Dubai vs Johannesburg - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Dubai	Johannesburg
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2420	$1171
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5315	$2754
🏠 One person rent	$1634	$522
🏘️ Family rent	$2835	$894
🍽️ Food expenses	$459	$337
🚐 Transport expenses	$182	$216
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4093	$1761
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	6 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	66	73
😀 Quality of life	90	65
🏙️ Population	3.94M	4.8M

The cost of living in Dubai is 107% more expensive than in Johannesburg. Cities ranked 1039th and 4839th ($2420 vs $1171) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 4th in the United Arab Emirates and South Africa, respectively. Check the United Arab Emirates vs South Africa comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.7 months in Dubai compared to 1.5 months in Johannesburg. Dubai ranked 1st best city to live in the United Arab Emirates vs Johannesburg ranked 1st in South Africa, while ranked 203rd 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 Dubai vs Johannesburg

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

	Dubai	Johannesburg
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$10.2	$11.5
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$69.2	$43.9
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.33	$5.73
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$13.5	$2.81
☕ Cappuccino	$6.31	$2.48
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.3	$1.16
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1988	$448
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1244	$377
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3617	$804
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2237	$689
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$148	$91
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$227	$142
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$94	$40
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	4.46%	11.13%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7290	$1058
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4052	$785
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.64	$2.12
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$83	$88.7
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$9.52	$9.88
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.75	$1.4
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.89	$1.43
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.39	$1.16
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.08	$1.66
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.73	$2.52
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.2	$9.48
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.09	$5.59
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.6	$7.91
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.52	$1.97
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.85	$1.87
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.83	$1.87
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.49	$1.99
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.14	$1.64
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.07	$1.75
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.4	$0.75
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.86	$1.62
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$18	$6.21
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.57	$1.66
🚬 Cigarette pack	$6.2	$3.47
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$8.2	$5.83
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$6.05	$4.49
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3	$2.29
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.08	$1.41
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$72.5	$38.5
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$14.1	$8.38
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$75.5	$32.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$10.2	$7.19
👖 Brand Jeans	$72.2	$59
👟 Brand Sneakers	$106	$104
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$829	$229
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$16876	$5808

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Dubai

Distance	City	Cost of living
13 km or 8 mi	Sharjah	$1473
22 km or 14 mi	Ajman	$2183
41 km or 25 mi	Umm al-Quwain	$1148
104 km or 65 mi	Fujairah	$1214
108 km or 67 mi	Ras al-Khaimah	$1373
126 km or 78 mi	Al Ain	$1457
129 km or 80 mi	Abu Dhabi	$2070
234 km or 146 mi	Bandar Abbas	$635
246 km or 153 mi	Madinat Zayed	$1710
339 km or 211 mi	Seeb	$1080
344 km or 214 mi	Nizwa	$796
380 km or 236 mi	Doha	$2014
380 km or 236 mi	Muscat	$1135
385 km or 239 mi	Al Khor	$1923
399 km or 248 mi	Jahrom	$545
440 km or 273 mi	Fasa	$541
449 km or 279 mi	Jiroft	$575
466 km or 290 mi	Sirjan	$545
485 km or 301 mi	Manama	$1309
486 km or 302 mi	Riffa	$1109
487 km or 303 mi	Isa Town	$1192
523 km or 325 mi	Bam	$563
528 km or 328 mi	Dhahran	$931
534 km or 332 mi	Chabahar	$575
537 km or 334 mi	Dammam	$1037
554 km or 345 mi	Shiraz	$565
560 km or 348 mi	Qatif	$823
568 km or 353 mi	Al-Mubarraz	$793
568 km or 353 mi	Marvdasht	$547
574 km or 357 mi	Rafsanjan	$613
578 km or 359 mi	Iranshahr	$627
584 km or 363 mi	Kerman	$761
595 km or 370 mi	Jubail	$928
601 km or 373 mi	Borazjan	$489
603 km or 375 mi	Kazerun	$523
604 km or 375 mi	Bushehr	$465
703 km or 437 mi	Yasuj	$487
721 km or 448 mi	Zahedan	$813
743 km or 461 mi	Yazd	$565
773 km or 481 mi	Behbahan	$492

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