley	$2092
44 km or 27 mi	Stevenage	$1987
44 km or 27 mi	Bracknell	$2248
44 km or 28 mi	Rochester	$1973
44 km or 28 mi	Tonbridge	$2063
45 km or 28 mi	High Wycombe	$2089
46 km or 28 mi	Bishop's Stortford	$2062
46 km or 28 mi	Luton	$1885
47 km or 29 mi	Chatham	$2263
49 km or 30 mi	Chelmsford	$1948
49 km or 30 mi	Gillingham	$2135
49 km or 30 mi	Godalming	$2344
49 km or 31 mi	Farnborough	$2009

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