San Diego vs Soweto - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	San Diego	Soweto
🚶 Cost of living one person	$3428	$923
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$7974	$1686
🏠 One person rent	$2311	$540
🏘️ Family rent	$4175	$553
🍽️ Food expenses	$743	$231
🚐 Transport expenses	$180	$88.6
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$5531	$1598
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	3 km	29 km
🎓 Higher education	87	63
😀 Quality of life	91	38
🏙️ Population	1.39M	1.27M

The cost of living in San Diego is 272% more expensive than in Soweto. Cities ranked 36th and 5917th ($3428 vs $923) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 32nd and 6th in the United States and South Africa, respectively. Check the United States vs South Africa comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.6 months in San Diego compared to 1.7 months in Soweto. San Diego ranked 13th best city to live in the United States vs Soweto ranked 10th in South Africa, while ranked 95th and 7204th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in San Diego vs Soweto infographic

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Prices in San Diego vs Soweto

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

	San Diego	Soweto
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$22.1	$6.16
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$83.1	$26.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$15	$3.92
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$8.3	$2
☕ Cappuccino	$6.04	$2.01
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.96	$0.98
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$2424	$827
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1978	$346
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$4583	$511
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3654	$396
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$177	$64.8
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$269	$100
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$66.3	$33.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.42%	11.66%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$9086	$850
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7072	$691
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.51	$1.98
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$72.1	$31
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$19.4	$8.52
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.33	$1.16
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.23	$1.02
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$3.95	$0.93
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.13	$1.31
🥚 Eggs, x12	$5.2	$2.45
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15.6	$7.54
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.3	$4.06
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$18.4	$6.2
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.75	$1.62
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.71	$1.47
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.32	$1.41
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.97	$1.46
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.75	$1.23
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.44	$1.23
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.69	$0.59
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.7	$1.17
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$17.6	$7.06
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.85	$1.43
🚬 Cigarette pack	$12.1	$2.68
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$17.4	$2.86
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$13.1	$2.46
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$5.87	$1.17
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.99	$0.49
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$75	$12.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$17	$5.71
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$130	$21.2
💇 Haircut, simple	$31.9	$3
👖 Brand Jeans	$59.6	$45.4
👟 Brand Sneakers	$98.3	$70.7
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1785	$200
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$28706	$3805

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near San Diego

Distance	City	Cost of living
4.2 km or 2.6 mi	Coronado	$3065
7.2 km or 4.5 mi	National	$2962
13 km or 7.8 mi	Lemon Grove	$2914
14 km or 9 mi	Chula Vista	$3017
14 km or 9 mi	La Mesa	$2916
16 km or 9.8 mi	Imperial Beach	$2911
18 km or 11 mi	La Jolla	$2964
21 km or 13 mi	El Cajon	$3043
24 km or 15 mi	Tijuana	$1047
25 km or 15 mi	Santee	$2898
30 km or 19 mi	Poway	$2930
38 km or 24 mi	Encinitas	$3124
40 km or 25 mi	Las Delicias	$912
43 km or 26 mi	Rosarito Beach	$910
46 km or 29 mi	Escondido	$3279
47 km or 30 mi	San Marcos	$2917
52 km or 33 mi	Carlsbad	$3273
54 km or 33 mi	Vista	$2834
57 km or 36 mi	Oceanside	$3199
73 km or 46 mi	Fallbrook	$2907
88 km or 55 mi	Temecula	$2637
91 km or 57 mi	San Clemente	$2945
95 km or 59 mi	Murrieta	$3109
97 km or 61 mi	Dana Point	$2936
98 km or 61 mi	French Valley	$2732
99 km or 61 mi	San Juan Capistrano	$2950
99 km or 61 mi	Wildomar	$2763
104 km or 65 mi	Laguna Niguel	$3188
107 km or 66 mi	Laguna Beach	$2996
107 km or 67 mi	Menifee	$2578
109 km or 68 mi	Ensenada	$880
109 km or 68 mi	Lake Elsinore	$2694
110 km or 68 mi	Mission Viejo	$3496
110 km or 69 mi	Laguna Hills	$3082
111 km or 69 mi	Rancho Santa Margarita	$2971
114 km or 71 mi	Aliso Viejo	$3326
114 km or 71 mi	Lake Forest	$3020
115 km or 72 mi	Hemet	$2764
119 km or 74 mi	Perris	$2682
119 km or 74 mi	Temescal Valley	$2759

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