Budapest vs Johannesburg - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Budapest	Johannesburg
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1580	$1204
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$3914	$2788
🏠 One person rent	$810	$547
🏘️ Family rent	$1423	$919
🍽️ Food expenses	$474	$351
🚐 Transport expenses	$133	$210
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1832	$420
😷 Air quality	Good	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	18 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	92	73
😀 Quality of life	81	60
🏙️ Population	1.69M	4.8M

The cost of living in Budapest is 31% more expensive than in Johannesburg. Cities ranked 3675th and 4745th ($1580 vs $1204) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 4th in Hungary and South Africa, respectively. Check Hungary vs South Africa comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.2 months in Budapest compared to 0.3 months in Johannesburg. Budapest ranked 1st best city to live in Hungary vs Johannesburg ranked 1st in South Africa, while ranked 646th 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 Budapest vs Johannesburg

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

	Budapest	Johannesburg
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$13.9	$12.2
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$67.1	$46
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.83	$6.16
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.67	$2.44
☕ Cappuccino	$3.6	$2.41
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.11	$1.2
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$839	$473
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$633	$385
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1498	$862
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1160	$679
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$111	$106
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$170	$164
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$25.5	$38.8
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.8%	10.88%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6164	$1060
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4452	$777
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.64	$1.85
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$29.4	$92.2
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$15.3	$8.38
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.93	$1.42
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.3	$1.36
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.88	$1.24
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.65	$1.81
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.14	$2.48
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.2	$8.99
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.46	$5.77
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15.8	$9.11
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.25	$2.12
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.29	$1.89
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.57	$1.93
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.78	$2.07
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.14	$1.64
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.14	$1.75
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.43	$0.86
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.86	$1.58
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$5.94	$6.1
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.35	$1.89
🚬 Cigarette pack	$8.37	$3.4
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$15.1	$5.66
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.48	$4.33
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.71	$2.25
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.32	$1.36
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$74.9	$37.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$10.2	$8.59
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$79	$31
💇 Haircut, simple	$15.9	$7.27
👖 Brand Jeans	$117	$57.1
👟 Brand Sneakers	$122	$107
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$549	$244
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$17067	$5103

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Budapest

Distance	City	Cost of living
8.2 km or 5.1 mi	Budafok-Teteny	$1228
16 km or 9.8 mi	Erd	$973
16 km or 10 mi	Dunakeszi	$1226
17 km or 11 mi	Szigetszentmiklos	$1115
27 km or 17 mi	Godollo	$1203
32 km or 20 mi	Vac	$1195
49 km or 31 mi	Tatabanya	$1063
58 km or 36 mi	Szekesfehervar	$981
58 km or 36 mi	Dunaujvaros	$914
67 km or 42 mi	Cegled	$1139
74 km or 46 mi	Komarno	$1156
82 km or 51 mi	Kecskemet	$1019
84 km or 52 mi	Nove Zamky	$1126
86 km or 53 mi	Salgotarjan	$1117
86 km or 53 mi	Levice	$928
93 km or 58 mi	Szolnok	$941
96 km or 59 mi	Veszprem	$1124
104 km or 65 mi	Lucenec	$1031
107 km or 67 mi	Gyor	$974
109 km or 68 mi	Eger	$1028
115 km or 72 mi	Nitra	$1218
121 km or 75 mi	Zvolen	$1340
123 km or 76 mi	Ozd	$1058
130 km or 81 mi	Szekszard	$978
138 km or 86 mi	Banska Bystrica	$1117
139 km or 86 mi	Mosonmagyarovar	$1042
145 km or 90 mi	Prievidza	$1032
146 km or 91 mi	Trnava	$1308
146 km or 91 mi	Miskolc	$1034
146 km or 91 mi	Baja	$1067
150 km or 93 mi	Piestany	$967
153 km or 95 mi	Hodmezovasarhely	$915
158 km or 98 mi	Kaposvar	$893
160 km or 99 mi	Petrzalka	$1475
161 km or 100 mi	Bratislava	$1590
163 km or 101 mi	Subotica	$848
163 km or 101 mi	Szeged	$1076
170 km or 106 mi	Pecs	$1189
172 km or 107 mi	Trencin	$1255
174 km or 108 mi	Martin	$1160

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