Amsterdam vs Johannesburg - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Amsterdam	Johannesburg
🚶 Cost of living one person	$3118	$1082
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$7329	$2560
🏠 One person rent	$2031	$485
🏘️ Family rent	$3485	$833
🍽️ Food expenses	$654	$306
🚐 Transport expenses	$260	$206
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4702	$1614
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	95	74
😀 Quality of life	96	62
🏙️ Population	921K	4.43M

The cost of living in Amsterdam is 188% more expensive than in Johannesburg. Cities ranked 143rd and 5031st ($3118 vs $1082) 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 1.5 months in Johannesburg. Amsterdam ranked 1st best city to live in the Netherlands vs Johannesburg ranked 1st in South Africa, while ranked 31st and 5648th 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	$21.3	$10.1
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$103	$38.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$15.4	$5.03
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$7.2	$2.51
☕ Cappuccino	$4.94	$2.18
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.76	$1.08
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$2130	$462
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1705	$342
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3833	$824
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2970	$632
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$191	$78.5
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$292	$122
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$51	$40.5
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.81%	11.57%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$10418	$1106
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7591	$741
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$3.92	$2.21
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$113	$77.1
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$33.2	$11.7
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$2.31	$1.32
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.6	$1.28
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.56	$1.01
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.66	$1.44
🥚 Eggs, x12	$5.47	$2.6
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15.6	$10.5
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.8	$5.34
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$19.8	$7.4
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.9	$1.71
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.6	$1.63
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.18	$1.63
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.47	$1.77
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.04	$1.41
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.93	$1.6
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1	$0.66
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.85	$1.53
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$7.23	$6.13
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.82	$1.46
🚬 Cigarette pack	$14.2	$3.19
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$6.84	$5.86
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.62	$4.11
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.5	$1.98
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.96	$1.49
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$55.9	$33.6
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$17.3	$7.33
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$44.2	$29.7
💇 Haircut, simple	$37.4	$6.46
👖 Brand Jeans	$103	$52.2
👟 Brand Sneakers	$124	$93.1
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$2892	$227
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$19920	$5503

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	$2178
18 km or 11 mi	Haarlem	$2589
21 km or 13 mi	IJmuiden	$2252
22 km or 14 mi	Almere	$2230
25 km or 16 mi	Zandvoort	$1846
26 km or 16 mi	Hilversum	$2568
26 km or 16 mi	Huizen	$2256
35 km or 22 mi	Langedijk	$2235
36 km or 22 mi	Utrecht	$2718
38 km or 23 mi	Leiden	$2222
38 km or 24 mi	Oegstgeest	$2134
40 km or 25 mi	Zeist	$2414
42 km or 26 mi	Lelystad	$1514
48 km or 30 mi	Leidschendam	$2392
49 km or 30 mi	Harderwijk	$2111
52 km or 32 mi	The Hague	$2581
53 km or 33 mi	Scheveningen	$2374
55 km or 34 mi	Delft	$2228
57 km or 36 mi	Dronten	$2011
59 km or 36 mi	Rotterdam	$2615
60 km or 37 mi	Veenendaal	$1829
61 km or 38 mi	Ridderkerk	$2329
64 km or 40 mi	Sliedrecht	$2262
64 km or 40 mi	Ede	$1860
65 km or 40 mi	Elburg	$2082
66 km or 41 mi	Tiel	$2706
67 km or 42 mi	Zaltbommel	$2302
70 km or 43 mi	Wageningen	$2318
72 km or 45 mi	Kampen	$2070
75 km or 47 mi	Apeldoorn	$2154
76 km or 47 mi	Texel	$2187
81 km or 50 mi	's-Hertogenbosch	$2263
82 km or 51 mi	Arnhem	$1986
83 km or 51 mi	Zwolle	$1992
83 km or 52 mi	Zwartewaterland	$2058
86 km or 54 mi	Deventer	$2107
89 km or 55 mi	Nijmegen	$2164
89 km or 55 mi	Sneek	$2100
89 km or 55 mi	Breda	$2087
91 km or 57 mi	Tilburg	$2238

Cities near Johannesburg

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 6.8 mi	Sandton	$984
13 km or 8 mi	Randburg	$890
19 km or 12 mi	Soweto	$984
28 km or 17 mi	Benoni	$826
40 km or 25 mi	Springs	$740
41 km or 25 mi	Centurion	$892
53 km or 33 mi	Pretoria	$975
53 km or 33 mi	Vereeniging	$706
59 km or 36 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$799
71 km or 44 mi	Brits	$875
101 km or 62 mi	Rustenburg	$940
109 km or 68 mi	Potchefstroom	$731
143 km or 89 mi	Bethal	$838
152 km or 94 mi	Middelburg	$830
155 km or 97 mi	Klerksdorp	$762
179 km or 111 mi	Kroonstad	$808
237 km or 147 mi	Welkom	$762
244 km or 152 mi	Mmabatho	$833
262 km or 163 mi	Lobatse	$637
275 km or 171 mi	Gaborone	$668
287 km or 179 mi	Butha-Buthe	$570
302 km or 188 mi	Kanye	$637
311 km or 193 mi	Mbabane	$599
323 km or 201 mi	Vryheid	$827
325 km or 202 mi	Molepolole	$607
329 km or 204 mi	Teyateyaneng	$533
333 km or 207 mi	Manzini	$469
350 km or 217 mi	Maseru	$650
366 km or 228 mi	Mahalapye	$577
369 km or 229 mi	Bloemfontein	$698
409 km or 254 mi	Mafeteng	$598
417 km or 259 mi	Palapye	$514
429 km or 267 mi	Kimberley	$861
442 km or 275 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$705
443 km or 275 mi	Matola	$908
446 km or 277 mi	Serowe	$536
454 km or 282 mi	Maputo	$915
501 km or 311 mi	Durban	$892
562 km or 349 mi	Francistown	$587
577 km or 358 mi	Xai-Xai	$915