Chicago vs Johannesburg - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Chicago	Johannesburg
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2678	$993
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$6655	$2403
🏠 One person rent	$1596	$441
🏘️ Family rent	$2946	$809
🍽️ Food expenses	$700	$288
🚐 Transport expenses	$200	$181
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4876	$1383
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	15 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	100	72
😀 Quality of life	95	57
🏙️ Population	2.75M	4.43M

The cost of living in Chicago is 170% more expensive than in Johannesburg. Cities ranked 529th and 5539th ($2678 vs $993) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 483rd and 4th in the United States and South Africa, respectively. Check the United States vs South Africa comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.8 months in Chicago compared to 1.4 months in Johannesburg. Chicago ranked 3rd best city to live in the United States vs Johannesburg ranked 2nd in South Africa, while ranked 23rd and 5667th among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Chicago vs Johannesburg infographic

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Prices in Chicago vs Johannesburg

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

	Chicago	Johannesburg
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$21.9	$9.65
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$90.6	$37.9
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$12	$4.9
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$7	$2.37
☕ Cappuccino	$5.4	$2.01
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.95	$0.99
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1841	$377
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1327	$318
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3729	$790
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2474	$627
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$104	$71.9
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$159	$110
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$62.1	$39.5
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.68%	11.55%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3391	$1031
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2689	$684
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.48	$1.62
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$75.1	$72
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$16.1	$9.35
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.06	$1.28
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.94	$1.18
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$3.68	$0.95
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.61	$1.36
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.13	$2.58
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.5	$10
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.2	$5.04
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$18.3	$6.12
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.67	$1.6
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.84	$1.49
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.36	$1.41
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.43	$1.59
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.18	$1.35
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.71	$1.44
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.81	$0.58
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.85	$1.44
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$14.9	$5.96
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.04	$1.25
🚬 Cigarette pack	$15	$2.97
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$11.5	$5.59
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$6.02	$3.94
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.63	$1.88
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.76	$1.42
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$63	$33.2
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$14.8	$7.2
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$127	$27.8
💇 Haircut, simple	$29.8	$5.55
👖 Brand Jeans	$59	$48.5
👟 Brand Sneakers	$94.4	$88.8
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$2114	$214
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$24502	$5271

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Chicago

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 7 mi	Cicero	$2425
14 km or 8.8 mi	Berwyn	$2421
14 km or 8.9 mi	Oak Park	$2510
16 km or 10 mi	Elmwood Park	$2426
18 km or 11 mi	Maywood	$2444
18 km or 11 mi	Evanston	$2194
19 km or 12 mi	Skokie	$2256
19 km or 12 mi	Burbank	$2401
20 km or 12 mi	Melrose Park	$2418
21 km or 13 mi	Oak Lawn	$2384
22 km or 14 mi	Morton Grove	$2314
22 km or 14 mi	Niles	$2334
23 km or 14 mi	Park Ridge	$2389
23 km or 14 mi	Wilmette	$2264
25 km or 16 mi	Blue Island	$2377
26 km or 16 mi	Elmhurst	$2392
27 km or 17 mi	Glenview	$2363
28 km or 17 mi	Des Plaines	$2509
28 km or 18 mi	Dolton	$2359
29 km or 18 mi	Villa Park	$2393
30 km or 19 mi	Harvey	$2360
30 km or 19 mi	East Chicago	$1938
30 km or 19 mi	Westmont	$2362
31 km or 19 mi	Calumet	$2363
31 km or 20 mi	South Holland	$2344
32 km or 20 mi	Lombard	$2396
32 km or 20 mi	Hammond	$1948
32 km or 20 mi	Oak Forest	$2350
33 km or 20 mi	Northbrook	$2378
33 km or 20 mi	Mount Prospect	$2446
33 km or 20 mi	Darien	$2369
33 km or 21 mi	Elk Grove Village	$2506
34 km or 21 mi	Downers Grove	$2342
35 km or 22 mi	Orland Park	$2367
36 km or 22 mi	Lansing	$2342
36 km or 22 mi	Glen Ellyn	$2227
37 km or 23 mi	Highland Park	$2345
37 km or 23 mi	Munster	$1954
37 km or 23 mi	Tinley Park	$2351
37 km or 23 mi	Wheeling	$2371

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