Addis Ababa vs Johannesburg - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Addis Ababa	Johannesburg
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1180	$993
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2653	$2403
🏠 One person rent	$710	$441
🏘️ Family rent	$1338	$809
🍽️ Food expenses	$322	$288
🚐 Transport expenses	$63.8	$181
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$207	$1383
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	9 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	32	72
😀 Quality of life	39	57
🏙️ Population	5.7M	4.43M

The cost of living in Addis Ababa is 19% more expensive than in Johannesburg. Cities ranked 4540th and 5539th ($1180 vs $993) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 4th in Ethiopia and South Africa, respectively. Check Ethiopia vs South Africa comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.2 months in Addis Ababa compared to 1.4 months in Johannesburg. Addis Ababa ranked 1st best city to live in Ethiopia vs Johannesburg ranked 2nd in South Africa, while ranked 7025th and 5667th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Addis Ababa vs Johannesburg infographic

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

Prices in Addis Ababa vs Johannesburg

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

	Addis Ababa	Johannesburg
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$4.24	$9.65
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$34.7	$37.9
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$6.27	$4.9
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1	$2.37
☕ Cappuccino	$1.18	$2.01
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.75	$0.99
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$637	$377
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$444	$318
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1854	$790
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$859	$627
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$97.4	$71.9
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$150	$110
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$130	$39.5
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	16.49%	11.55%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2510	$1031
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1875	$684
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.5	$1.62
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$9.91	$72
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$3.57	$9.35
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.29	$1.28
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.53	$1.18
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.17	$0.95
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.12	$1.36
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.45	$2.58
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.38	$10
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.1	$5.04
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.2	$6.12
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.04	$1.6
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.07	$1.49
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.38	$1.41
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.87	$1.59
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.67	$1.35
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.74	$1.44
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.42	$0.58
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$0.7	$1.44
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$8.46	$5.96
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.1	$1.25
🚬 Cigarette pack	$4	$2.97
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$2.94	$5.59
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$1.22	$3.94
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$0.49	$1.88
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.7	$1.42
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$84.2	$33.2
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$5.72	$7.2
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$12	$27.8
💇 Haircut, simple	$2.13	$5.55
👖 Brand Jeans	$49.1	$48.5
👟 Brand Sneakers	$109	$88.8
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$86.3	$214
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$3446	$5271

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Addis Ababa

Distance	City	Cost of living
222 km or 138 mi	Awasa	$886
254 km or 158 mi	Dessie	$838
258 km or 161 mi	Jimma	$654
320 km or 199 mi	Bahir Dar	$752
349 km or 217 mi	Dire Dawa	$756
374 km or 232 mi	Harar	$718
421 km or 261 mi	Gondar	$897
447 km or 278 mi	Jijiga	$764
460 km or 286 mi	Dikhil	$542
495 km or 308 mi	Ali Sabieh	$542
498 km or 309 mi	Borama	$518
502 km or 312 mi	Mekelle	$662
561 km or 348 mi	Djibouti City	$571
568 km or 353 mi	Ad-Damazin	$836
587 km or 365 mi	Hargeisa	$660
595 km or 370 mi	Obock	$540
651 km or 405 mi	Mendefera	$487
666 km or 414 mi	El-Gadarif	$943
701 km or 436 mi	Asmara	$520
735 km or 457 mi	Massawa	$486
752 km or 467 mi	Keren	$488
758 km or 471 mi	Kassala	$1006
761 km or 473 mi	Zabid	$482
767 km or 476 mi	Taiz	$507
780 km or 485 mi	Malakal	$496
789 km or 490 mi	Al Hudaydah	$505
805 km or 500 mi	Aden	$503
806 km or 501 mi	Kosti	$860
807 km or 502 mi	Ibb	$496
851 km or 529 mi	Bor	$506
853 km or 530 mi	Baidoa	$706
870 km or 541 mi	Dhamar	$486
914 km or 568 mi	Sayyan	$481
914 km or 568 mi	Juba	$513
920 km or 572 mi	Sanaa	$546
989 km or 615 mi	Khartoum North	$877
995 km or 618 mi	Khartoum	$888
995 km or 618 mi	Gulu	$594
1005 km or 625 mi	Meru	$541
1006 km or 625 mi	Omdurman	$908

Cities near Johannesburg

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 6.8 mi	Sandton	$953
13 km or 8 mi	Randburg	$837
19 km or 12 mi	Soweto	$923
28 km or 17 mi	Benoni	$785
40 km or 25 mi	Springs	$678
41 km or 25 mi	Centurion	$807
53 km or 33 mi	Pretoria	$906
53 km or 33 mi	Vereeniging	$672
59 km or 36 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$773
71 km or 44 mi	Brits	$820
101 km or 62 mi	Rustenburg	$889
109 km or 68 mi	Potchefstroom	$695
143 km or 89 mi	Bethal	$784
152 km or 94 mi	Middelburg	$795
155 km or 97 mi	Klerksdorp	$722
179 km or 111 mi	Kroonstad	$768
237 km or 147 mi	Welkom	$748
244 km or 152 mi	Mmabatho	$780
262 km or 163 mi	Lobatse	$665
275 km or 171 mi	Gaborone	$691
287 km or 179 mi	Butha-Buthe	$535
302 km or 188 mi	Kanye	$664
311 km or 193 mi	Mbabane	$562
323 km or 201 mi	Vryheid	$763
325 km or 202 mi	Molepolole	$628
329 km or 204 mi	Teyateyaneng	$500
333 km or 207 mi	Manzini	$442
350 km or 217 mi	Maseru	$621
366 km or 228 mi	Mahalapye	$631
369 km or 229 mi	Bloemfontein	$657
409 km or 254 mi	Mafeteng	$567
417 km or 259 mi	Palapye	$540
429 km or 267 mi	Kimberley	$814
442 km or 275 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$640
443 km or 275 mi	Matola	$964
446 km or 277 mi	Serowe	$583
454 km or 282 mi	Maputo	$1068
501 km or 311 mi	Durban	$809
562 km or 349 mi	Francistown	$624
577 km or 358 mi	Xai-Xai	$1003