Berlin vs Johannesburg - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Berlin	Johannesburg
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2302	$1171
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5175	$2754
🏠 One person rent	$1280	$522
🏘️ Family rent	$2205	$894
🍽️ Food expenses	$553	$337
🚐 Transport expenses	$315	$216
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3706	$1761
😷 Air quality	Good	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	19 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	100	73
😀 Quality of life	95	65
🏙️ Population	3.78M	4.8M

The cost of living in Berlin is 97% more expensive than in Johannesburg. Cities ranked 1275th and 4839th ($2302 vs $1171) 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 1.5 months in Johannesburg. Berlin ranked 7th best city to live in Germany vs Johannesburg ranked 1st in South Africa, while ranked 35th and 5190th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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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	$11.5
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$65.2	$43.9
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$13.1	$5.73
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$5.17	$2.81
☕ Cappuccino	$4.72	$2.48
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.77	$1.16
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1324	$448
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$952	$377
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2341	$804
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1711	$689
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$208	$91
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$321	$142
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$46.4	$40
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.51%	11.13%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$8913	$1058
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6080	$785
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$4.45	$2.12
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$69.8	$88.7
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$29.9	$9.88
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.99	$1.4
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.37	$1.43
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.08	$1.16
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.94	$1.66
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.14	$2.52
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15.6	$9.48
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.6	$5.59
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$18.6	$7.91
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.49	$1.97
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.07	$1.87
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.85	$1.87
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.62	$1.99
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.38	$1.64
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.78	$1.75
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.69	$0.75
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.06	$1.62
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$7.38	$6.21
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.33	$1.66
🚬 Cigarette pack	$10.1	$3.47
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$10.5	$5.83
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.95	$4.49
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.69	$2.29
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.17	$1.41
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$35.2	$38.5
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$15.8	$8.38
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$68.6	$32.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$22.1	$7.19
👖 Brand Jeans	$97.9	$59
👟 Brand Sneakers	$101	$104
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$135	$229
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$10963	$5808

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	$1931
18 km or 11 mi	Hohen Neuendorf	$1930
18 km or 11 mi	Hennigsdorf	$1921
20 km or 13 mi	Falkensee	$1905
21 km or 13 mi	Bernau bei Berlin	$1940
25 km or 16 mi	Potsdam	$1940
25 km or 16 mi	Ludwigsfelde	$1889
28 km or 18 mi	Oranienburg	$1920
30 km or 19 mi	Konigs Wusterhausen	$1896
34 km or 21 mi	Werder	$1870
34 km or 21 mi	Strausberg	$1895
46 km or 29 mi	Eberswalde	$1878
49 km or 31 mi	Furstenwalde	$1816
50 km or 31 mi	Luckenwalde	$1853
57 km or 36 mi	Brandenburg an der Havel	$1859
60 km or 37 mi	Neuruppin	$1846
72 km or 44 mi	Rathenow	$1846
81 km or 50 mi	Frankfurt	$1698
86 km or 53 mi	Schwedt	$1857
88 km or 55 mi	Wittenberg	$1460
97 km or 60 mi	Neustrelitz	$1557
97 km or 60 mi	Eisenhuttenstadt	$1587
104 km or 65 mi	Stendal	$1493
106 km or 66 mi	Cottbus	$1382
107 km or 67 mi	Burg bei Magdeburg	$1483
107 km or 67 mi	Zerbst	$1490
109 km or 68 mi	Dessau-Rolau	$1489
109 km or 68 mi	Torgau	$1488
116 km or 72 mi	Neubrandenburg	$1597
119 km or 74 mi	Senftenberg	$1502
121 km or 75 mi	Waren	$1543
124 km or 77 mi	Bitterfeld-Wolfen	$1457
124 km or 77 mi	Schonebeck	$1481
125 km or 78 mi	Spremberg	$1464
127 km or 79 mi	Magdeburg	$1473
128 km or 79 mi	Szczecin	$1240
128 km or 80 mi	Kothen	$1467
128 km or 80 mi	Gorzow Wielkopolski	$1121
131 km or 81 mi	Delitzsch	$1553
134 km or 83 mi	Hoyerswerda	$1474

Cities near Johannesburg

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 6.8 mi	Sandton	$1089
13 km or 8 mi	Randburg	$958
19 km or 12 mi	Soweto	$1057
28 km or 17 mi	Benoni	$892
40 km or 25 mi	Springs	$792
41 km or 25 mi	Centurion	$967
53 km or 33 mi	Pretoria	$1049
53 km or 33 mi	Vereeniging	$765
59 km or 36 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$865
71 km or 44 mi	Brits	$950
101 km or 62 mi	Rustenburg	$1017
109 km or 68 mi	Potchefstroom	$791
143 km or 89 mi	Bethal	$910
152 km or 94 mi	Middelburg	$899
155 km or 97 mi	Klerksdorp	$826
179 km or 111 mi	Kroonstad	$875
237 km or 147 mi	Welkom	$826
244 km or 152 mi	Mmabatho	$901
262 km or 163 mi	Lobatse	$697
275 km or 171 mi	Gaborone	$731
287 km or 179 mi	Butha-Buthe	$604
302 km or 188 mi	Kanye	$694
311 km or 193 mi	Mbabane	$652
323 km or 201 mi	Vryheid	$912
325 km or 202 mi	Molepolole	$662
329 km or 204 mi	Teyateyaneng	$573
333 km or 207 mi	Manzini	$511
350 km or 217 mi	Maseru	$681
366 km or 228 mi	Mahalapye	$628
369 km or 229 mi	Bloemfontein	$763
409 km or 254 mi	Mafeteng	$630
417 km or 259 mi	Palapye	$551
429 km or 267 mi	Kimberley	$927
442 km or 275 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$716
443 km or 275 mi	Matola	$916
446 km or 277 mi	Serowe	$583
454 km or 282 mi	Maputo	$966
501 km or 311 mi	Durban	$948
562 km or 349 mi	Francistown	$633
577 km or 358 mi	Xai-Xai	$950