Calgary vs Johannesburg - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Calgary	Johannesburg
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2077	$993
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4598	$2403
🏠 One person rent	$1226	$441
🏘️ Family rent	$1942	$809
🍽️ Food expenses	$561	$288
🚐 Transport expenses	$162	$181
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3168	$1383
😷 Air quality	Good	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	9 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	53	72
😀 Quality of life	90	57
🏙️ Population	1.31M	4.43M

The cost of living in Calgary is 109% more expensive than in Johannesburg. Cities ranked 1646th and 5539th ($2077 vs $993) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 23rd 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 1.5 months in Calgary compared to 1.4 months in Johannesburg. Calgary ranked 8th best city to live in Canada vs Johannesburg ranked 2nd in South Africa, while ranked 153rd and 5667th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Calgary vs Johannesburg infographic

Share this infographic!

Use the link below to embed the infographic from our site and automatically keep the data layer up to date.

If you prefer to download the image, please credit us as a source.

<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/calgary/johannesburg.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Calgary vs Johannesburg infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/calgary/johannesburg" target="_blank">Calgary vs Johannesburg - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

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	$15.2	$9.65
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$60.7	$37.9
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.97	$4.9
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$5.29	$2.37
☕ Cappuccino	$4.1	$2.01
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.02	$0.99
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1222	$377
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$991	$318
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2053	$790
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1592	$627
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$131	$71.9
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$200	$110
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$57.4	$39.5
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.03%	11.55%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3283	$1031
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3066	$684
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.57	$1.62
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$80.8	$72
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$14.5	$9.35
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.09	$1.28
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$2.11	$1.18
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.47	$0.95
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.98	$1.36
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.79	$2.58
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.2	$10
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.1	$5.04
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.5	$6.12
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.12	$1.6
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.31	$1.49
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.69	$1.41
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.19	$1.59
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.52	$1.35
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.42	$1.44
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.2	$0.58
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.37	$1.44
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$15.2	$5.96
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.92	$1.25
🚬 Cigarette pack	$13	$2.97
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$8.11	$5.59
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.68	$3.94
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.77	$1.88
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.21	$1.42
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$49.1	$33.2
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$11.7	$7.2
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$61.4	$27.8
💇 Haircut, simple	$22.6	$5.55
👖 Brand Jeans	$56.3	$48.5
👟 Brand Sneakers	$82.4	$88.8
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$841	$214
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$16603	$5271

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	$1743
137 km or 85 mi	Red Deer	$1676
174 km or 108 mi	Lethbridge	$1614
248 km or 154 mi	Leduc	$1656
265 km or 165 mi	Medicine Hat	$1487
278 km or 173 mi	Spruce Grove	$1588
279 km or 173 mi	Edmonton	$1769
357 km or 222 mi	Sandpoint	$2568
402 km or 250 mi	Kelowna	$1886
422 km or 262 mi	Coeur d'Alene	$2299
426 km or 265 mi	Post Falls	$2284
429 km or 266 mi	Penticton	$1638
440 km or 273 mi	Spokane Valley	$2174
442 km or 275 mi	Kamloops	$1770
443 km or 275 mi	Great Falls	$2007
452 km or 281 mi	Spokane	$2163
466 km or 289 mi	Missoula	$2054
517 km or 322 mi	Helena	$2327
524 km or 325 mi	Saskatoon	$1786
526 km or 327 mi	Moscow	$1792
531 km or 330 mi	Pullman	$1612
556 km or 345 mi	Grande Prairie	$1778
560 km or 348 mi	Lewiston	$1884
572 km or 355 mi	Butte	$1632
579 km or 360 mi	Moses Lake	$2009
600 km or 373 mi	Chilliwack	$1761
603 km or 375 mi	Moose Jaw	$1360
607 km or 377 mi	Wenatchee	$2248
616 km or 382 mi	Prince Albert	$1446
630 km or 391 mi	Abbotsford	$1883
636 km or 395 mi	Whistler	$2023
637 km or 396 mi	Walla Walla	$1968
638 km or 396 mi	Bozeman	$2616
641 km or 398 mi	Maple Ridge	$1969
650 km or 404 mi	Langley	$2021
650 km or 404 mi	Pasco	$2050
651 km or 405 mi	Coquitlam	$2490
654 km or 406 mi	Bellingham	$2466
654 km or 406 mi	Richland	$2181
655 km or 407 mi	Fort McMurray	$1871

Cities near Johannesburg

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 6.8 mi	Sandton	$953
13 km or 8 mi	Randburg	$837
19 km or 12 mi	Soweto	$923
28 km or 17 mi	Benoni	$785
40 km or 25 mi	Springs	$678
41 km or 25 mi	Centurion	$807
53 km or 33 mi	Pretoria	$906
53 km or 33 mi	Vereeniging	$672
59 km or 36 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$773
71 km or 44 mi	Brits	$820
101 km or 62 mi	Rustenburg	$889
109 km or 68 mi	Potchefstroom	$695
143 km or 89 mi	Bethal	$784
152 km or 94 mi	Middelburg	$795
155 km or 97 mi	Klerksdorp	$722
179 km or 111 mi	Kroonstad	$768
237 km or 147 mi	Welkom	$748
244 km or 152 mi	Mmabatho	$780
262 km or 163 mi	Lobatse	$665
275 km or 171 mi	Gaborone	$691
287 km or 179 mi	Butha-Buthe	$535
302 km or 188 mi	Kanye	$664
311 km or 193 mi	Mbabane	$562
323 km or 201 mi	Vryheid	$763
325 km or 202 mi	Molepolole	$628
329 km or 204 mi	Teyateyaneng	$500
333 km or 207 mi	Manzini	$442
350 km or 217 mi	Maseru	$621
366 km or 228 mi	Mahalapye	$631
369 km or 229 mi	Bloemfontein	$657
409 km or 254 mi	Mafeteng	$567
417 km or 259 mi	Palapye	$540
429 km or 267 mi	Kimberley	$814
442 km or 275 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$640
443 km or 275 mi	Matola	$964
446 km or 277 mi	Serowe	$583
454 km or 282 mi	Maputo	$1068
501 km or 311 mi	Durban	$809
562 km or 349 mi	Francistown	$624
577 km or 358 mi	Xai-Xai	$1003