Amsterdam vs Johannesburg - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Amsterdam	Johannesburg
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2791	$993
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$6603	$2403
🏠 One person rent	$1828	$441
🏘️ Family rent	$3238	$809
🍽️ Food expenses	$586	$288
🚐 Transport expenses	$226	$181
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4145	$1383
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	95	72
😀 Quality of life	95	57
🏙️ Population	921K	4.43M

The cost of living in Amsterdam is 181% more expensive than in Johannesburg. Cities ranked 331st and 5539th ($2791 vs $993) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 4th 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 Amsterdam compared to 1.4 months in Johannesburg. Amsterdam ranked 1st best city to live in the Netherlands vs Johannesburg ranked 2nd in South Africa, while ranked 29th and 5667th among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Amsterdam vs Johannesburg infographic

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Prices in Amsterdam vs Johannesburg

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

	Amsterdam	Johannesburg
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$21	$9.65
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$93.8	$37.9
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$13.9	$4.9
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$6.3	$2.37
☕ Cappuccino	$4.22	$2.01
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.13	$0.99
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1920	$377
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1536	$318
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3785	$790
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2716	$627
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$172	$71.9
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$264	$110
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$43.6	$39.5
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	4.17%	11.55%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$9911	$1031
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7140	$684
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$3.59	$1.62
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$93.9	$72
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$29.2	$9.35
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$2.11	$1.28
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.31	$1.18
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.08	$0.95
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.64	$1.36
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.65	$2.58
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.3	$10
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.1	$5.04
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15.7	$6.12
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.17	$1.6
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.2	$1.49
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.9	$1.41
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.93	$1.59
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.89	$1.35
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.93	$1.44
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.65	$0.58
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.1	$1.44
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.64	$5.96
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.5	$1.25
🚬 Cigarette pack	$13	$2.97
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.93	$5.59
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.67	$3.94
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.02	$1.88
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.25	$1.42
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$59.3	$33.2
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$15.7	$7.2
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$38.9	$27.8
💇 Haircut, simple	$30.2	$5.55
👖 Brand Jeans	$88.7	$48.5
👟 Brand Sneakers	$105	$88.8
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$2405	$214
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$18104	$5271

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Amsterdam

Distance	City	Cost of living
14 km or 8.8 mi	Purmerend	$1944
18 km or 11 mi	Haarlem	$2291
21 km or 13 mi	IJmuiden	$2085
22 km or 14 mi	Almere	$1937
25 km or 16 mi	Zandvoort	$2090
26 km or 16 mi	Hilversum	$2049
26 km or 16 mi	Huizen	$1957
35 km or 22 mi	Langedijk	$1995
36 km or 22 mi	Utrecht	$2251
38 km or 23 mi	Leiden	$2081
38 km or 24 mi	Oegstgeest	$1934
40 km or 25 mi	Zeist	$2180
42 km or 26 mi	Lelystad	$1357
48 km or 30 mi	Leidschendam	$2042
49 km or 30 mi	Harderwijk	$1844
52 km or 32 mi	The Hague	$2199
53 km or 33 mi	Scheveningen	$2049
55 km or 34 mi	Delft	$1861
57 km or 36 mi	Dronten	$1760
59 km or 36 mi	Rotterdam	$2359
60 km or 37 mi	Veenendaal	$1631
61 km or 38 mi	Ridderkerk	$2062
64 km or 40 mi	Sliedrecht	$1969
64 km or 40 mi	Ede	$1651
65 km or 40 mi	Elburg	$1829
66 km or 41 mi	Tiel	$2432
67 km or 42 mi	Zaltbommel	$2026
70 km or 43 mi	Wageningen	$2105
72 km or 45 mi	Kampen	$1823
75 km or 47 mi	Apeldoorn	$1893
76 km or 47 mi	Texel	$1941
81 km or 50 mi	's-Hertogenbosch	$1975
82 km or 51 mi	Arnhem	$1613
83 km or 51 mi	Zwolle	$1764
83 km or 52 mi	Zwartewaterland	$1813
86 km or 54 mi	Deventer	$1851
89 km or 55 mi	Nijmegen	$1999
89 km or 55 mi	Sneek	$1890
89 km or 55 mi	Breda	$1739
91 km or 57 mi	Tilburg	$1862

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