Soweto vs Washington - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Soweto	Washington
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1031	$3350
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1903	$7781
🏠 One person rent	$604	$2159
🏘️ Family rent	$628	$3818
🍽️ Food expenses	$268	$775
🚐 Transport expenses	$90.8	$171
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$382	$7152
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	29 km	5 km
🎓 Higher education	63	100
😀 Quality of life	43	94
🏙️ Population	1.27M	690K

The cost of living in Soweto is 69% less expensive than in Washington. Cities ranked 5331st and 74th ($1031 vs $3350) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 7th and 56th in South Africa and the United States, respectively. Check South Africa vs the United States comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.4 months in Soweto compared to 2.1 months in Washington. Soweto ranked 10th best city to live in South Africa vs Washington ranked 6th in the United States, while ranked 7513th and 31st among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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Prices in Soweto vs Washington

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

	Soweto	Washington
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$6.93	$22.9
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$29.8	$101
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.63	$12
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.12	$8.68
☕ Cappuccino	$2.31	$6.1
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.08	$3.39
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$911	$2374
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$382	$1850
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$566	$4205
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$444	$3379
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$81.4	$136
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$125	$206
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$34.5	$68.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.01%	6.12%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$980	$8429
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$760	$3565
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2	$3.03
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$34	$115
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$8.05	$18.6
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.25	$0.99
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.13	$1.17
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.03	$3.61
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.46	$6.22
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.74	$5.43
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.54	$18.9
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.62	$15.9
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.66	$19.7
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.89	$5.8
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.76	$2.3
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.82	$5.02
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.63	$5.56
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.36	$2.74
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.39	$3.62
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.87	$1.66
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.29	$3.62
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$8.13	$17.5
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.69	$4.52
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.98	$13.6
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$3.15	$9.34
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$2.75	$4.75
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.3	$4.31
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.54	$2.57
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$14.3	$113
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$5.86	$16.5
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$23	$196
💇 Haircut, simple	$3.31	$35.5
👖 Brand Jeans	$53.1	$70
👟 Brand Sneakers	$78.8	$116
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$243	$1892
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$5012	$24903

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	$1204
24 km or 15 mi	Randburg	$912
26 km or 16 mi	Sandton	$1104
46 km or 28 mi	Vereeniging	$742
46 km or 29 mi	Benoni	$851
48 km or 30 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$867
56 km or 34 mi	Centurion	$997
58 km or 36 mi	Springs	$784
66 km or 41 mi	Pretoria	$1015
73 km or 45 mi	Brits	$950
91 km or 56 mi	Potchefstroom	$789
92 km or 57 mi	Rustenburg	$994
137 km or 85 mi	Klerksdorp	$860
159 km or 99 mi	Bethal	$902
166 km or 103 mi	Kroonstad	$872
170 km or 106 mi	Middelburg	$875
222 km or 138 mi	Welkom	$811
228 km or 142 mi	Mmabatho	$903
249 km or 155 mi	Lobatse	$691
266 km or 165 mi	Gaborone	$723
282 km or 175 mi	Butha-Buthe	$589
290 km or 180 mi	Kanye	$691
315 km or 196 mi	Molepolole	$663
321 km or 199 mi	Teyateyaneng	$558
329 km or 204 mi	Mbabane	$607
335 km or 208 mi	Vryheid	$882
341 km or 212 mi	Maseru	$660
350 km or 217 mi	Manzini	$494
354 km or 220 mi	Bloemfontein	$742
367 km or 228 mi	Mahalapye	$615
399 km or 248 mi	Mafeteng	$611
412 km or 256 mi	Kimberley	$904
420 km or 261 mi	Palapye	$549
446 km or 277 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$725
447 km or 278 mi	Serowe	$590
461 km or 286 mi	Matola	$912
472 km or 293 mi	Maputo	$1014
506 km or 314 mi	Durban	$938
567 km or 353 mi	Francistown	$632
595 km or 370 mi	Xai-Xai	$965

Cities near Washington

Distance	City	Cost of living
2.5 km or 1.5 mi	Georgetown	$3031
9.5 km or 5.9 mi	Bailey's Crossroads	$2572
10 km or 6.3 mi	Alexandria	$2913
11 km or 6.8 mi	Bethesda	$2769
12 km or 7.5 mi	Silver Spring	$2223
15 km or 9.2 mi	College Park	$3016
17 km or 11 mi	Springfield	$2367
17 km or 11 mi	Greenbelt	$2774
23 km or 14 mi	Rockville	$2678
24 km or 15 mi	Fairfax	$2803
26 km or 16 mi	Bowie	$2596
27 km or 17 mi	Laurel	$2377
28 km or 17 mi	Reston	$2801
30 km or 19 mi	Waldorf	$2508
31 km or 19 mi	Gaithersburg	$2512
32 km or 20 mi	Herndon	$2799
34 km or 21 mi	Woodbridge	$2696
34 km or 21 mi	Marumsco	$2608
36 km or 22 mi	Centreville	$3338
37 km or 23 mi	Germantown	$2695
38 km or 23 mi	Columbia	$2856
41 km or 26 mi	Manassas	$2379
42 km or 26 mi	Ashburn	$2793
47 km or 29 mi	Annapolis	$2862
49 km or 31 mi	Catonsville	$2484
51 km or 32 mi	Leesburg	$2341
57 km or 35 mi	Eldersburg	$2554
57 km or 35 mi	Baltimore	$2224
61 km or 38 mi	Owings Mills	$2603
68 km or 42 mi	Frederick	$2318
76 km or 47 mi	Fredericksburg	$2363
83 km or 52 mi	Charles Town	$1977
87 km or 54 mi	Edgewood	$3012
92 km or 57 mi	Bel Air South	$2787
93 km or 58 mi	Bel Air North	$2694
102 km or 63 mi	Hanover	$2275
102 km or 63 mi	Hagerstown	$2037
103 km or 64 mi	Winchester	$2252
106 km or 66 mi	Waynesboro	$2109
122 km or 76 mi	York	$2088