Rio de Janeiro vs Soweto - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Rio de Janeiro	Soweto
🚶 Cost of living one person	$940	$984
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2347	$1812
🏠 One person rent	$458	$567
🏘️ Family rent	$770	$581
🍽️ Food expenses	$258	$247
🚐 Transport expenses	$137	$104
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$442	$1672
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	3 km	29 km
🎓 Higher education	95	63
😀 Quality of life	67	45
🏙️ Population	6.21M	1.27M

The cost of living in Rio de Janeiro is 4% less expensive than in Soweto. Cities ranked 6006th and 5704th ($940 vs $984) 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 1.7 months in Soweto. Rio de Janeiro ranked 2nd best city to live in Brazil vs Soweto ranked 9th in South Africa, while ranked 4818th and 7050th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Rio de Janeiro vs Soweto infographic

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<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	$6.45	$6.53
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$31.1	$28.3
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$6.48	$4.24
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.85	$2
☕ Cappuccino	$2.36	$2.14
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.31	$1.07
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$501	$867
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$324	$362
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$881	$538
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$563	$415
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$79.9	$69.9
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$125	$108
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$18.1	$33.8
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.58%	11.64%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1966	$907
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1150	$724
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.25	$2.49
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$41.5	$32.3
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$7.88	$11.3
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.09	$1.2
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.06	$1.14
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.48	$0.96
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.24	$1.33
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.09	$2.62
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.65	$8.24
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.96	$4.25
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.22	$6.66
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.38	$1.71
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.56	$1.56
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.56	$1.63
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.47	$1.55
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.22	$1.31
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.13	$1.2
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.39	$0.66
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.69	$1.21
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$7.11	$7.85
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.17	$1.65
🚬 Cigarette pack	$1.99	$2.69
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$3.4	$2.99
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.18	$2.57
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.06	$1.23
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.98	$0.51
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$25.7	$13.5
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$6.37	$6
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$51.8	$21.9
💇 Haircut, simple	$8.04	$3.1
👖 Brand Jeans	$45.1	$49.6
👟 Brand Sneakers	$74.6	$75.1
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$531	$202
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$12076	$3811

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	$739
18 km or 11 mi	Duque de Caxias	$653
21 km or 13 mi	Sao Joao de Meriti	$648
26 km or 16 mi	Belford Roxo	$810
31 km or 19 mi	Nova Iguacu	$590
45 km or 28 mi	Petropolis	$706
60 km or 37 mi	Teresopolis	$498
70 km or 44 mi	Saquarema	$564
98 km or 61 mi	Nova Friburgo	$445
102 km or 64 mi	Volta Redonda	$539
108 km or 67 mi	Barra Mansa	$557
112 km or 70 mi	Sao Pedro da Aldeia	$530
115 km or 72 mi	Angra dos Reis	$683
121 km or 75 mi	Cabo Frio	$525
130 km or 81 mi	Juiz de Fora	$550
135 km or 84 mi	Rio das Ostras	$506
137 km or 85 mi	Resende	$603
157 km or 97 mi	Macae	$625
184 km or 115 mi	Cruzeiro	$631
196 km or 122 mi	Barbacena	$540
199 km or 123 mi	Lorena	$673
200 km or 124 mi	Ubatuba	$632
201 km or 125 mi	Uba	$597
208 km or 129 mi	Guaratingueta	$643
215 km or 134 mi	Muriae	$613
226 km or 140 mi	Sao Joao del-Rei	$541
231 km or 144 mi	Campos dos Goytacazes	$518
232 km or 144 mi	Pindamonhangaba	$620
238 km or 148 mi	Itajuba	$536
240 km or 149 mi	Caraguatatuba	$625
241 km or 150 mi	Taubate	$611
242 km or 150 mi	Vicosa	$618
245 km or 152 mi	Sao Sebastiao	$633
251 km or 156 mi	Tres Coracoes	$559
257 km or 160 mi	Conselheiro Lafaiete	$644
258 km or 160 mi	Cacapava	$657
264 km or 164 mi	Lavras	$530
275 km or 171 mi	Varginha	$492
277 km or 172 mi	Sao Jose dos Campos	$819
279 km or 173 mi	Ponte Nova	$586

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