Berlin vs Johannesburg - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Berlin	Johannesburg
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2027	$993
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4661	$2403
🏠 One person rent	$1127	$441
🏘️ Family rent	$2029	$809
🍽️ Food expenses	$505	$288
🚐 Transport expenses	$258	$181
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3225	$1383
😷 Air quality	Good	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	19 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	100	72
😀 Quality of life	95	57
🏙️ Population	3.78M	4.43M

The cost of living in Berlin is 104% more expensive than in Johannesburg. Cities ranked 1762nd and 5539th ($2027 vs $993) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 2nd and 4th in Germany and South Africa, respectively. Check Germany vs South Africa comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.6 months in Berlin compared to 1.4 months in Johannesburg. Berlin ranked 3rd best city to live in Germany vs Johannesburg ranked 2nd in South Africa, while ranked 21st and 5667th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Berlin vs Johannesburg infographic

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Prices in Berlin vs Johannesburg

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

	Berlin	Johannesburg
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$14.6	$9.65
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$65.3	$37.9
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$12.5	$4.9
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$4.57	$2.37
☕ Cappuccino	$3.85	$2.01
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.94	$0.99
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1156	$377
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$832	$318
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2233	$790
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1562	$627
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$190	$71.9
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$293	$110
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$40.1	$39.5
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.88%	11.55%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$8133	$1031
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5908	$684
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$3.68	$1.62
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$57.5	$72
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$23.9	$9.35
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.81	$1.28
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.28	$1.18
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.93	$0.95
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.88	$1.36
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.66	$2.58
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.2	$10
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11	$5.04
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16.7	$6.12
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.93	$1.6
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.94	$1.49
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.27	$1.41
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.75	$1.59
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.99	$1.35
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.81	$1.44
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.55	$0.58
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.9	$1.44
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.55	$5.96
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.2	$1.25
🚬 Cigarette pack	$9.01	$2.97
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$9.37	$5.59
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.2	$3.94
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.73	$1.88
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.11	$1.42
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$33.3	$33.2
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$13	$7.2
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$59.3	$27.8
💇 Haircut, simple	$19.3	$5.55
👖 Brand Jeans	$88.2	$48.5
👟 Brand Sneakers	$95.1	$88.8
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$186	$214
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$9774	$5271

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Berlin

Distance	City	Cost of living
15 km or 9.2 mi	Teltow	$1707
18 km or 11 mi	Hohen Neuendorf	$1782
18 km or 11 mi	Hennigsdorf	$1770
20 km or 13 mi	Falkensee	$1714
21 km or 13 mi	Bernau bei Berlin	$1763
25 km or 16 mi	Potsdam	$1724
25 km or 16 mi	Ludwigsfelde	$1691
28 km or 18 mi	Oranienburg	$1796
30 km or 19 mi	Konigs Wusterhausen	$1695
34 km or 21 mi	Werder	$1665
34 km or 21 mi	Strausberg	$1711
46 km or 29 mi	Eberswalde	$1714
49 km or 31 mi	Furstenwalde	$1632
50 km or 31 mi	Luckenwalde	$1663
57 km or 36 mi	Brandenburg an der Havel	$1686
60 km or 37 mi	Neuruppin	$1723
72 km or 44 mi	Rathenow	$1690
81 km or 50 mi	Frankfurt	$1534
86 km or 53 mi	Schwedt	$1644
88 km or 55 mi	Wittenberg	$1354
97 km or 60 mi	Neustrelitz	$1442
97 km or 60 mi	Eisenhuttenstadt	$1437
104 km or 65 mi	Stendal	$1319
106 km or 66 mi	Cottbus	$1241
107 km or 67 mi	Burg bei Magdeburg	$1315
107 km or 67 mi	Zerbst	$1332
109 km or 68 mi	Dessau-Rolau	$1340
109 km or 68 mi	Torgau	$1350
116 km or 72 mi	Neubrandenburg	$1421
119 km or 74 mi	Senftenberg	$1351
121 km or 75 mi	Waren	$1395
124 km or 77 mi	Bitterfeld-Wolfen	$1308
124 km or 77 mi	Schonebeck	$1326
125 km or 78 mi	Spremberg	$1310
127 km or 79 mi	Magdeburg	$1282
128 km or 79 mi	Szczecin	$1108
128 km or 80 mi	Kothen	$1346
128 km or 80 mi	Gorzow Wielkopolski	$1022
131 km or 81 mi	Delitzsch	$1419
134 km or 83 mi	Hoyerswerda	$1373

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