Cape Town vs Johannesburg - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Cape Town	Johannesburg
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1366	$1171
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$3099	$2754
🏠 One person rent	$773	$522
🏘️ Family rent	$1343	$894
🍽️ Food expenses	$355	$337
🚐 Transport expenses	$124	$216
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$404	$1761
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	7 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	55	73
😀 Quality of life	55	65
🏙️ Population	3.78M	4.8M

The cost of living in Cape Town is 17% more expensive than in Johannesburg. Cities ranked 4432nd and 4839th ($1366 vs $1171) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 2nd and 4th in South Africa.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.3 months in Cape Town compared to 1.5 months in Johannesburg. Ranked 4th vs 1st best cities to live in South Africa, and 6382nd vs 5190th among the best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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/cape-town/johannesburg.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Cape Town vs Johannesburg infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/cape-town/johannesburg" target="_blank">Cape Town vs Johannesburg - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Cape Town vs Johannesburg

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

	Cape Town	Johannesburg
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$12.5	$11.5
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$49.7	$43.9
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.71	$5.73
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.13	$2.81
☕ Cappuccino	$2.42	$2.48
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.39	$1.16
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$874	$448
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$594	$377
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1556	$804
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1079	$689
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$84.1	$91
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$129	$142
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$39	$40
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.25%	11.13%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2160	$1058
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1500	$785
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.16	$2.12
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$32.7	$88.7
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$9.46	$9.88
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.36	$1.4
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.35	$1.43
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.21	$1.16
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.24	$1.66
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.91	$2.52
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.29	$9.48
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.21	$5.59
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.46	$7.91
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.83	$1.97
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.81	$1.87
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.79	$1.87
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.94	$1.99
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.52	$1.64
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.47	$1.75
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.79	$0.75
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.84	$1.62
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.59	$6.21
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.49	$1.66
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.44	$3.47
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.94	$5.83
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.02	$4.49
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.49	$2.29
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.67	$1.41
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$49.6	$38.5
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$8.6	$8.38
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$39.1	$32.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$11.2	$7.19
👖 Brand Jeans	$59.9	$59
👟 Brand Sneakers	$127	$104
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$264	$229
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$5378	$5808

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Cape Town

Distance	City	Cost of living
54 km or 33 mi	Paarl	$1345
99 km or 62 mi	Worcester	$718
371 km or 231 mi	George	$927
644 km or 400 mi	Uitenhage	$980
662 km or 411 mi	Port Elizabeth	$1036
664 km or 413 mi	Upington	$811
754 km or 468 mi	Makhanda	$874
821 km or 510 mi	Komani	$1050
833 km or 518 mi	Kimberley	$927
845 km or 525 mi	Bhisho	$1419
882 km or 548 mi	East London	$795
912 km or 567 mi	Bloemfontein	$763
950 km or 590 mi	Mafeteng	$630
999 km or 621 mi	Maseru	$681
1002 km or 622 mi	Mthatha	$952
1029 km or 639 mi	Teyateyaneng	$573
1030 km or 640 mi	Welkom	$826
1034 km or 643 mi	Mariental	$986
1092 km or 679 mi	Butha-Buthe	$604
1092 km or 679 mi	Kroonstad	$875
1113 km or 692 mi	Klerksdorp	$826
1135 km or 705 mi	Mmabatho	$901
1155 km or 718 mi	Potchefstroom	$791
1187 km or 737 mi	Rehoboth	$934
1194 km or 742 mi	Lobatse	$697
1198 km or 745 mi	Kanye	$694
1208 km or 751 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$865
1217 km or 756 mi	Vereeniging	$765
1231 km or 765 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$716
1244 km or 773 mi	Soweto	$1057
1250 km or 777 mi	Rustenburg	$1017
1260 km or 783 mi	Gaborone	$731
1261 km or 783 mi	Molepolole	$662
1261 km or 784 mi	Johannesburg	$1171
1267 km or 788 mi	Randburg	$958
1269 km or 789 mi	Windhoek	$1023
1270 km or 789 mi	Sandton	$1089
1271 km or 790 mi	Durban	$948
1277 km or 794 mi	Gobabis	$968
1279 km or 795 mi	Walvis Bay	$905

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