Chengdu vs Johannesburg - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Chengdu	Johannesburg
🚶 Cost of living one person	$623	$993
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1664	$2403
🏠 One person rent	$240	$441
🏘️ Family rent	$430	$809
🍽️ Food expenses	$229	$288
🚐 Transport expenses	$83.8	$181
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$863	$1383
😷 Air quality	Bad	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	94	72
😀 Quality of life	72	57
🏙️ Population	20.9M	4.43M

The cost of living in Chengdu is 37% less expensive than in Johannesburg. Cities ranked 7421st and 5539th ($623 vs $993) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 164th 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 1.4 months in Chengdu compared to 1.4 months in Johannesburg. Chengdu ranked 9th best city to live in China vs Johannesburg ranked 2nd in South Africa, while ranked 1890th and 5667th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Chengdu vs Johannesburg infographic

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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	$2.78	$9.65
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$21.9	$37.9
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.74	$4.9
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.32	$2.37
☕ Cappuccino	$3.32	$2.01
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.45	$0.99
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$304	$377
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$170	$318
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$595	$790
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$313	$627
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$31.5	$71.9
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$47.7	$110
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$12.1	$39.5
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	4.34%	11.55%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3812	$1031
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2020	$684
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.41	$1.62
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$26.2	$72
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$3.51	$9.35
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.14	$1.28
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.95	$1.18
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.4	$0.95
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.04	$1.36
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.83	$2.58
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.4	$10
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.72	$5.04
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.6	$6.12
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.78	$1.6
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.15	$1.49
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.41	$1.41
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.03	$1.59
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.66	$1.35
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.72	$1.44
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.4	$0.58
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.21	$1.44
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$9.97	$5.96
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.89	$1.25
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.18	$2.97
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.03	$5.59
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.9	$3.94
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.39	$1.88
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.57	$1.42
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$27.4	$33.2
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$6.02	$7.2
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$22.1	$27.8
💇 Haircut, simple	$6.41	$5.55
👖 Brand Jeans	$45.7	$48.5
👟 Brand Sneakers	$72.9	$88.8
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$305	$214
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$11550	$5271

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

$349

$907

$6.64K

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Chengdu

Distance	City	Cost of living
38 km or 24 mi	Chongzhou	$581
38 km or 24 mi	Pengzhou	$572
41 km or 25 mi	Guanghan	$554
53 km or 33 mi	Shifang	$540
55 km or 34 mi	Jianyang	$580
56 km or 35 mi	Dujiangyan	$570
60 km or 38 mi	Deyang	$549
65 km or 40 mi	Qionglai	$572
71 km or 44 mi	Meishan	$590
77 km or 48 mi	Mianzhu	$529
81 km or 50 mi	Ziyang	$592
110 km or 68 mi	Mianyang	$527
124 km or 77 mi	Leshan	$554
127 km or 79 mi	Ya'an	$573
127 km or 79 mi	Shehong	$546
131 km or 81 mi	Emeishan	$540
139 km or 87 mi	Jiangyou	$532
145 km or 90 mi	Suining	$579
153 km or 95 mi	Neijiang	$652
161 km or 100 mi	Zigong	$584
188 km or 117 mi	Longchang	$593
193 km or 120 mi	Nanchong	$526
208 km or 129 mi	Langzhong	$530
219 km or 136 mi	Yibin	$590
237 km or 148 mi	Luzhou	$613
247 km or 153 mi	Guang'an	$584
259 km or 161 mi	Guangyuan	$599
261 km or 162 mi	Huaying	$553
265 km or 165 mi	Chongqing	$634
288 km or 179 mi	Bazhong	$610
333 km or 207 mi	Dazhou	$591
341 km or 212 mi	Longnan	$608
353 km or 220 mi	Xichang	$580
372 km or 231 mi	Zhaotong	$601
388 km or 241 mi	Hanzhong	$696
390 km or 243 mi	Renhuai	$540
392 km or 244 mi	Bijie	$584
408 km or 253 mi	Wanyuan	$585
431 km or 268 mi	Zunyi	$554
459 km or 285 mi	Liupanshui	$574

Cities near Johannesburg

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 6.8 mi	Sandton	$953
13 km or 8 mi	Randburg	$837
19 km or 12 mi	Soweto	$923
28 km or 17 mi	Benoni	$785
40 km or 25 mi	Springs	$678
41 km or 25 mi	Centurion	$807
53 km or 33 mi	Pretoria	$906
53 km or 33 mi	Vereeniging	$672
59 km or 36 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$773
71 km or 44 mi	Brits	$820
101 km or 62 mi	Rustenburg	$889
109 km or 68 mi	Potchefstroom	$695
143 km or 89 mi	Bethal	$784
152 km or 94 mi	Middelburg	$795
155 km or 97 mi	Klerksdorp	$722
179 km or 111 mi	Kroonstad	$768
237 km or 147 mi	Welkom	$748
244 km or 152 mi	Mmabatho	$780
262 km or 163 mi	Lobatse	$665
275 km or 171 mi	Gaborone	$691
287 km or 179 mi	Butha-Buthe	$535
302 km or 188 mi	Kanye	$664
311 km or 193 mi	Mbabane	$562
323 km or 201 mi	Vryheid	$763
325 km or 202 mi	Molepolole	$628
329 km or 204 mi	Teyateyaneng	$500
333 km or 207 mi	Manzini	$442
350 km or 217 mi	Maseru	$621
366 km or 228 mi	Mahalapye	$631
369 km or 229 mi	Bloemfontein	$657
409 km or 254 mi	Mafeteng	$567
417 km or 259 mi	Palapye	$540
429 km or 267 mi	Kimberley	$814
442 km or 275 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$640
443 km or 275 mi	Matola	$964
446 km or 277 mi	Serowe	$583
454 km or 282 mi	Maputo	$1068
501 km or 311 mi	Durban	$809
562 km or 349 mi	Francistown	$624
577 km or 358 mi	Xai-Xai	$1003