Soweto vs Surabaya - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Soweto	Surabaya
🚶 Cost of living one person	$984	$551
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1812	$1391
🏠 One person rent	$567	$222
🏘️ Family rent	$581	$373
🍽️ Food expenses	$247	$219
🚐 Transport expenses	$104	$49.4
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1672	$360
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	29 km	16 km
🎓 Higher education	63	75
😀 Quality of life	45	68
🏙️ Population	1.27M	3.01M

The cost of living in Soweto is 79% more expensive than in Surabaya. Cities ranked 5704th and 8275th ($984 vs $551) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 7th and 14th in South Africa and Indonesia, respectively. Check South Africa vs Indonesia comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.7 months in Soweto compared to 0.7 months in Surabaya. Soweto ranked 9th best city to live in South Africa vs Surabaya ranked 1st in Indonesia, while ranked 7050th and 4631st among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Soweto vs Surabaya infographic

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

Prices in Soweto vs Surabaya

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

	Soweto	Surabaya
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$6.53	$1.65
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$28.3	$13.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.24	$3
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2	$2.41
☕ Cappuccino	$2.14	$1.74
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.07	$0.69
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$867	$230
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$362	$138
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$538	$410
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$415	$251
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$69.9	$46.3
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$108	$70.6
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$33.8	$19.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.64%	7.45%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$907	$2226
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$724	$1338
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.49	$0.48
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$32.3	$8.97
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$11.3	$4.26
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.2	$0.83
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.14	$1.37
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.96	$1.45
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.33	$0.95
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.62	$1.41
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.24	$9.51
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.25	$3.24
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.66	$8.17
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.71	$2.46
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.56	$1.54
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.63	$2.25
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.55	$1.63
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.31	$1.32
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.2	$1.9
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.66	$0.29
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.21	$1.2
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$7.85	$30
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.65	$1.79
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.69	$2.41
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$2.99	$2.58
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$2.57	$2.04
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.23	$0.77
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.51	$0.68
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$13.5	$21.6
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$6	$2.98
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$21.9	$12
💇 Haircut, simple	$3.1	$3.27
👖 Brand Jeans	$49.6	$61
👟 Brand Sneakers	$75.1	$76.2
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$202	$185
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$3811	$9160

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

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

Cities near Surabaya

Distance	City	Cost of living
42 km or 26 mi	Mojokerto	$413
48 km or 30 mi	Pasuruan	$457
73 km or 45 mi	Batu	$409
77 km or 48 mi	Probolinggo	$470
83 km or 51 mi	Malang	$384
102 km or 63 mi	Kediri	$447
115 km or 71 mi	Blitar	$440
141 km or 87 mi	Madiun	$456
215 km or 133 mi	Surakarta	$409
247 km or 153 mi	Salatiga	$422
258 km or 160 mi	Semarang	$488
269 km or 167 mi	Yogyakarta	$445
286 km or 177 mi	Bali	$1134
311 km or 194 mi	Ubud	$834
315 km or 196 mi	Denpasar	$489
340 km or 211 mi	Pekalongan	$471
400 km or 249 mi	Tegal	$482
401 km or 249 mi	Mataram	$402
414 km or 257 mi	Cilacap	$478
464 km or 288 mi	Banjar	$488
464 km or 288 mi	Cirebon	$523
476 km or 296 mi	Banjarbaru	$449
481 km or 299 mi	Banjarmasin	$459
501 km or 311 mi	Tasikmalaya	$367
572 km or 355 mi	Bandung	$534
575 km or 357 mi	Palangka Raya	$470
576 km or 358 mi	Cimahi	$490
642 km or 399 mi	Sukabumi	$561
644 km or 400 mi	Bekasi	$555
659 km or 410 mi	Bogor	$480
660 km or 410 mi	Depok	$400
661 km or 411 mi	Jakarta	$699
672 km or 418 mi	Bima	$588
673 km or 418 mi	South Tangerang	$567
685 km or 425 mi	Tangerang	$665
738 km or 459 mi	Serang	$517
756 km or 470 mi	Cilegon	$511
774 km or 481 mi	Makassar	$523
820 km or 510 mi	Balikpapan	$598
842 km or 523 mi	Parepare	$502