Columbus vs Johannesburg - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Columbus	Johannesburg
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2145	$993
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5059	$2403
🏠 One person rent	$1248	$441
🏘️ Family rent	$2171	$809
🍽️ Food expenses	$632	$288
🚐 Transport expenses	$125	$181
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4018	$1383
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	10 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	73	72
😀 Quality of life	88	57
🏙️ Population	906K	4.43M

The cost of living in Columbus is 116% more expensive than in Johannesburg. Cities ranked 1476th and 5539th ($2145 vs $993) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1323rd 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 1.9 months in Columbus compared to 1.4 months in Johannesburg. Columbus ranked 59th best city to live in the United States vs Johannesburg ranked 2nd in South Africa, while ranked 249th and 5667th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Columbus vs Johannesburg infographic

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Prices in Columbus vs Johannesburg

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

	Columbus	Johannesburg
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$18.9	$9.65
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$66.4	$37.9
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$11.7	$4.9
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$5.69	$2.37
☕ Cappuccino	$4.78	$2.01
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.44	$0.99
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1314	$377
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$972	$318
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2378	$790
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1757	$627
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$149	$71.9
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$232	$110
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$57.9	$39.5
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.57%	11.55%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3095	$1031
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2954	$684
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.01	$1.62
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$60.8	$72
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$15.4	$9.35
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.86	$1.28
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.92	$1.18
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.74	$0.95
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.43	$1.36
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.4	$2.58
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.3	$10
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.8	$5.04
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15.4	$6.12
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.29	$1.6
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.32	$1.49
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.69	$1.41
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.95	$1.59
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.12	$1.35
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.04	$1.44
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.47	$0.58
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.28	$1.44
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$18.6	$5.96
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.66	$1.25
🚬 Cigarette pack	$9.45	$2.97
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$9.35	$5.59
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.76	$3.94
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$4.07	$1.88
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.2	$1.42
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$42.3	$33.2
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$11.7	$7.2
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$85.5	$27.8
💇 Haircut, simple	$19.9	$5.55
👖 Brand Jeans	$61	$48.5
👟 Brand Sneakers	$89.4	$88.8
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1236	$214
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$15423	$5271

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Columbus

Distance	City	Cost of living
8.6 km or 5.3 mi	Upper Arlington	$2084
11 km or 7.1 mi	Grove	$2062
13 km or 8.3 mi	Gahanna	$1986
15 km or 9 mi	Hilliard	$2085
17 km or 11 mi	Reynoldsburg	$1994
18 km or 11 mi	Dublin	$2095
19 km or 12 mi	Westerville	$1798
22 km or 13 mi	Pickerington	$1983
38 km or 24 mi	Delaware	$1851
43 km or 27 mi	Lancaster	$1903
43 km or 27 mi	Marysville	$1968
51 km or 32 mi	Newark	$1881
69 km or 43 mi	Springfield	$1897
70 km or 43 mi	Chillicothe	$1764
70 km or 44 mi	Marion	$1871
84 km or 52 mi	Zanesville	$1825
86 km or 53 mi	Xenia	$1870
89 km or 55 mi	Fairborn	$1798
94 km or 59 mi	Beavercreek	$1862
97 km or 60 mi	Huber Heights	$1852
97 km or 60 mi	Mansfield	$1832
98 km or 61 mi	Riverside	$1865
103 km or 64 mi	Kettering	$1890
103 km or 64 mi	Troy	$1897
104 km or 65 mi	Athens	$1674
104 km or 65 mi	Centerville	$1902
105 km or 65 mi	Dayton	$1783
105 km or 65 mi	Sidney	$1973
108 km or 67 mi	Piqua	$1914
112 km or 69 mi	Trotwood	$1870
116 km or 72 mi	Ashland	$1681
120 km or 74 mi	Lebanon	$1834
128 km or 80 mi	Middletown	$1427
128 km or 80 mi	Lima	$1923
130 km or 81 mi	Wooster	$1481
131 km or 81 mi	Mason	$1853
132 km or 82 mi	Findlay	$1839
136 km or 84 mi	Portsmouth	$1428
144 km or 90 mi	New Philadelphia	$1683
146 km or 91 mi	Norwalk	$1858

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