Chongqing vs Johannesburg - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Chongqing	Johannesburg
🚶 Cost of living one person	$561	$1082
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1695	$2560
🏠 One person rent	$180	$485
🏘️ Family rent	$312	$833
🍽️ Food expenses	$217	$306
🚐 Transport expenses	$76.3	$206
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$914	$1614
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	16 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	87	74
😀 Quality of life	74	62
🏙️ Population	32.1M	4.43M

The cost of living in Chongqing is 48% less expensive than in Johannesburg. Cities ranked 8185th and 5031st ($561 vs $1082) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 322nd 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 Chongqing compared to 1.5 months in Johannesburg. Chongqing ranked 7th best city to live in China vs Johannesburg ranked 1st in South Africa, while ranked 2237th and 5648th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Chongqing vs Johannesburg infographic

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Prices in Chongqing vs Johannesburg

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

	Chongqing	Johannesburg
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$2.82	$10.1
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$20.9	$38.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.92	$5.03
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.98	$2.51
☕ Cappuccino	$2.25	$2.18
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.43	$1.08
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$240	$462
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$129	$342
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$433	$824
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$231	$632
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$20.8	$78.5
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$32	$122
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$8.46	$40.5
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.87%	11.57%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2367	$1106
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1345	$741
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.28	$2.21
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$21	$77.1
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$3.67	$11.7
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.13	$1.32
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.52	$1.28
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.42	$1.01
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.72	$1.44
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.85	$2.6
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.9	$10.5
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.92	$5.34
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.3	$7.4
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.59	$1.71
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.24	$1.63
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.2	$1.63
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.2	$1.77
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.66	$1.41
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.88	$1.6
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.37	$0.66
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$0.96	$1.53
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$7.06	$6.13
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.82	$1.46
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.81	$3.19
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$6.9	$5.86
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.05	$4.11
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.09	$1.98
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.46	$1.49
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$33.4	$33.6
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$5.6	$7.33
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$58.1	$29.7
💇 Haircut, simple	$7.17	$6.46
👖 Brand Jeans	$42.9	$52.2
👟 Brand Sneakers	$66	$93.1
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$271	$227
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$23821	$5503

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Chongqing

Distance	City	Cost of living
97 km or 60 mi	Huaying	$542
103 km or 64 mi	Guang'an	$569
120 km or 75 mi	Longchang	$575
127 km or 79 mi	Luzhou	$562
140 km or 87 mi	Suining	$565
140 km or 87 mi	Neijiang	$645
145 km or 90 mi	Nanchong	$541
170 km or 106 mi	Zigong	$573
183 km or 113 mi	Shehong	$551
191 km or 119 mi	Ziyang	$598
194 km or 120 mi	Renhuai	$538
201 km or 125 mi	Yibin	$570
208 km or 129 mi	Dazhou	$583
209 km or 130 mi	Zunyi	$551
211 km or 131 mi	Jianyang	$591
232 km or 144 mi	Langzhong	$538
249 km or 154 mi	Lichuan	$557
258 km or 160 mi	Bazhong	$601
264 km or 164 mi	Meishan	$599
265 km or 165 mi	Chengdu	$635
266 km or 165 mi	Leshan	$563
266 km or 166 mi	Guanghan	$571
268 km or 167 mi	Deyang	$563
272 km or 169 mi	Mianyang	$528
277 km or 172 mi	Bijie	$569
285 km or 177 mi	Shifang	$557
292 km or 181 mi	Emeishan	$552
294 km or 183 mi	Pengzhou	$588
298 km or 185 mi	Enshi	$558
298 km or 185 mi	Mianzhu	$544
298 km or 185 mi	Chongzhou	$596
300 km or 186 mi	Jiangyou	$536
309 km or 192 mi	Qionglai	$580
316 km or 196 mi	Wanyuan	$567
320 km or 199 mi	Dujiangyan	$583
327 km or 203 mi	Guangyuan	$587
331 km or 206 mi	Guiyang	$562
331 km or 206 mi	Tongren	$568
342 km or 212 mi	Ya'an	$571
342 km or 213 mi	Jishou	$537

Cities near Johannesburg

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 6.8 mi	Sandton	$984
13 km or 8 mi	Randburg	$890
19 km or 12 mi	Soweto	$984
28 km or 17 mi	Benoni	$826
40 km or 25 mi	Springs	$740
41 km or 25 mi	Centurion	$892
53 km or 33 mi	Pretoria	$975
53 km or 33 mi	Vereeniging	$706
59 km or 36 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$799
71 km or 44 mi	Brits	$875
101 km or 62 mi	Rustenburg	$940
109 km or 68 mi	Potchefstroom	$731
143 km or 89 mi	Bethal	$838
152 km or 94 mi	Middelburg	$830
155 km or 97 mi	Klerksdorp	$762
179 km or 111 mi	Kroonstad	$808
237 km or 147 mi	Welkom	$762
244 km or 152 mi	Mmabatho	$833
262 km or 163 mi	Lobatse	$637
275 km or 171 mi	Gaborone	$668
287 km or 179 mi	Butha-Buthe	$570
302 km or 188 mi	Kanye	$637
311 km or 193 mi	Mbabane	$599
323 km or 201 mi	Vryheid	$827
325 km or 202 mi	Molepolole	$607
329 km or 204 mi	Teyateyaneng	$533
333 km or 207 mi	Manzini	$469
350 km or 217 mi	Maseru	$650
366 km or 228 mi	Mahalapye	$577
369 km or 229 mi	Bloemfontein	$698
409 km or 254 mi	Mafeteng	$598
417 km or 259 mi	Palapye	$514
429 km or 267 mi	Kimberley	$861
442 km or 275 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$705
443 km or 275 mi	Matola	$908
446 km or 277 mi	Serowe	$536
454 km or 282 mi	Maputo	$915
501 km or 311 mi	Durban	$892
562 km or 349 mi	Francistown	$587
577 km or 358 mi	Xai-Xai	$915