Canberra vs Johannesburg - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Canberra	Johannesburg
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2258	$1204
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5105	$2788
🏠 One person rent	$1409	$547
🏘️ Family rent	$2111	$919
🍽️ Food expenses	$584	$351
🚐 Transport expenses	$117	$210
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4498	$420
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	6 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	30	73
😀 Quality of life	85	60
🏙️ Population	381K	4.8M

The cost of living in Canberra is 87% more expensive than in Johannesburg. Cities ranked 1373rd and 4745th ($2258 vs $1204) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 12th and 4th in Australia and South Africa, respectively. Check Australia vs South Africa comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 2 months in Canberra compared to 0.3 months in Johannesburg. Canberra ranked 10th best city to live in Australia vs Johannesburg ranked 1st in South Africa, while ranked 438th 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 Canberra vs Johannesburg

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

	Canberra	Johannesburg
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$15.6	$12.2
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$73.7	$46
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$10.5	$6.16
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$8.03	$2.44
☕ Cappuccino	$3.75	$2.41
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.24	$1.2
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1459	$473
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1187	$385
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2549	$862
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1714	$679
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$117	$106
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$179	$164
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$50.8	$38.8
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	5.83%	10.88%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$9940	$1060
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6181	$777
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$3.2	$1.85
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$86.9	$92.2
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$16.7	$8.38
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.32	$1.42
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.44	$1.36
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.66	$1.24
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.17	$1.81
🥚 Eggs, x12	$5.41	$2.48
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.4	$8.99
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.1	$5.77
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$17.7	$9.11
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.74	$2.12
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.29	$1.89
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.68	$1.93
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.65	$2.07
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.91	$1.64
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.73	$1.75
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.01	$0.86
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.28	$1.58
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$16	$6.1
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$4.69	$1.89
🚬 Cigarette pack	$26.9	$3.4
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.98	$5.66
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.85	$4.33
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.55	$2.25
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.09	$1.36
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$62.8	$37.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$14.4	$8.59
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$53.7	$31
💇 Haircut, simple	$19.2	$7.27
👖 Brand Jeans	$80	$57.1
👟 Brand Sneakers	$119	$107
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$2338	$244
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$17844	$5103

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Canberra

Distance	City	Cost of living
81 km or 50 mi	Goulburn	$1795
161 km or 100 mi	Wagga Wagga	$1608
187 km or 116 mi	Wollongong	$1695
212 km or 132 mi	Bathurst	$1701
223 km or 139 mi	Orange	$1460
235 km or 146 mi	Blacktown	$1709
238 km or 148 mi	Parramatta	$2481
243 km or 151 mi	Kellyville	$2040
247 km or 154 mi	Sydney	$2844
261 km or 162 mi	Dee Why	$2354
303 km or 188 mi	Griffith	$1825
341 km or 212 mi	Dubbo	$1855
357 km or 222 mi	Shepparton	$1816
358 km or 222 mi	Newcastle	$1995
397 km or 246 mi	Traralgon	$2000
448 km or 278 mi	Pakenham	$1936
454 km or 282 mi	Berwick	$1915
459 km or 285 mi	Dandenong	$1913
464 km or 288 mi	Cranbourne	$1810
466 km or 289 mi	South Yarra	$1834
466 km or 290 mi	Bendigo	$1493
466 km or 290 mi	Melbourne	$2543
470 km or 292 mi	Sunbury	$1933
477 km or 297 mi	Frankston	$1889
485 km or 302 mi	Melton	$1896
488 km or 303 mi	Tarneit	$1813
489 km or 304 mi	Hoppers Crossing	$1847
531 km or 330 mi	Geelong	$2179
535 km or 332 mi	Ballarat	$1606
554 km or 344 mi	Port Macquarie	$1786
583 km or 362 mi	Armidale	$1273
649 km or 403 mi	Mildura	$1905
669 km or 415 mi	Coffs Harbour	$2132
684 km or 425 mi	Warrnambool	$1876
698 km or 434 mi	Devonport	$1868
706 km or 438 mi	Launceston	$1728
796 km or 495 mi	Mount Gambier	$1880
852 km or 529 mi	Byron Bay	$2672
858 km or 533 mi	Hobart	$2364
902 km or 560 mi	Toowoomba	$1720

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