Bishkek vs Johannesburg - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Bishkek	Johannesburg
🚶 Cost of living one person	$757	$1171
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1788	$2754
🏠 One person rent	$409	$522
🏘️ Family rent	$723	$894
🍽️ Food expenses	$240	$337
🚐 Transport expenses	$35.7	$216
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$358	$1761
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	23 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	44	73
😀 Quality of life	56	65
🏙️ Population	1.19M	4.8M

The cost of living in Bishkek is 35% less expensive than in Johannesburg. Cities ranked 6948th and 4839th ($757 vs $1171) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 4th in Kyrgyzstan and South Africa, respectively. Check Kyrgyzstan vs South Africa comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.5 months in Bishkek compared to 1.5 months in Johannesburg. Bishkek ranked 1st best city to live in Kyrgyzstan vs Johannesburg ranked 1st in South Africa, while ranked 6280th 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 Bishkek vs Johannesburg

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

	Bishkek	Johannesburg
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$6.86	$11.5
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$27.7	$43.9
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.73	$5.73
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.36	$2.81
☕ Cappuccino	$2.28	$2.48
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.76	$1.16
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$472	$448
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$348	$377
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$868	$804
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$625	$689
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$24.7	$91
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$37.9	$142
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$11.9	$40
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	20.67%	11.13%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1674	$1058
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1147	$785
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.23	$2.12
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$11.6	$88.7
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$3.22	$9.88
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.87	$1.4
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.95	$1.43
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.41	$1.16
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.66	$1.66
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.68	$2.52
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.79	$9.48
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.32	$5.59
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.42	$7.91
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.18	$1.97
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.97	$1.87
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.03	$1.87
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.53	$1.99
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.57	$1.64
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.5	$1.75
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.37	$0.75
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.16	$1.62
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$8.04	$6.21
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.22	$1.66
🚬 Cigarette pack	$1.82	$3.47
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$3.95	$5.83
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$2.05	$4.49
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$0.78	$2.29
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.26	$1.41
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$47.6	$38.5
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$5.55	$8.38
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$12	$32.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$3.88	$7.19
👖 Brand Jeans	$41.8	$59
👟 Brand Sneakers	$97.1	$104
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$215	$229
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$6484	$5808

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Bishkek

Distance	City	Cost of living
23 km or 14 mi	Kant	$503
59 km or 37 mi	Tokmok	$616
171 km or 106 mi	Toktogul	$621
171 km or 106 mi	Kaskelen	$866
194 km or 121 mi	Almaty	$974
195 km or 121 mi	Talas	$533
198 km or 123 mi	Naryn	$580
207 km or 129 mi	Cholpon-Ata	$636
233 km or 145 mi	Kapchagay	$842
251 km or 156 mi	Jalal-Abad	$585
261 km or 162 mi	Taraz	$477
299 km or 186 mi	Osh	$549
303 km or 188 mi	Andijan	$447
317 km or 197 mi	Namangan	$561
357 km or 222 mi	Margilan	$653
360 km or 224 mi	Fergana	$679
376 km or 233 mi	Artux	$565
387 km or 240 mi	Taldiqorgan	$738
398 km or 247 mi	Kashgar	$575
411 km or 256 mi	Shymkent	$562
439 km or 273 mi	Chirchiq	$736
444 km or 276 mi	Balkhash	$661
449 km or 279 mi	Konibodom	$619
471 km or 292 mi	Tashkent	$827
482 km or 300 mi	Istiklol	$609
497 km or 309 mi	Kentau	$505
498 km or 310 mi	Ghafurov	$590
499 km or 310 mi	Buston	$635
502 km or 312 mi	Khujand	$585
506 km or 314 mi	Aksu	$564
516 km or 320 mi	Turkistan	$521
558 km or 346 mi	Yining	$575
568 km or 353 mi	Istaravshan	$653
614 km or 382 mi	Aral	$556
637 km or 396 mi	Jizzakh	$553
642 km or 399 mi	Bole	$557
682 km or 424 mi	Dushanbe	$735
691 km or 430 mi	Panjakent	$692
721 km or 448 mi	Tursunzoda	$702
729 km or 453 mi	Samarkand	$484

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