Los Angeles vs Soweto - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Los Angeles	Soweto
🚶 Cost of living one person	$3361	$984
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$7751	$1812
🏠 One person rent	$2151	$567
🏘️ Family rent	$3720	$581
🍽️ Food expenses	$750	$247
🚐 Transport expenses	$245	$104
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4549	$1672
😷 Air quality	Good	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	17 km	29 km
🎓 Higher education	99	63
😀 Quality of life	94	45
🏙️ Population	3.9M	1.27M

The cost of living in Los Angeles is 242% more expensive than in Soweto. Cities ranked 65th and 5704th ($3361 vs $984) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 51st and 7th in the United States and South Africa, respectively. Check the United States vs South Africa comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.4 months in Los Angeles compared to 1.7 months in Soweto. Los Angeles ranked 14th best city to live in the United States vs Soweto ranked 9th in South Africa, while ranked 74th and 7050th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Los Angeles vs Soweto infographic

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

Prices in Los Angeles vs Soweto

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

	Los Angeles	Soweto
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$22.6	$6.53
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$90.5	$28.3
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$13.2	$4.24
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$8.27	$2
☕ Cappuccino	$6.49	$2.14
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.83	$1.07
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$2364	$867
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1847	$362
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$4128	$538
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3274	$415
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$131	$69.9
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$205	$108
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$69.6	$33.8
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.62%	11.64%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7753	$907
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6833	$724
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.99	$2.49
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$81.9	$32.3
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$19.5	$11.3
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.24	$1.2
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.3	$1.14
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$3.99	$0.96
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.39	$1.33
🥚 Eggs, x12	$7.62	$2.62
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15.8	$8.24
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15.6	$4.25
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$20.3	$6.66
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.28	$1.71
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.75	$1.56
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.64	$1.63
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.76	$1.55
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.88	$1.31
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.64	$1.2
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.49	$0.66
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$4.04	$1.21
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$15.2	$7.85
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.97	$1.65
🚬 Cigarette pack	$13.2	$2.69
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$10.4	$2.99
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$9.09	$2.57
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$5.34	$1.23
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.8	$0.51
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$68.9	$13.5
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$18	$6
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$168	$21.9
💇 Haircut, simple	$31.8	$3.1
👖 Brand Jeans	$62	$49.6
👟 Brand Sneakers	$102	$75.1
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1849	$202
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$26874	$3811

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Los Angeles

Distance	City	Cost of living
8.1 km or 5 mi	Huntington Park	$2803
8.9 km or 5.5 mi	Maywood	$2786
9.2 km or 5.7 mi	Florence-Graham	$2844
10 km or 6.2 mi	Bell	$2780
10 km or 6.2 mi	Monterey Park	$2722
11 km or 6.6 mi	Alhambra	$2940
11 km or 6.6 mi	South Pasadena	$2952
11 km or 7 mi	Cudahy	$2764
12 km or 7.6 mi	San Gabriel	$3132
12 km or 7.7 mi	Bell Gardens	$2728
12 km or 7.8 mi	West Hollywood	$3036
13 km or 7.8 mi	Montebello	$2739
13 km or 8 mi	South Gate	$2762
13 km or 8.2 mi	Glendale	$3656
14 km or 8.8 mi	Inglewood	$2947
15 km or 9 mi	Beverly Hills	$2917
15 km or 9.1 mi	Lynwood	$2807
15 km or 9.3 mi	Rosemead	$2822
15 km or 9.5 mi	Culver	$3002
15 km or 9.6 mi	Pasadena	$3706
16 km or 9.9 mi	Pico Rivera	$2758
16 km or 10 mi	Burbank	$3288
16 km or 10 mi	Downey	$2650
17 km or 11 mi	Compton	$2856
18 km or 11 mi	La Canada Flintridge	$3119
18 km or 11 mi	Hawthorne	$2970
18 km or 11 mi	Temple	$2855
18 km or 11 mi	South El Monte	$2794
18 km or 11 mi	West Whittier-Los Nietos	$2769
18 km or 11 mi	Paramount	$2731
19 km or 12 mi	Gardena	$3004
20 km or 12 mi	El Monte	$2810
21 km or 13 mi	Lawndale	$3122
21 km or 13 mi	Arcadia	$3008
21 km or 13 mi	Bellflower	$2725
22 km or 14 mi	Norwalk	$2682
22 km or 14 mi	Santa Monica	$3595
22 km or 14 mi	Whittier	$2788
23 km or 15 mi	Manhattan Beach	$3191
24 km or 15 mi	Carson	$2927

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