Birmingham vs Johannesburg - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Birmingham	Johannesburg
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2204	$1204
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5203	$2788
🏠 One person rent	$1254	$547
🏘️ Family rent	$1947	$919
🍽️ Food expenses	$557	$351
🚐 Transport expenses	$225	$210
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3956	$420
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	11 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	96	73
😀 Quality of life	95	60
🏙️ Population	1.14M	4.8M

The cost of living in Birmingham is 83% more expensive than in Johannesburg. Cities ranked 1471st and 4745th ($2204 vs $1204) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 57th and 4th in the United Kingdom and South Africa, respectively. Check the United Kingdom vs South Africa comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.8 months in Birmingham compared to 0.3 months in Johannesburg. Birmingham ranked 2nd best city to live in the United Kingdom vs Johannesburg ranked 1st in South Africa, while ranked 25th 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 Birmingham vs Johannesburg

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

	Birmingham	Johannesburg
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$18.5	$12.2
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$74.4	$46
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.68	$6.16
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$7.08	$2.44
☕ Cappuccino	$5	$2.41
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.57	$1.2
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1251	$473
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$940	$385
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2007	$862
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1484	$679
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$207	$106
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$314	$164
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$45	$38.8
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	5.11%	10.88%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5467	$1060
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4236	$777
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$4	$1.85
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$94.8	$92.2
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$24.4	$8.38
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.99	$1.42
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.81	$1.36
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.69	$1.24
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.14	$1.81
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.59	$2.48
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.9	$8.99
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.16	$5.77
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.9	$9.11
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.58	$2.12
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.81	$1.89
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.47	$1.93
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.39	$2.07
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.53	$1.64
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.76	$1.75
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.05	$0.86
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.23	$1.58
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$12.5	$6.1
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.43	$1.89
🚬 Cigarette pack	$21	$3.4
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$10.5	$5.66
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.83	$4.33
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$4.81	$2.25
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.96	$1.36
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$34.9	$37.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$14.9	$8.59
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$110	$31
💇 Haircut, simple	$15.1	$7.27
👖 Brand Jeans	$98.2	$57.1
👟 Brand Sneakers	$107	$107
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1631	$244
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$24178	$5103

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Birmingham

Distance	City	Cost of living
4.7 km or 2.9 mi	Smethwick	$1959
6.8 km or 4.2 mi	West Bromwich	$1914
11 km or 6.6 mi	Halesowen	$1894
12 km or 7.2 mi	Solihull	$2080
12 km or 7.6 mi	Walsall	$1798
14 km or 8.7 mi	Dudley	$1788
14 km or 8.7 mi	Aldridge	$1875
15 km or 9.6 mi	Willenhall	$1862
17 km or 10 mi	Stourbridge	$1825
19 km or 12 mi	Wolverhampton	$1838
19 km or 12 mi	Bromsgrove	$1891
20 km or 12 mi	Redditch	$1745
22 km or 14 mi	Tamworth	$1910
25 km or 15 mi	Cannock	$1885
26 km or 16 mi	Kidderminster	$1888
27 km or 17 mi	Coventry	$1971
30 km or 19 mi	Nuneaton	$1756
31 km or 19 mi	Warwick	$2015
32 km or 20 mi	Leamington Spa	$2158
35 km or 22 mi	Stratford-upon-Avon	$1894
37 km or 23 mi	Hinckley	$1876
39 km or 24 mi	Worcester	$1729
39 km or 24 mi	Stafford	$1870
40 km or 25 mi	Burton upon Trent	$1763
43 km or 27 mi	Telford	$1627
45 km or 28 mi	Rugby	$1833
55 km or 34 mi	Leicester	$1777
57 km or 35 mi	Derby	$1748
57 km or 35 mi	Loughborough	$1887
60 km or 37 mi	Banbury	$1820
61 km or 38 mi	Stoke-on-Trent	$1710
63 km or 39 mi	Shrewsbury	$1763
63 km or 39 mi	Newcastle-under-Lyme	$1535
66 km or 41 mi	Cheltenham	$1928
66 km or 41 mi	Market Harborough	$1917
70 km or 44 mi	Leek	$1827
72 km or 45 mi	Gloucester	$1889
73 km or 45 mi	Hereford	$1897
73 km or 46 mi	Nottingham	$1990
73 km or 46 mi	Northampton	$1886

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