Doha vs Johannesburg - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Doha	Johannesburg
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2014	$1171
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4398	$2754
🏠 One person rent	$1360	$522
🏘️ Family rent	$2333	$894
🍽️ Food expenses	$406	$337
🚐 Transport expenses	$112	$216
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$2972	$1761
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	6 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	41	73
😀 Quality of life	84	65
🏙️ Population	1.19M	4.8M

The cost of living in Doha is 72% more expensive than in Johannesburg. Cities ranked 1994th and 4839th ($2014 vs $1171) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 4th in Qatar and South Africa, respectively. Check Qatar vs South Africa comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.5 months in Doha compared to 1.5 months in Johannesburg. Doha ranked 1st best city to live in Qatar vs Johannesburg ranked 1st in South Africa, while ranked 537th 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 Doha vs Johannesburg

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

	Doha	Johannesburg
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$8.75	$11.5
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$64.5	$43.9
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$7.09	$5.73
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$11	$2.81
☕ Cappuccino	$6.17	$2.48
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.93	$1.16
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1589	$448
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1123	$377
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2901	$804
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1972	$689
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$56.6	$91
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$87.8	$142
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$86.8	$40
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.02%	11.13%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4680	$1058
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3108	$785
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.55	$2.12
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$32.6	$88.7
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$18.6	$9.88
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.57	$1.4
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$2.08	$1.43
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.49	$1.16
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.17	$1.66
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.67	$2.52
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.4	$9.48
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.34	$5.59
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.7	$7.91
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.1	$1.97
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.64	$1.87
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.71	$1.87
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.46	$1.99
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.1	$1.64
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.16	$1.75
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.34	$0.75
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.83	$1.62
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$14.4	$6.21
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.67	$1.66
🚬 Cigarette pack	$6.56	$3.47
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$6.07	$5.83
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.89	$4.49
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.84	$2.29
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.09	$1.41
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$136	$38.5
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$12.2	$8.38
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$49.3	$32.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$9.54	$7.19
👖 Brand Jeans	$63.9	$59
👟 Brand Sneakers	$102	$104
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$769	$229
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$11285	$5808

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Doha

Distance	City	Cost of living
43 km or 27 mi	Al Khor	$1923
135 km or 84 mi	Riffa	$1109
138 km or 86 mi	Isa Town	$1192
139 km or 87 mi	Manama	$1309
175 km or 109 mi	Dhahran	$931
188 km or 117 mi	Al-Mubarraz	$793
191 km or 119 mi	Dammam	$1037
236 km or 147 mi	Qatif	$823
265 km or 165 mi	Jubail	$928
282 km or 175 mi	Madinat Zayed	$1710
300 km or 187 mi	Abu Dhabi	$2070
380 km or 236 mi	Dubai	$2420
388 km or 241 mi	Sharjah	$1473
397 km or 247 mi	Ajman	$2183
405 km or 252 mi	Umm al-Quwain	$1148
409 km or 254 mi	Jahrom	$545
414 km or 257 mi	Bushehr	$465
442 km or 275 mi	Borazjan	$489
442 km or 275 mi	Al Ain	$1457
455 km or 283 mi	Fasa	$541
466 km or 289 mi	Ras al-Khaimah	$1373
480 km or 298 mi	Kazerun	$523
483 km or 300 mi	Fujairah	$1214
489 km or 304 mi	Shiraz	$565
491 km or 305 mi	Riyadh	$1632
515 km or 320 mi	Al Wafrah	$1281
516 km or 320 mi	Bandar Abbas	$635
524 km or 325 mi	Marvdasht	$547
573 km or 356 mi	Kuwait City	$1461
597 km or 371 mi	Yasuj	$487
601 km or 374 mi	Al-Faw	$707
602 km or 374 mi	Behbahan	$492
617 km or 383 mi	Sirjan	$545
628 km or 390 mi	Bandar-e Mahshahr	$537
635 km or 394 mi	Umm Qasr	$711
644 km or 400 mi	Abadan	$556
659 km or 409 mi	Khorramshahr	$551
663 km or 412 mi	Nizwa	$796
679 km or 422 mi	Az Zubayr	$698
683 km or 424 mi	Basra	$861

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