Philadelphia vs Soweto - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Philadelphia	Soweto
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2597	$923
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$6395	$1686
🏠 One person rent	$1516	$540
🏘️ Family rent	$2783	$553
🍽️ Food expenses	$737	$231
🚐 Transport expenses	$188	$88.6
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4131	$1598
😷 Air quality	Good	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	11 km	29 km
🎓 Higher education	99	63
😀 Quality of life	90	38
🏙️ Population	1.6M	1.27M

The cost of living in Philadelphia is 181% more expensive than in Soweto. Cities ranked 664th and 5917th ($2597 vs $923) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 610th and 6th 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 1.6 months in Philadelphia compared to 1.7 months in Soweto. Philadelphia ranked 28th best city to live in the United States vs Soweto ranked 10th in South Africa, while ranked 138th and 7204th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Philadelphia vs Soweto infographic

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Prices in Philadelphia vs Soweto

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

	Philadelphia	Soweto
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$20.1	$6.16
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$94.2	$26.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$12.1	$3.92
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$5.96	$2
☕ Cappuccino	$5.09	$2.01
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.56	$0.98
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1616	$827
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1200	$346
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3231	$511
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2273	$396
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$161	$64.8
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$247	$100
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$71.2	$33.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.74%	11.66%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3404	$850
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2379	$691
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.49	$1.98
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$95.3	$31
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$15.3	$8.52
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.94	$1.16
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.38	$1.02
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$4.25	$0.93
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.38	$1.31
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.09	$2.45
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$19.2	$7.54
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.8	$4.06
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$20.7	$6.2
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.02	$1.62
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.2	$1.47
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.12	$1.41
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.41	$1.46
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.59	$1.23
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.4	$1.23
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.66	$0.59
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.63	$1.17
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$15.1	$7.06
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.93	$1.43
🚬 Cigarette pack	$13.9	$2.68
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$9.19	$2.86
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.92	$2.46
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.89	$1.17
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.31	$0.49
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$50.6	$12.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$14.1	$5.71
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$102	$21.2
💇 Haircut, simple	$24.6	$3
👖 Brand Jeans	$52.3	$45.4
👟 Brand Sneakers	$89.6	$70.7
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$2066	$200
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$19774	$3805

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Philadelphia

Distance	City	Cost of living
5.2 km or 3.2 mi	Camden	$2625
9.2 km or 5.7 mi	Pennsauken Township	$2596
12 km or 7.1 mi	Cherry Hill	$2683
12 km or 7.7 mi	West Deptford Township	$2621
16 km or 9.9 mi	Fox Chase	$2415
16 km or 9.9 mi	Deptford Township	$2610
19 km or 12 mi	Moorestown	$2574
21 km or 13 mi	Gloucester Township	$2604
21 km or 13 mi	Chester	$2477
22 km or 14 mi	Mount Laurel	$2567
25 km or 15 mi	Evesham Township	$2600
25 km or 16 mi	Willingboro Township	$2591
31 km or 19 mi	Medford	$2608
35 km or 22 mi	Levittown	$2368
35 km or 22 mi	Winslow Township	$2600
36 km or 23 mi	Monroe Township	$2611
38 km or 23 mi	West Chester	$2787
40 km or 25 mi	Wilmington	$2493
46 km or 28 mi	Trenton	$2423
46 km or 29 mi	Ewing Township	$2582
50 km or 31 mi	Hamilton Township	$2541
52 km or 32 mi	Pottstown	$2353
54 km or 33 mi	Lawrence Township	$2683
56 km or 35 mi	Vineland	$2676
58 km or 36 mi	Newark	$2085
59 km or 36 mi	Bridgeton	$2653
62 km or 38 mi	Princeton	$2901
63 km or 39 mi	Millville	$2642
64 km or 39 mi	East Windsor Township	$2739
65 km or 40 mi	Plainsboro Township	$2919
67 km or 42 mi	Montgomery Township	$2819
67 km or 42 mi	Manchester Township	$2723
71 km or 44 mi	Jackson Township	$2782
72 km or 45 mi	South Brunswick	$2849
77 km or 48 mi	Allentown	$2303
77 km or 48 mi	Bethlehem	$2264
77 km or 48 mi	Hillsborough Township	$2880
78 km or 48 mi	Reading	$2320
78 km or 49 mi	Barnegat Township	$2557
79 km or 49 mi	Manalapan Township	$2693

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