Rotterdam vs Soweto - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Rotterdam	Soweto
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2615	$984
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$6248	$1812
🏠 One person rent	$1599	$567
🏘️ Family rent	$2836	$581
🍽️ Food expenses	$653	$247
🚐 Transport expenses	$206	$104
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3894	$1672
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	5 km	29 km
🎓 Higher education	94	63
😀 Quality of life	94	45
🏙️ Population	664K	1.27M

The cost of living in Rotterdam is 166% more expensive than in Soweto. Cities ranked 689th and 5704th ($2615 vs $984) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 5th and 7th in the Netherlands and South Africa, respectively. Check the Netherlands vs South Africa comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.5 months in Rotterdam compared to 1.7 months in Soweto. Rotterdam ranked 5th best city to live in the Netherlands vs Soweto ranked 9th in South Africa, while ranked 67th and 7050th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Rotterdam vs Soweto infographic

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

Prices in Rotterdam vs Soweto

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

	Rotterdam	Soweto
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$23.2	$6.53
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$91.9	$28.3
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$14	$4.24
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$7.86	$2
☕ Cappuccino	$4.59	$2.14
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.74	$1.07
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1583	$867
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1310	$362
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2846	$538
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2421	$415
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$177	$69.9
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$272	$108
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$57.3	$33.8
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.99%	11.64%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6107	$907
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4426	$724
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$4.32	$2.49
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$76	$32.3
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$33.1	$11.3
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$2.3	$1.2
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.41	$1.14
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.38	$0.96
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3	$1.33
🥚 Eggs, x12	$5.2	$2.62
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14	$8.24
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.2	$4.25
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$18.2	$6.66
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.1	$1.71
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.46	$1.56
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.38	$1.63
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.92	$1.55
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.93	$1.31
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2	$1.2
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.2	$0.66
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.96	$1.21
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$7.15	$7.85
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.73	$1.65
🚬 Cigarette pack	$14.3	$2.69
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$8.04	$2.99
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.17	$2.57
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.83	$1.23
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.95	$0.51
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$48.7	$13.5
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$17.6	$6
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$41	$21.9
💇 Haircut, simple	$22.4	$3.1
👖 Brand Jeans	$101	$49.6
👟 Brand Sneakers	$131	$75.1
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$2107	$202
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$13809	$3811

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Rotterdam

Distance	City	Cost of living
10 km or 6.4 mi	Ridderkerk	$2329
13 km or 8 mi	Delft	$2228
19 km or 12 mi	Leidschendam	$2392
21 km or 13 mi	The Hague	$2581
23 km or 14 mi	Sliedrecht	$2262
25 km or 16 mi	Scheveningen	$2374
26 km or 16 mi	Leiden	$2222
27 km or 17 mi	Oegstgeest	$2134
41 km or 25 mi	Etten-Leur	$2057
43 km or 27 mi	Breda	$2087
43 km or 27 mi	Roosendaal	$2175
47 km or 29 mi	Utrecht	$2718
49 km or 30 mi	Bergen op Zoom	$2224
50 km or 31 mi	Zandvoort	$1846
52 km or 32 mi	Haarlem	$2589
54 km or 34 mi	Zaltbommel	$2302
55 km or 34 mi	Zeist	$2414
56 km or 35 mi	Tilburg	$2238
59 km or 36 mi	Amsterdam	$3118
59 km or 37 mi	Hilversum	$2568
60 km or 38 mi	IJmuiden	$2252
61 km or 38 mi	Hoogstraten	$1701
62 km or 39 mi	Goes	$2374
63 km or 39 mi	's-Hertogenbosch	$2263
66 km or 41 mi	Tiel	$2706
67 km or 42 mi	Huizen	$2256
72 km or 45 mi	Almere	$2230
73 km or 45 mi	Purmerend	$2178
74 km or 46 mi	Veenendaal	$1829
74 km or 46 mi	Turnhout	$1639
76 km or 47 mi	Middelburg	$2089
79 km or 49 mi	Antwerp	$1818
81 km or 51 mi	Wageningen	$2318
82 km or 51 mi	Beveren	$1804
82 km or 51 mi	Ede	$1860
83 km or 52 mi	Uden	$2359
84 km or 52 mi	Mortsel	$1696
85 km or 53 mi	Veldhoven	$2168
87 km or 54 mi	Herentals	$1512
88 km or 54 mi	Sint-Niklaas	$1671

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