Canberra vs Johannesburg - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Canberra	Johannesburg
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2223	$1171
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4990	$2754
🏠 One person rent	$1398	$522
🏘️ Family rent	$2158	$894
🍽️ Food expenses	$563	$337
🚐 Transport expenses	$119	$216
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4087	$1761
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	6 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	30	73
😀 Quality of life	85	65
🏙️ Population	381K	4.8M

The cost of living in Canberra is 90% more expensive than in Johannesburg. Cities ranked 1443rd and 4839th ($2223 vs $1171) 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 1.8 months in Canberra compared to 1.5 months in Johannesburg. Canberra ranked 13th best city to live in Australia vs Johannesburg ranked 1st in South Africa, while ranked 479th and 5190th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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

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	$15.5	$11.5
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$69.1	$43.9
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$10.5	$5.73
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$7.54	$2.81
☕ Cappuccino	$3.66	$2.48
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.98	$1.16
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1538	$448
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1150	$377
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2721	$804
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1726	$689
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$119	$91
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$182	$142
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$50.8	$40
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	5.89%	11.13%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$8609	$1058
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5425	$785
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$3.53	$2.12
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$88.3	$88.7
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$16.6	$9.88
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.33	$1.4
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.4	$1.43
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.62	$1.16
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.99	$1.66
🥚 Eggs, x12	$5.14	$2.52
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.7	$9.48
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.61	$5.59
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15.4	$7.91
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.69	$1.97
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.44	$1.87
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.47	$1.87
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.44	$1.99
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.62	$1.64
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.66	$1.75
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.89	$0.75
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.28	$1.62
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$15.4	$6.21
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$4.86	$1.66
🚬 Cigarette pack	$26.9	$3.47
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.98	$5.83
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.81	$4.49
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.5	$2.29
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.08	$1.41
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$57.5	$38.5
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$14.3	$8.38
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$52.8	$32.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$19.2	$7.19
👖 Brand Jeans	$79.1	$59
👟 Brand Sneakers	$112	$104
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$2023	$229
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$15408	$5808

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	$1821
161 km or 100 mi	Wagga Wagga	$1583
187 km or 116 mi	Wollongong	$1695
212 km or 132 mi	Bathurst	$1699
223 km or 139 mi	Orange	$1477
235 km or 146 mi	Blacktown	$1710
238 km or 148 mi	Parramatta	$2482
243 km or 151 mi	Kellyville	$2050
247 km or 154 mi	Sydney	$2844
261 km or 162 mi	Dee Why	$2379
303 km or 188 mi	Griffith	$1824
341 km or 212 mi	Dubbo	$1867
357 km or 222 mi	Shepparton	$1815
358 km or 222 mi	Newcastle	$1997
397 km or 246 mi	Traralgon	$1979
448 km or 278 mi	Pakenham	$1896
454 km or 282 mi	Berwick	$1860
459 km or 285 mi	Dandenong	$1894
464 km or 288 mi	Cranbourne	$1798
466 km or 289 mi	South Yarra	$1829
466 km or 290 mi	Bendigo	$1487
466 km or 290 mi	Melbourne	$2496
470 km or 292 mi	Sunbury	$1928
477 km or 297 mi	Frankston	$1889
485 km or 302 mi	Melton	$1906
488 km or 303 mi	Tarneit	$1822
489 km or 304 mi	Hoppers Crossing	$1854
531 km or 330 mi	Geelong	$2217
535 km or 332 mi	Ballarat	$1604
554 km or 344 mi	Port Macquarie	$1796
583 km or 362 mi	Armidale	$1288
649 km or 403 mi	Mildura	$1904
669 km or 415 mi	Coffs Harbour	$2172
684 km or 425 mi	Warrnambool	$1870
698 km or 434 mi	Devonport	$1898
706 km or 438 mi	Launceston	$1753
796 km or 495 mi	Mount Gambier	$1901
852 km or 529 mi	Byron Bay	$2703
858 km or 533 mi	Hobart	$2308
902 km or 560 mi	Toowoomba	$1766

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