Copenhagen vs Johannesburg - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Copenhagen	Johannesburg
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2656	$1171
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$6116	$2754
🏠 One person rent	$1515	$522
🏘️ Family rent	$2679	$894
🍽️ Food expenses	$728	$337
🚐 Transport expenses	$209	$216
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$5006	$1761
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	8 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	94	73
😀 Quality of life	97	65
🏙️ Population	667K	4.8M

The cost of living in Copenhagen is 127% more expensive than in Johannesburg. Cities ranked 650th and 4839th ($2656 vs $1171) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 2nd and 4th in Denmark and South Africa, respectively. Check Denmark vs South Africa comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.9 months in Copenhagen compared to 1.5 months in Johannesburg. Copenhagen ranked 1st best city to live in Denmark vs Johannesburg ranked 1st in South Africa, while ranked 4th 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 Copenhagen vs Johannesburg

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

	Copenhagen	Johannesburg
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$21.8	$11.5
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$111	$43.9
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$15.1	$5.73
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$9.35	$2.81
☕ Cappuccino	$7.24	$2.48
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$5.03	$1.16
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1782	$448
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1244	$377
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3169	$804
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2270	$689
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$121	$91
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$186	$142
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$43.1	$40
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.76%	11.13%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$10228	$1058
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6872	$785
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$3.85	$2.12
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$114	$88.7
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$25.9	$9.88
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$2.25	$1.4
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$2.33	$1.43
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$3.83	$1.16
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.76	$1.66
🥚 Eggs, x12	$5.76	$2.52
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16.4	$9.48
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.1	$5.59
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$17.3	$7.91
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.42	$1.97
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.66	$1.87
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.19	$1.87
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.89	$1.99
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.53	$1.64
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.23	$1.75
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.15	$0.75
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.1	$1.62
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$12	$6.21
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.82	$1.66
🚬 Cigarette pack	$10.5	$3.47
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$10.4	$5.83
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.07	$4.49
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.57	$2.29
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.67	$1.41
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$55.6	$38.5
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$20.6	$8.38
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$71.4	$32.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$38.4	$7.19
👖 Brand Jeans	$122	$59
👟 Brand Sneakers	$137	$104
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$707	$229
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$14799	$5808

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Copenhagen

Distance	City	Cost of living
2 km or 1.3 mi	Frederiksberg	$2698
8.5 km or 5.3 mi	Gentofte	$2429
23 km or 14 mi	Horsholm	$2273
28 km or 17 mi	Landskrona	$1412
30 km or 19 mi	Malmo	$1907
31 km or 19 mi	Roskilde	$2192
33 km or 21 mi	Hillerod	$2364
40 km or 25 mi	Lund	$1701
40 km or 25 mi	Staffanstorp	$1695
40 km or 25 mi	Helsingor	$2042
42 km or 26 mi	Helsingborg	$1590
51 km or 32 mi	Trelleborg	$1688
66 km or 41 mi	Angelholm	$1562
71 km or 44 mi	Naestved	$2113
92 km or 57 mi	Hassleholm	$1550
104 km or 65 mi	Kristianstad	$1475
111 km or 69 mi	Halmstad	$1412
141 km or 88 mi	Odense	$1784
141 km or 88 mi	Svendborg	$1825
154 km or 96 mi	Ljungby	$1549
156 km or 97 mi	Aarhus	$2158
156 km or 97 mi	Stralsund	$1627
159 km or 99 mi	Varberg	$1491
171 km or 106 mi	Horsens	$1781
177 km or 110 mi	Fredericia	$1702
179 km or 111 mi	Rostock	$1508
179 km or 111 mi	Randers	$1691
185 km or 115 mi	Greifswald	$1619
190 km or 118 mi	Varnamo	$1633
190 km or 118 mi	Vejle	$1891
193 km or 120 mi	Vaxjo	$1516
196 km or 122 mi	Sonderborg	$1619
196 km or 122 mi	Kolding	$1689
196 km or 122 mi	Silkeborg	$1888
199 km or 124 mi	Karlskrona	$1466
199 km or 124 mi	Haderslev	$1681
211 km or 131 mi	Wismar	$1443
211 km or 131 mi	Gustrow	$1509
215 km or 133 mi	Viborg	$1667
216 km or 134 mi	Kiel	$1588

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