Maseru vs Soweto - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Maseru	Soweto
🚶 Cost of living one person	$621	$923
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1508	$1686
🏠 One person rent	$219	$540
🏘️ Family rent	$409	$553
🍽️ Food expenses	$305	$231
🚐 Transport expenses	$39.7	$88.6
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$611	$1598
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	18 km	29 km
🎓 Higher education	16	63
😀 Quality of life	13	38
🏙️ Population	344K	1.27M

The cost of living in Maseru is 33% less expensive than in Soweto. Cities ranked 7441st and 5917th ($621 vs $923) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 6th in Lesotho and South Africa, respectively. Check Lesotho vs South Africa comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1 months in Maseru compared to 1.7 months in Soweto. Maseru ranked 1st best city to live in Lesotho vs Soweto ranked 10th in South Africa, while ranked 9104th and 7204th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Maseru vs Soweto infographic

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

Prices in Maseru vs Soweto

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

	Maseru	Soweto
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$10.9	$6.16
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$24.5	$26.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$10.9	$3.92
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.59	$2
☕ Cappuccino	$1.73	$2.01
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.25	$0.98
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$125	$827
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$63.3	$346
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$412	$511
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$150	$396
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$117	$64.8
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$180	$100
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$26.5	$33.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	8.53%	11.66%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$344	$850
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$472	$691
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.71	$1.98
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$27.8	$31
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$5.42	$8.52
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.01	$1.16
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.91	$1.02
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.71	$0.93
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.35	$1.31
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.48	$2.45
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.93	$7.54
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.54	$4.06
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.55	$6.2
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.38	$1.62
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.04	$1.47
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.47	$1.41
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.2	$1.46
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.42	$1.23
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.66	$1.23
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.53	$0.59
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.07	$1.17
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$5.77	$7.06
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.98	$1.43
🚬 Cigarette pack	$4.62	$2.68
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$3.5	$2.86
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$2.8	$2.46
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.66	$1.17
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.23	$0.49
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$20.8	$12.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.08	$5.71
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$12.5	$21.2
💇 Haircut, simple	$2.3	$3
👖 Brand Jeans	$41	$45.4
👟 Brand Sneakers	$79.5	$70.7
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$46.9	$200
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$1063	$3805

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Maseru

Distance	City	Cost of living
30 km or 19 mi	Teyateyaneng	$500
61 km or 38 mi	Mafeteng	$567
94 km or 58 mi	Butha-Buthe	$535
125 km or 78 mi	Bloemfontein	$657
165 km or 103 mi	Welkom	$748
187 km or 116 mi	Kroonstad	$768
272 km or 169 mi	Kimberley	$814
280 km or 174 mi	Mthatha	$852
283 km or 176 mi	Klerksdorp	$722
286 km or 178 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$640
291 km or 181 mi	Potchefstroom	$695
292 km or 182 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$773
294 km or 182 mi	Komani	$915
296 km or 184 mi	Vereeniging	$672
341 km or 212 mi	Soweto	$923
348 km or 216 mi	Durban	$809
350 km or 217 mi	Johannesburg	$993
353 km or 219 mi	Springs	$678
357 km or 222 mi	Benoni	$785
361 km or 224 mi	Sandton	$953
361 km or 225 mi	Randburg	$837
366 km or 227 mi	Vryheid	$763
372 km or 231 mi	Bethal	$784
390 km or 242 mi	Centurion	$807
394 km or 245 mi	Bhisho	$1332
402 km or 250 mi	Pretoria	$906
406 km or 252 mi	Rustenburg	$889
410 km or 255 mi	East London	$766
412 km or 256 mi	Brits	$820
426 km or 264 mi	Mmabatho	$780
440 km or 274 mi	Middelburg	$795
453 km or 281 mi	Makhanda	$763
489 km or 304 mi	Lobatse	$665
491 km or 305 mi	Mbabane	$562
495 km or 307 mi	Manzini	$442
525 km or 326 mi	Kanye	$664
532 km or 330 mi	Uitenhage	$840
540 km or 336 mi	Gaborone	$691
547 km or 340 mi	Port Elizabeth	$901
580 km or 360 mi	Molepolole	$628

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