Berlin vs Johannesburg - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Berlin	Johannesburg
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2222	$1082
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4975	$2560
🏠 One person rent	$1217	$485
🏘️ Family rent	$2066	$833
🍽️ Food expenses	$555	$306
🚐 Transport expenses	$304	$206
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3412	$1614
😷 Air quality	Good	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	19 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	100	74
😀 Quality of life	96	62
🏙️ Population	3.78M	4.43M

The cost of living in Berlin is 105% more expensive than in Johannesburg. Cities ranked 1418th and 5031st ($2222 vs $1082) 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 1.5 months in Berlin compared to 1.5 months in Johannesburg. Berlin ranked 4th best city to live in Germany vs Johannesburg ranked 1st in South Africa, while ranked 35th and 5648th 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	$16.6	$10.1
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$66.5	$38.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$13.4	$5.03
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$5.2	$2.51
☕ Cappuccino	$4.41	$2.18
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.43	$1.08
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1250	$462
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$928	$342
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2200	$824
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1631	$632
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$180	$78.5
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$277	$122
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$45.2	$40.5
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.62%	11.57%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$8887	$1106
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6036	$741
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$4.44	$2.21
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$66.5	$77.1
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$28.6	$11.7
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.98	$1.32
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.38	$1.28
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.12	$1.01
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.73	$1.44
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.11	$2.6
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15.1	$10.5
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.2	$5.34
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$17.3	$7.4
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.44	$1.71
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.05	$1.63
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.7	$1.63
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.89	$1.77
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.48	$1.41
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.09	$1.6
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.75	$0.66
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.13	$1.53
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$7.24	$6.13
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.22	$1.46
🚬 Cigarette pack	$10.1	$3.19
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$10.5	$5.86
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.6	$4.11
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.93	$1.98
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.89	$1.49
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$36.4	$33.6
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$14.8	$7.33
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$67	$29.7
💇 Haircut, simple	$19.1	$6.46
👖 Brand Jeans	$86.5	$52.2
👟 Brand Sneakers	$104	$93.1
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$149	$227
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$9480	$5503

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	$1868
18 km or 11 mi	Hohen Neuendorf	$1893
18 km or 11 mi	Hennigsdorf	$1892
20 km or 13 mi	Falkensee	$1862
21 km or 13 mi	Bernau bei Berlin	$1888
25 km or 16 mi	Potsdam	$1902
25 km or 16 mi	Ludwigsfelde	$1851
28 km or 18 mi	Oranienburg	$1887
30 km or 19 mi	Konigs Wusterhausen	$1841
34 km or 21 mi	Werder	$1826
34 km or 21 mi	Strausberg	$1856
46 km or 29 mi	Eberswalde	$1862
49 km or 31 mi	Furstenwalde	$1776
50 km or 31 mi	Luckenwalde	$1810
57 km or 36 mi	Brandenburg an der Havel	$1839
60 km or 37 mi	Neuruppin	$1826
72 km or 44 mi	Rathenow	$1822
81 km or 50 mi	Frankfurt	$1681
86 km or 53 mi	Schwedt	$1852
88 km or 55 mi	Wittenberg	$1454
97 km or 60 mi	Neustrelitz	$1484
97 km or 60 mi	Eisenhuttenstadt	$1567
104 km or 65 mi	Stendal	$1430
106 km or 66 mi	Cottbus	$1363
107 km or 67 mi	Burg bei Magdeburg	$1425
107 km or 67 mi	Zerbst	$1424
109 km or 68 mi	Dessau-Rolau	$1436
109 km or 68 mi	Torgau	$1471
116 km or 72 mi	Neubrandenburg	$1501
119 km or 74 mi	Senftenberg	$1486
121 km or 75 mi	Waren	$1479
124 km or 77 mi	Bitterfeld-Wolfen	$1421
124 km or 77 mi	Schonebeck	$1417
125 km or 78 mi	Spremberg	$1435
127 km or 79 mi	Magdeburg	$1411
128 km or 79 mi	Szczecin	$1166
128 km or 80 mi	Kothen	$1422
128 km or 80 mi	Gorzow Wielkopolski	$1113
131 km or 81 mi	Delitzsch	$1563
134 km or 83 mi	Hoyerswerda	$1446

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