Rotterdam vs Soweto - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Rotterdam	Soweto
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2359	$923
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5397	$1686
🏠 One person rent	$1479	$540
🏘️ Family rent	$2435	$553
🍽️ Food expenses	$569	$231
🚐 Transport expenses	$179	$88.6
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3493	$1598
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	5 km	29 km
🎓 Higher education	94	63
😀 Quality of life	93	38
🏙️ Population	664K	1.27M

The cost of living in Rotterdam is 156% more expensive than in Soweto. Cities ranked 1038th and 5917th ($2359 vs $923) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd and 6th 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 10th in South Africa, while ranked 68th and 7204th 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	$20.8	$6.16
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$83.3	$26.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$12.6	$3.92
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$6.3	$2
☕ Cappuccino	$3.88	$2.01
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.24	$0.98
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1509	$827
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1241	$346
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2680	$511
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2049	$396
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$138	$64.8
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$213	$100
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$46.7	$33.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	4.07%	11.66%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5415	$850
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3934	$691
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$4.15	$1.98
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$98.4	$31
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$20.9	$8.52
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$2.02	$1.16
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.15	$1.02
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.07	$0.93
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.02	$1.31
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.55	$2.45
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.7	$7.54
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.9	$4.06
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15.3	$6.2
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.15	$1.62
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.26	$1.47
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.03	$1.41
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.7	$1.46
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.96	$1.23
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.94	$1.23
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.69	$0.59
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.58	$1.17
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.23	$7.06
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.51	$1.43
🚬 Cigarette pack	$12.5	$2.68
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.53	$2.86
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.66	$2.46
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.67	$1.17
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.75	$0.49
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$41.4	$12.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$14.8	$5.71
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$36.2	$21.2
💇 Haircut, simple	$19.8	$3
👖 Brand Jeans	$78.1	$45.4
👟 Brand Sneakers	$108	$70.7
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$2027	$200
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$10730	$3805

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	$2062
13 km or 8 mi	Delft	$1861
19 km or 12 mi	Leidschendam	$2042
21 km or 13 mi	The Hague	$2199
23 km or 14 mi	Sliedrecht	$1969
25 km or 16 mi	Scheveningen	$2049
26 km or 16 mi	Leiden	$2081
27 km or 17 mi	Oegstgeest	$1934
41 km or 25 mi	Etten-Leur	$1805
43 km or 27 mi	Breda	$1739
43 km or 27 mi	Roosendaal	$1890
47 km or 29 mi	Utrecht	$2251
49 km or 30 mi	Bergen op Zoom	$1917
50 km or 31 mi	Zandvoort	$2090
52 km or 32 mi	Haarlem	$2291
54 km or 34 mi	Zaltbommel	$2026
55 km or 34 mi	Zeist	$2180
56 km or 35 mi	Tilburg	$1862
59 km or 36 mi	Amsterdam	$2791
59 km or 37 mi	Hilversum	$2049
60 km or 38 mi	IJmuiden	$2085
61 km or 38 mi	Hoogstraten	$1492
62 km or 39 mi	Goes	$2001
63 km or 39 mi	's-Hertogenbosch	$1975
66 km or 41 mi	Tiel	$2432
67 km or 42 mi	Huizen	$1957
72 km or 45 mi	Almere	$1937
73 km or 45 mi	Purmerend	$1944
74 km or 46 mi	Veenendaal	$1631
74 km or 46 mi	Turnhout	$1421
76 km or 47 mi	Middelburg	$1879
79 km or 49 mi	Antwerp	$1640
81 km or 51 mi	Wageningen	$2105
82 km or 51 mi	Beveren	$1613
82 km or 51 mi	Ede	$1651
83 km or 52 mi	Uden	$1958
84 km or 52 mi	Mortsel	$1530
85 km or 53 mi	Veldhoven	$1917
87 km or 54 mi	Herentals	$1318
88 km or 54 mi	Sint-Niklaas	$1514

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