Chengdu vs Johannesburg - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Chengdu	Johannesburg
🚶 Cost of living one person	$666	$1171
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1735	$2754
🏠 One person rent	$281	$522
🏘️ Family rent	$485	$894
🍽️ Food expenses	$235	$337
🚐 Transport expenses	$81.2	$216
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1050	$1761
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	89	73
😀 Quality of life	75	65
🏙️ Population	20.9M	4.8M

The cost of living in Chengdu is 43% less expensive than in Johannesburg. Cities ranked 7467th and 4839th ($666 vs $1171) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 88th and 4th in China and South Africa, respectively. Check China vs South Africa comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.6 months in Chengdu compared to 1.5 months in Johannesburg. Chengdu ranked 5th best city to live in China vs Johannesburg ranked 1st in South Africa, while ranked 1710th 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 Chengdu vs Johannesburg

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

	Chengdu	Johannesburg
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$2.83	$11.5
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$22	$43.9
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.93	$5.73
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.61	$2.81
☕ Cappuccino	$3.33	$2.48
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.47	$1.16
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$362	$448
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$207	$377
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$663	$804
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$367	$689
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$30.6	$91
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$46.5	$142
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$12.7	$40
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.77%	11.13%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3917	$1058
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2027	$785
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.43	$2.12
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$23.4	$88.7
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$3.67	$9.88
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.15	$1.4
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.95	$1.43
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.68	$1.16
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.19	$1.66
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.73	$2.52
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.9	$9.48
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.73	$5.59
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11	$7.91
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.91	$1.97
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.25	$1.87
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.24	$1.87
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.12	$1.99
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.73	$1.64
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.72	$1.75
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.42	$0.75
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.25	$1.62
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$9.92	$6.21
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.81	$1.66
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.4	$3.47
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.26	$5.83
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.14	$4.49
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.46	$2.29
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.66	$1.41
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$30	$38.5
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$5.89	$8.38
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$23	$32.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$6.43	$7.19
👖 Brand Jeans	$40.8	$59
👟 Brand Sneakers	$67.7	$104
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$286	$229
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$13059	$5808

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Chengdu

Distance	City	Cost of living
38 km or 24 mi	Chongzhou	$625
38 km or 24 mi	Pengzhou	$617
41 km or 25 mi	Guanghan	$600
53 km or 33 mi	Shifang	$584
55 km or 34 mi	Jianyang	$621
56 km or 35 mi	Dujiangyan	$612
60 km or 38 mi	Deyang	$588
65 km or 40 mi	Qionglai	$611
71 km or 44 mi	Meishan	$629
77 km or 48 mi	Mianzhu	$566
81 km or 50 mi	Ziyang	$628
110 km or 68 mi	Mianyang	$540
124 km or 77 mi	Leshan	$595
127 km or 79 mi	Ya'an	$598
127 km or 79 mi	Shehong	$576
131 km or 81 mi	Emeishan	$581
139 km or 87 mi	Jiangyou	$553
145 km or 90 mi	Suining	$595
153 km or 95 mi	Neijiang	$679
161 km or 100 mi	Zigong	$607
188 km or 117 mi	Longchang	$612
193 km or 120 mi	Nanchong	$572
208 km or 129 mi	Langzhong	$564
219 km or 136 mi	Yibin	$599
237 km or 148 mi	Luzhou	$600
247 km or 153 mi	Guang'an	$608
259 km or 161 mi	Guangyuan	$606
261 km or 162 mi	Huaying	$581
265 km or 165 mi	Chongqing	$601
288 km or 179 mi	Bazhong	$627
333 km or 207 mi	Dazhou	$612
341 km or 212 mi	Longnan	$615
353 km or 220 mi	Xichang	$596
372 km or 231 mi	Zhaotong	$603
388 km or 241 mi	Hanzhong	$687
390 km or 243 mi	Renhuai	$566
392 km or 244 mi	Bijie	$591
408 km or 253 mi	Wanyuan	$594
431 km or 268 mi	Zunyi	$578
459 km or 285 mi	Liupanshui	$580

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