Calgary vs Johannesburg - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Calgary	Johannesburg
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2118	$1171
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4745	$2754
🏠 One person rent	$1202	$522
🏘️ Family rent	$1911	$894
🍽️ Food expenses	$591	$337
🚐 Transport expenses	$173	$216
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3199	$1761
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	9 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	53	73
😀 Quality of life	90	65
🏙️ Population	1.31M	4.8M

The cost of living in Calgary is 81% more expensive than in Johannesburg. Cities ranked 1716th and 4839th ($2118 vs $1171) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 29th 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 1.5 months in Johannesburg. Calgary ranked 21st best city to live in Canada vs Johannesburg ranked 1st in South Africa, while ranked 209th 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 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	$17	$11.5
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$65	$43.9
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$11.3	$5.73
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$6.29	$2.81
☕ Cappuccino	$4.2	$2.48
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.03	$1.16
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1224	$448
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$957	$377
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2059	$804
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1544	$689
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$132	$91
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$204	$142
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$59.8	$40
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	4.55%	11.13%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3738	$1058
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3570	$785
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.94	$2.12
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$87.1	$88.7
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$15.5	$9.88
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.98	$1.4
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.98	$1.43
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.42	$1.16
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.2	$1.66
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.79	$2.52
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.8	$9.48
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.7	$5.59
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16.1	$7.91
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.28	$1.97
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.39	$1.87
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.02	$1.87
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.42	$1.99
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.42	$1.64
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.82	$1.75
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.17	$0.75
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.28	$1.62
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$15.5	$6.21
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.95	$1.66
🚬 Cigarette pack	$13.7	$3.47
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$9.3	$5.83
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.63	$4.49
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.56	$2.29
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.51	$1.41
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$55.4	$38.5
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$13.8	$8.38
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$93.1	$32.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$23.2	$7.19
👖 Brand Jeans	$59.1	$59
👟 Brand Sneakers	$88.8	$104
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$830	$229
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$15430	$5808

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	$1801
137 km or 85 mi	Red Deer	$1841
174 km or 108 mi	Lethbridge	$1761
248 km or 154 mi	Leduc	$1775
265 km or 165 mi	Medicine Hat	$1620
278 km or 173 mi	Spruce Grove	$1676
279 km or 173 mi	Edmonton	$1878
357 km or 222 mi	Sandpoint	$2593
402 km or 250 mi	Kelowna	$1993
422 km or 262 mi	Coeur d'Alene	$2331
426 km or 265 mi	Post Falls	$2315
429 km or 266 mi	Penticton	$1773
440 km or 273 mi	Spokane Valley	$2205
442 km or 275 mi	Kamloops	$1815
443 km or 275 mi	Great Falls	$1956
452 km or 281 mi	Spokane	$2187
466 km or 289 mi	Missoula	$2156
517 km or 322 mi	Helena	$2544
524 km or 325 mi	Saskatoon	$1821
526 km or 327 mi	Moscow	$1697
531 km or 330 mi	Pullman	$1899
556 km or 345 mi	Grande Prairie	$1892
560 km or 348 mi	Lewiston	$1701
572 km or 355 mi	Butte	$1634
579 km or 360 mi	Moses Lake	$2009
600 km or 373 mi	Chilliwack	$1884
603 km or 375 mi	Moose Jaw	$1506
607 km or 377 mi	Wenatchee	$2241
616 km or 382 mi	Prince Albert	$1486
630 km or 391 mi	Abbotsford	$2034
636 km or 395 mi	Whistler	$2470
637 km or 396 mi	Walla Walla	$2046
638 km or 396 mi	Bozeman	$2677
641 km or 398 mi	Maple Ridge	$2326
650 km or 404 mi	Langley	$2054
650 km or 404 mi	Pasco	$2074
651 km or 405 mi	Coquitlam	$2590
654 km or 406 mi	Bellingham	$2526
654 km or 406 mi	Richland	$2460
655 km or 407 mi	Fort McMurray	$1934

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