Amsterdam vs Johannesburg - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Amsterdam	Johannesburg
🚶 Cost of living one person	$3165	$1204
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$7127	$2788
🏠 One person rent	$2073	$547
🏘️ Family rent	$3318	$919
🍽️ Food expenses	$659	$351
🚐 Transport expenses	$265	$210
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4747	$420
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	95	73
😀 Quality of life	95	60
🏙️ Population	921K	4.8M

The cost of living in Amsterdam is 163% more expensive than in Johannesburg. Cities ranked 138th and 4745th ($3165 vs $1204) 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 0.3 months in Johannesburg. Amsterdam ranked 3rd best city to live in the Netherlands vs Johannesburg ranked 1st in South Africa, while ranked 24th and 5850th 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 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	$22	$12.2
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$93	$46
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$15.6	$6.16
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$7.81	$2.44
☕ Cappuccino	$4.82	$2.41
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$4.06	$1.2
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$2259	$473
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1723	$385
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3695	$862
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2790	$679
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$191	$106
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$296	$164
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$51.3	$38.8
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.65%	10.88%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$11141	$1060
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7428	$777
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$3.92	$1.85
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$118	$92.2
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$32.8	$8.38
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$2.47	$1.42
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.59	$1.36
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.55	$1.24
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.84	$1.81
🥚 Eggs, x12	$5.44	$2.48
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$17.4	$8.99
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.4	$5.77
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$23.2	$9.11
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.13	$2.12
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.94	$1.89
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.61	$1.93
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.82	$2.07
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.13	$1.64
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.61	$1.75
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.16	$0.86
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.84	$1.58
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$7.7	$6.1
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.76	$1.89
🚬 Cigarette pack	$14.6	$3.4
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$6.06	$5.66
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.94	$4.33
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.19	$2.25
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.14	$1.36
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$62.6	$37.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$16.8	$8.59
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$44.1	$31
💇 Haircut, simple	$37.3	$7.27
👖 Brand Jeans	$98	$57.1
👟 Brand Sneakers	$113	$107
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$2748	$244
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$20104	$5103

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	$2185
18 km or 11 mi	Haarlem	$2755
21 km or 13 mi	IJmuiden	$2354
22 km or 14 mi	Almere	$2399
25 km or 16 mi	Zandvoort	$1865
26 km or 16 mi	Hilversum	$2564
26 km or 16 mi	Huizen	$2296
35 km or 22 mi	Langedijk	$2283
36 km or 22 mi	Utrecht	$2608
38 km or 23 mi	Leiden	$2389
38 km or 24 mi	Oegstgeest	$2307
40 km or 25 mi	Zeist	$2407
42 km or 26 mi	Lelystad	$1477
48 km or 30 mi	Leidschendam	$2365
49 km or 30 mi	Harderwijk	$2148
52 km or 32 mi	The Hague	$2491
53 km or 33 mi	Scheveningen	$2310
55 km or 34 mi	Delft	$2424
57 km or 36 mi	Dronten	$2026
59 km or 36 mi	Rotterdam	$2659
60 km or 37 mi	Veenendaal	$1805
61 km or 38 mi	Ridderkerk	$2336
64 km or 40 mi	Sliedrecht	$2234
64 km or 40 mi	Ede	$2053
65 km or 40 mi	Elburg	$2104
66 km or 41 mi	Tiel	$2662
67 km or 42 mi	Zaltbommel	$2304
70 km or 43 mi	Wageningen	$2341
72 km or 45 mi	Kampen	$2077
75 km or 47 mi	Apeldoorn	$2159
76 km or 47 mi	Texel	$2220
81 km or 50 mi	's-Hertogenbosch	$2272
82 km or 51 mi	Arnhem	$2253
83 km or 51 mi	Zwolle	$1942
83 km or 52 mi	Zwartewaterland	$2040
86 km or 54 mi	Deventer	$2082
89 km or 55 mi	Nijmegen	$2152
89 km or 55 mi	Sneek	$2166
89 km or 55 mi	Breda	$2112
91 km or 57 mi	Tilburg	$2247

Cities near Johannesburg

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 6.8 mi	Sandton	$1104
13 km or 8 mi	Randburg	$912
19 km or 12 mi	Soweto	$1031
28 km or 17 mi	Benoni	$851
40 km or 25 mi	Springs	$784
41 km or 25 mi	Centurion	$997
53 km or 33 mi	Pretoria	$1015
53 km or 33 mi	Vereeniging	$742
59 km or 36 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$867
71 km or 44 mi	Brits	$950
101 km or 62 mi	Rustenburg	$994
109 km or 68 mi	Potchefstroom	$789
143 km or 89 mi	Bethal	$902
152 km or 94 mi	Middelburg	$875
155 km or 97 mi	Klerksdorp	$860
179 km or 111 mi	Kroonstad	$872
237 km or 147 mi	Welkom	$811
244 km or 152 mi	Mmabatho	$903
262 km or 163 mi	Lobatse	$691
275 km or 171 mi	Gaborone	$723
287 km or 179 mi	Butha-Buthe	$589
302 km or 188 mi	Kanye	$691
311 km or 193 mi	Mbabane	$607
323 km or 201 mi	Vryheid	$882
325 km or 202 mi	Molepolole	$663
329 km or 204 mi	Teyateyaneng	$558
333 km or 207 mi	Manzini	$494
350 km or 217 mi	Maseru	$660
366 km or 228 mi	Mahalapye	$615
369 km or 229 mi	Bloemfontein	$742
409 km or 254 mi	Mafeteng	$611
417 km or 259 mi	Palapye	$549
429 km or 267 mi	Kimberley	$904
442 km or 275 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$725
443 km or 275 mi	Matola	$912
446 km or 277 mi	Serowe	$590
454 km or 282 mi	Maputo	$1014
501 km or 311 mi	Durban	$938
562 km or 349 mi	Francistown	$632
577 km or 358 mi	Xai-Xai	$965