Cali vs Johannesburg - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Cali	Johannesburg
🚶 Cost of living one person	$759	$1082
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1941	$2560
🏠 One person rent	$279	$485
🏘️ Family rent	$476	$833
🍽️ Food expenses	$273	$306
🚐 Transport expenses	$121	$206
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$395	$1614
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	19 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	45	74
😀 Quality of life	57	62
🏙️ Population	2.47M	4.43M

The cost of living in Cali is 30% less expensive than in Johannesburg. Cities ranked 6830th and 5031st ($759 vs $1082) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 17th and 4th in Colombia and South Africa, respectively. Check Colombia vs South Africa comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.5 months in Cali compared to 1.5 months in Johannesburg. Cali ranked 6th best city to live in Colombia vs Johannesburg ranked 1st in South Africa, while ranked 6175th 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 Cali vs Johannesburg infographic

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Prices in Cali vs Johannesburg

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

	Cali	Johannesburg
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$4.9	$10.1
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$24.8	$38.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$8.12	$5.03
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.4	$2.51
☕ Cappuccino	$2.39	$2.18
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.15	$1.08
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$260	$462
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$192	$342
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$481	$824
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$350	$632
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$51.4	$78.5
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$78.2	$122
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$21.7	$40.5
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.52%	11.57%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1046	$1106
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$838	$741
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.77	$2.21
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$27.9	$77.1
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$14.1	$11.7
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.05	$1.32
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.35	$1.28
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.49	$1.01
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.28	$1.44
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.52	$2.6
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.93	$10.5
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.39	$5.34
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.1	$7.4
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.7	$1.71
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.06	$1.63
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.99	$1.63
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.28	$1.77
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.84	$1.41
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.14	$1.6
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.49	$0.66
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.02	$1.53
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$12.7	$6.13
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.14	$1.46
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.8	$3.19
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$6.13	$5.86
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.28	$4.11
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.16	$1.98
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.69	$1.49
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$22.9	$33.6
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.79	$7.33
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$32.7	$29.7
💇 Haircut, simple	$7.26	$6.46
👖 Brand Jeans	$66.4	$52.2
👟 Brand Sneakers	$93.2	$93.1
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$242	$227
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$6322	$5503

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Cali

Distance	City	Cost of living
27 km or 17 mi	Palmira	$693
74 km or 46 mi	Buenaventura	$782
80 km or 50 mi	Tulua	$511
111 km or 69 mi	Popayan	$572
148 km or 92 mi	Neiva	$565
154 km or 96 mi	Armenia	$667
160 km or 100 mi	Cartago	$679
170 km or 105 mi	Salento	$655
178 km or 111 mi	Pereira	$730
184 km or 114 mi	Ibague	$506
213 km or 132 mi	Girardot	$515
214 km or 133 mi	Manizales	$678
227 km or 141 mi	Florencia	$489
251 km or 156 mi	Quibdo	$708
262 km or 163 mi	Pasto	$608
285 km or 177 mi	Facatativa	$722
285 km or 177 mi	Soacha	$848
301 km or 187 mi	Bogota	$976
308 km or 192 mi	Tumaco	$622
316 km or 196 mi	Ipiales	$604
321 km or 200 mi	Envigado	$950
329 km or 204 mi	Medellin	$1030
330 km or 205 mi	Villavicencio	$546
330 km or 205 mi	Zipaquira	$762
339 km or 210 mi	Bello	$881
386 km or 240 mi	Ibarra	$585
421 km or 261 mi	Tunja	$637
446 km or 277 mi	Esmeraldas	$606
463 km or 288 mi	Quito	$882
469 km or 291 mi	Duitama	$960
471 km or 293 mi	Sogamoso	$581
500 km or 311 mi	Barrancabermeja	$1082
504 km or 313 mi	Yopal	$777
506 km or 314 mi	Santo Domingo	$598
518 km or 322 mi	Turbo	$721
554 km or 344 mi	Floridablanca	$686
556 km or 346 mi	Bucaramanga	$693
571 km or 354 mi	Ambato	$542
595 km or 369 mi	Quevedo	$649
596 km or 370 mi	Monteria	$663

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