Rio de Janeiro vs Soweto - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Rio de Janeiro	Soweto
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1013	$1057
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2476	$1932
🏠 One person rent	$502	$620
🏘️ Family rent	$806	$639
🍽️ Food expenses	$272	$268
🚐 Transport expenses	$151	$99.3
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$491	$1631
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	3 km	29 km
🎓 Higher education	95	63
😀 Quality of life	67	48
🏙️ Population	6.21M	1.27M

The cost of living in Rio de Janeiro is 4% less expensive than in Soweto. Cities ranked 5559th and 5251st ($1013 vs $1057) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 2nd and 6th 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 1.5 months in Soweto. Rio de Janeiro ranked 4th best city to live in Brazil vs Soweto ranked 8th in South Africa, while ranked 4845th and 6890th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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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	$6.99	$7.11
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$31.1	$30.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$6.8	$4.5
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.13	$2.17
☕ Cappuccino	$2.56	$2.37
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.48	$1.15
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$574	$942
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$353	$394
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$959	$587
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$578	$452
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$85.8	$79.7
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$133	$124
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$19.1	$36.5
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.13%	11.11%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2256	$933
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1317	$779
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.07	$2.16
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$48	$35.3
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$8.6	$9.53
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.17	$1.29
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.14	$1.19
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.62	$1.06
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.29	$1.52
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.16	$2.77
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.04	$8.88
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.28	$4.58
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.72	$7.57
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.43	$1.88
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.65	$1.65
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.65	$1.79
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.53	$1.68
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.18	$1.38
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.16	$1.39
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.4	$0.75
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.73	$1.34
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$7.51	$7.95
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.24	$1.81
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.27	$3.08
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$3.86	$3.28
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.33	$2.8
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.2	$1.33
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.06	$0.56
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$27.1	$15.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$7.13	$5.97
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$48.8	$23.9
💇 Haircut, simple	$7.96	$3.44
👖 Brand Jeans	$44.6	$52.7
👟 Brand Sneakers	$76.6	$76.9
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$550	$229
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$13739	$4370

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	$792
18 km or 11 mi	Duque de Caxias	$648
21 km or 13 mi	Sao Joao de Meriti	$681
26 km or 16 mi	Belford Roxo	$851
31 km or 19 mi	Nova Iguacu	$632
45 km or 28 mi	Petropolis	$782
60 km or 37 mi	Teresopolis	$537
70 km or 44 mi	Saquarema	$614
98 km or 61 mi	Nova Friburgo	$482
102 km or 64 mi	Volta Redonda	$576
108 km or 67 mi	Barra Mansa	$600
112 km or 70 mi	Sao Pedro da Aldeia	$579
115 km or 72 mi	Angra dos Reis	$733
121 km or 75 mi	Cabo Frio	$533
130 km or 81 mi	Juiz de Fora	$600
135 km or 84 mi	Rio das Ostras	$548
137 km or 85 mi	Resende	$652
157 km or 97 mi	Macae	$679
184 km or 115 mi	Cruzeiro	$672
196 km or 122 mi	Barbacena	$565
199 km or 123 mi	Lorena	$709
200 km or 124 mi	Ubatuba	$678
201 km or 125 mi	Uba	$625
208 km or 129 mi	Guaratingueta	$684
215 km or 134 mi	Muriae	$585
226 km or 140 mi	Sao Joao del-Rei	$568
231 km or 144 mi	Campos dos Goytacazes	$564
232 km or 144 mi	Pindamonhangaba	$656
238 km or 148 mi	Itajuba	$565
240 km or 149 mi	Caraguatatuba	$667
241 km or 150 mi	Taubate	$645
242 km or 150 mi	Vicosa	$643
245 km or 152 mi	Sao Sebastiao	$679
251 km or 156 mi	Tres Coracoes	$594
257 km or 160 mi	Conselheiro Lafaiete	$679
258 km or 160 mi	Cacapava	$702
264 km or 164 mi	Lavras	$562
275 km or 171 mi	Varginha	$505
277 km or 172 mi	Sao Jose dos Campos	$877
279 km or 173 mi	Ponte Nova	$631

Cities near Soweto

Distance	City	Cost of living
19 km or 12 mi	Johannesburg	$1171
24 km or 15 mi	Randburg	$958
26 km or 16 mi	Sandton	$1089
46 km or 28 mi	Vereeniging	$765
46 km or 29 mi	Benoni	$892
48 km or 30 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$865
56 km or 34 mi	Centurion	$967
58 km or 36 mi	Springs	$792
66 km or 41 mi	Pretoria	$1049
73 km or 45 mi	Brits	$950
91 km or 56 mi	Potchefstroom	$791
92 km or 57 mi	Rustenburg	$1017
137 km or 85 mi	Klerksdorp	$826
159 km or 99 mi	Bethal	$910
166 km or 103 mi	Kroonstad	$875
170 km or 106 mi	Middelburg	$899
222 km or 138 mi	Welkom	$826
228 km or 142 mi	Mmabatho	$901
249 km or 155 mi	Lobatse	$697
266 km or 165 mi	Gaborone	$731
282 km or 175 mi	Butha-Buthe	$604
290 km or 180 mi	Kanye	$694
315 km or 196 mi	Molepolole	$662
321 km or 199 mi	Teyateyaneng	$573
329 km or 204 mi	Mbabane	$652
335 km or 208 mi	Vryheid	$912
341 km or 212 mi	Maseru	$681
350 km or 217 mi	Manzini	$511
354 km or 220 mi	Bloemfontein	$763
367 km or 228 mi	Mahalapye	$628
399 km or 248 mi	Mafeteng	$630
412 km or 256 mi	Kimberley	$927
420 km or 261 mi	Palapye	$551
446 km or 277 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$716
447 km or 278 mi	Serowe	$583
461 km or 286 mi	Matola	$916
472 km or 293 mi	Maputo	$966
506 km or 314 mi	Durban	$948
567 km or 353 mi	Francistown	$633
595 km or 370 mi	Xai-Xai	$950