Calgary vs Johannesburg - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Calgary	Johannesburg
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2079	$1082
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4683	$2560
🏠 One person rent	$1191	$485
🏘️ Family rent	$1928	$833
🍽️ Food expenses	$572	$306
🚐 Transport expenses	$169	$206
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$2977	$1614
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	9 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	53	74
😀 Quality of life	91	62
🏙️ Population	1.31M	4.43M

The cost of living in Calgary is 92% more expensive than in Johannesburg. Cities ranked 1781st and 5031st ($2079 vs $1082) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 27th and 4th in Canada and South Africa, respectively. Check Canada vs South Africa comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.4 months in Calgary compared to 1.5 months in Johannesburg. Calgary ranked 15th best city to live in Canada vs Johannesburg ranked 1st in South Africa, while ranked 160th and 5648th among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Calgary vs Johannesburg infographic

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Prices in Calgary vs Johannesburg

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

	Calgary	Johannesburg
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$16.7	$10.1
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$61.3	$38.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$10.9	$5.03
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$6.16	$2.51
☕ Cappuccino	$4.07	$2.18
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.01	$1.08
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1190	$462
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$957	$342
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2105	$824
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1560	$632
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$132	$78.5
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$203	$122
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$55.3	$40.5
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	5.19%	11.57%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3658	$1106
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3126	$741
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.69	$2.21
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$84.8	$77.1
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$15.3	$11.7
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.01	$1.32
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.92	$1.28
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.34	$1.01
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.76	$1.44
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.57	$2.6
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.4	$10.5
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.7	$5.34
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15.4	$7.4
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.13	$1.71
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.34	$1.63
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.68	$1.63
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.35	$1.77
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.31	$1.41
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.49	$1.6
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.18	$0.66
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.13	$1.53
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$15.3	$6.13
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.86	$1.46
🚬 Cigarette pack	$13.1	$3.19
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$9.25	$5.86
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.47	$4.11
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.53	$1.98
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.51	$1.49
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$53.7	$33.6
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$12.6	$7.33
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$91.5	$29.7
💇 Haircut, simple	$21.7	$6.46
👖 Brand Jeans	$58	$52.2
👟 Brand Sneakers	$87.5	$93.1
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$796	$227
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$15727	$5503

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Calgary

Distance	City	Cost of living
106 km or 66 mi	Banff	$1773
137 km or 85 mi	Red Deer	$1782
174 km or 108 mi	Lethbridge	$1632
248 km or 154 mi	Leduc	$1730
265 km or 165 mi	Medicine Hat	$1544
278 km or 173 mi	Spruce Grove	$1648
279 km or 173 mi	Edmonton	$1823
357 km or 222 mi	Sandpoint	$2617
402 km or 250 mi	Kelowna	$1949
422 km or 262 mi	Coeur d'Alene	$2366
426 km or 265 mi	Post Falls	$2343
429 km or 266 mi	Penticton	$1759
440 km or 273 mi	Spokane Valley	$2231
442 km or 275 mi	Kamloops	$1748
443 km or 275 mi	Great Falls	$1973
452 km or 281 mi	Spokane	$2228
466 km or 289 mi	Missoula	$2111
517 km or 322 mi	Helena	$2490
524 km or 325 mi	Saskatoon	$1817
526 km or 327 mi	Moscow	$1765
531 km or 330 mi	Pullman	$1913
556 km or 345 mi	Grande Prairie	$1854
560 km or 348 mi	Lewiston	$1774
572 km or 355 mi	Butte	$1625
579 km or 360 mi	Moses Lake	$2001
600 km or 373 mi	Chilliwack	$1842
603 km or 375 mi	Moose Jaw	$1486
607 km or 377 mi	Wenatchee	$2219
616 km or 382 mi	Prince Albert	$1478
630 km or 391 mi	Abbotsford	$1987
636 km or 395 mi	Whistler	$2414
637 km or 396 mi	Walla Walla	$2080
638 km or 396 mi	Bozeman	$2641
641 km or 398 mi	Maple Ridge	$2361
650 km or 404 mi	Langley	$1952
650 km or 404 mi	Pasco	$2057
651 km or 405 mi	Coquitlam	$2488
654 km or 406 mi	Bellingham	$2443
654 km or 406 mi	Richland	$2470
655 km or 407 mi	Fort McMurray	$1887

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