Rio de Janeiro vs Soweto - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Rio de Janeiro	Soweto
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1095	$1031
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2561	$1903
🏠 One person rent	$567	$604
🏘️ Family rent	$856	$628
🍽️ Food expenses	$285	$268
🚐 Transport expenses	$156	$90.8
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$550	$382
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	3 km	29 km
🎓 Higher education	95	63
😀 Quality of life	72	43
🏙️ Population	6.21M	1.27M

The cost of living in Rio de Janeiro is 6% more expensive than in Soweto. Cities ranked 5029th and 5331st ($1095 vs $1031) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 2nd and 7th in Brazil and South Africa, respectively. Check Brazil vs South Africa comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.5 months in Rio de Janeiro compared to 0.4 months in Soweto. Rio de Janeiro ranked 2nd best city to live in Brazil vs Soweto ranked 10th in South Africa, while ranked 2767th and 7513th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Share this picture

Use the link below to embed the infographic from our site and automatically keep the data layer up to date.

If you prefer to download the image, please credit us as a source.

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

Prices in Rio de Janeiro vs Soweto

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

	Rio de Janeiro	Soweto
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$6.94	$6.93
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$34.7	$29.8
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$7.83	$4.63
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.4	$2.12
☕ Cappuccino	$2.75	$2.31
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.53	$1.08
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$657	$911
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$408	$382
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1011	$566
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$621	$444
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$89.7	$81.4
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$137	$125
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$19.9	$34.5
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.87%	11.01%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2589	$980
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1468	$760
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.97	$2
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$50.2	$34
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$8.88	$8.05
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.24	$1.25
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.08	$1.13
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.6	$1.03
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.24	$1.46
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.24	$2.74
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.47	$8.54
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.36	$4.62
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.43	$7.66
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.48	$1.89
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.7	$1.76
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.64	$1.82
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.58	$1.63
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.14	$1.36
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.04	$1.39
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.46	$0.87
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.8	$1.29
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$8.15	$8.13
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.19	$1.69
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.59	$2.98
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$3.95	$3.15
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.36	$2.75
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.21	$1.3
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.06	$0.54
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$26.6	$14.3
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$7.19	$5.86
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$50.2	$23
💇 Haircut, simple	$7.98	$3.31
👖 Brand Jeans	$42.5	$53.1
👟 Brand Sneakers	$70.9	$78.8
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$554	$243
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$12842	$5012

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Rio de Janeiro

Distance	City	Cost of living
9.9 km or 6.2 mi	Niteroi	$824
18 km or 11 mi	Duque de Caxias	$651
21 km or 13 mi	Sao Joao de Meriti	$688
26 km or 16 mi	Belford Roxo	$858
31 km or 19 mi	Nova Iguacu	$617
45 km or 28 mi	Petropolis	$805
60 km or 37 mi	Teresopolis	$546
70 km or 44 mi	Saquarema	$623
98 km or 61 mi	Nova Friburgo	$488
102 km or 64 mi	Volta Redonda	$581
108 km or 67 mi	Barra Mansa	$607
112 km or 70 mi	Sao Pedro da Aldeia	$586
115 km or 72 mi	Angra dos Reis	$737
121 km or 75 mi	Cabo Frio	$531
130 km or 81 mi	Juiz de Fora	$623
135 km or 84 mi	Rio das Ostras	$562
137 km or 85 mi	Resende	$655
157 km or 97 mi	Macae	$668
184 km or 115 mi	Cruzeiro	$686
196 km or 122 mi	Barbacena	$568
199 km or 123 mi	Lorena	$729
200 km or 124 mi	Ubatuba	$682
201 km or 125 mi	Uba	$634
208 km or 129 mi	Guaratingueta	$696
215 km or 134 mi	Muriae	$566
226 km or 140 mi	Sao Joao del-Rei	$584
231 km or 144 mi	Campos dos Goytacazes	$567
232 km or 144 mi	Pindamonhangaba	$663
238 km or 148 mi	Itajuba	$576
240 km or 149 mi	Caraguatatuba	$671
241 km or 150 mi	Taubate	$667
242 km or 150 mi	Vicosa	$670
245 km or 152 mi	Sao Sebastiao	$684
251 km or 156 mi	Tres Coracoes	$610
257 km or 160 mi	Conselheiro Lafaiete	$695
258 km or 160 mi	Cacapava	$711
264 km or 164 mi	Lavras	$577
275 km or 171 mi	Varginha	$519
277 km or 172 mi	Sao Jose dos Campos	$884
279 km or 173 mi	Ponte Nova	$634

Cities near Soweto

Distance	City	Cost of living
19 km or 12 mi	Johannesburg	$1204
24 km or 15 mi	Randburg	$912
26 km or 16 mi	Sandton	$1104
46 km or 28 mi	Vereeniging	$742
46 km or 29 mi	Benoni	$851
48 km or 30 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$867
56 km or 34 mi	Centurion	$997
58 km or 36 mi	Springs	$784
66 km or 41 mi	Pretoria	$1015
73 km or 45 mi	Brits	$950
91 km or 56 mi	Potchefstroom	$789
92 km or 57 mi	Rustenburg	$994
137 km or 85 mi	Klerksdorp	$860
159 km or 99 mi	Bethal	$902
166 km or 103 mi	Kroonstad	$872
170 km or 106 mi	Middelburg	$875
222 km or 138 mi	Welkom	$811
228 km or 142 mi	Mmabatho	$903
249 km or 155 mi	Lobatse	$691
266 km or 165 mi	Gaborone	$723
282 km or 175 mi	Butha-Buthe	$589
290 km or 180 mi	Kanye	$691
315 km or 196 mi	Molepolole	$663
321 km or 199 mi	Teyateyaneng	$558
329 km or 204 mi	Mbabane	$607
335 km or 208 mi	Vryheid	$882
341 km or 212 mi	Maseru	$660
350 km or 217 mi	Manzini	$494
354 km or 220 mi	Bloemfontein	$742
367 km or 228 mi	Mahalapye	$615
399 km or 248 mi	Mafeteng	$611
412 km or 256 mi	Kimberley	$904
420 km or 261 mi	Palapye	$549
446 km or 277 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$725
447 km or 278 mi	Serowe	$590
461 km or 286 mi	Matola	$912
472 km or 293 mi	Maputo	$1014
506 km or 314 mi	Durban	$938
567 km or 353 mi	Francistown	$632
595 km or 370 mi	Xai-Xai	$965