Copenhagen vs Johannesburg - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Copenhagen	Johannesburg
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2333	$993
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5412	$2403
🏠 One person rent	$1326	$441
🏘️ Family rent	$2372	$809
🍽️ Food expenses	$629	$288
🚐 Transport expenses	$192	$181
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4139	$1383
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	8 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	93	72
😀 Quality of life	97	57
🏙️ Population	644K	4.43M

The cost of living in Copenhagen is 135% more expensive than in Johannesburg. Cities ranked 1085th and 5539th ($2333 vs $993) 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 1.8 months in Copenhagen compared to 1.4 months in Johannesburg. Copenhagen ranked 1st best city to live in Denmark vs Johannesburg ranked 2nd in South Africa, while ranked 10th 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 Copenhagen vs Johannesburg infographic

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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	$18.8	$9.65
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$102	$37.9
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$13.6	$4.9
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$8.26	$2.37
☕ Cappuccino	$6.08	$2.01
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.68	$0.99
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1534	$377
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1083	$318
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2847	$790
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1988	$627
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$114	$71.9
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$174	$110
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$38.8	$39.5
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	4.22%	11.55%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7935	$1031
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5513	$684
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$3.39	$1.62
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$100	$72
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$26.2	$9.35
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$2.02	$1.28
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.94	$1.18
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$3.3	$0.95
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.67	$1.36
🥚 Eggs, x12	$5.31	$2.58
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.3	$10
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.2	$5.04
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14	$6.12
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.93	$1.6
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.97	$1.49
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.32	$1.41
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.91	$1.59
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.03	$1.35
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.97	$1.44
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.94	$0.58
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.65	$1.44
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$10.5	$5.96
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.66	$1.25
🚬 Cigarette pack	$9.02	$2.97
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$9.36	$5.59
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.04	$3.94
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.38	$1.88
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.98	$1.42
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$42.6	$33.2
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$18.3	$7.2
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$62.8	$27.8
💇 Haircut, simple	$38.6	$5.55
👖 Brand Jeans	$115	$48.5
👟 Brand Sneakers	$120	$88.8
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$530	$214
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$14686	$5271

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	$2364
8.5 km or 5.3 mi	Gentofte	$2134
23 km or 14 mi	Horsholm	$1952
28 km or 17 mi	Landskrona	$1140
30 km or 19 mi	Malmo	$1585
31 km or 19 mi	Roskilde	$1722
33 km or 21 mi	Hillerod	$1983
40 km or 25 mi	Lund	$1474
40 km or 25 mi	Staffanstorp	$1447
40 km or 25 mi	Helsingor	$1800
42 km or 26 mi	Helsingborg	$1297
51 km or 32 mi	Trelleborg	$1426
66 km or 41 mi	Angelholm	$1310
71 km or 44 mi	Naestved	$1799
92 km or 57 mi	Hassleholm	$1298
104 km or 65 mi	Kristianstad	$1218
111 km or 69 mi	Halmstad	$1208
141 km or 88 mi	Odense	$1816
141 km or 88 mi	Svendborg	$1607
154 km or 96 mi	Ljungby	$1333
156 km or 97 mi	Aarhus	$1828
156 km or 97 mi	Stralsund	$1401
159 km or 99 mi	Varberg	$1284
171 km or 106 mi	Horsens	$1585
177 km or 110 mi	Fredericia	$1506
179 km or 111 mi	Rostock	$1336
179 km or 111 mi	Randers	$1505
185 km or 115 mi	Greifswald	$1396
190 km or 118 mi	Varnamo	$1424
190 km or 118 mi	Vejle	$1637
193 km or 120 mi	Vaxjo	$1331
196 km or 122 mi	Sonderborg	$1416
196 km or 122 mi	Kolding	$1315
196 km or 122 mi	Silkeborg	$1680
199 km or 124 mi	Karlskrona	$1280
199 km or 124 mi	Haderslev	$1442
211 km or 131 mi	Wismar	$1307
211 km or 131 mi	Gustrow	$1347
215 km or 133 mi	Viborg	$1508
216 km or 134 mi	Kiel	$1452

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