Gaborone vs Johannesburg - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Gaborone	Johannesburg
🚶 Cost of living one person	$668	$1082
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1648	$2560
🏠 One person rent	$243	$485
🏘️ Family rent	$391	$833
🍽️ Food expenses	$297	$306
🚐 Transport expenses	$62.1	$206
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$382	$1614
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	11 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	39	74
😀 Quality of life	61	62
🏙️ Population	236K	4.43M

The cost of living in Gaborone is 38% less expensive than in Johannesburg. Cities ranked 7301st and 5031st ($668 vs $1082) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 4th in Botswana and South Africa, respectively. Check Botswana vs South Africa comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.6 months in Gaborone compared to 1.5 months in Johannesburg. Gaborone ranked 1st best city to live in Botswana vs Johannesburg ranked 1st in South Africa, while ranked 5842nd and 5648th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Gaborone vs Johannesburg infographic

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Prices in Gaborone vs Johannesburg

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

	Gaborone	Johannesburg
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$9.79	$10.1
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$28.4	$38.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.66	$5.03
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.12	$2.51
☕ Cappuccino	$2.17	$2.18
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.76	$1.08
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$222	$462
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$137	$342
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$402	$824
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$249	$632
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$39.5	$78.5
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$61.1	$122
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$49.7	$40.5
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	9.04%	11.57%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1000	$1106
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$994	$741
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.5	$2.21
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$29	$77.1
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$19.2	$11.7
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.08	$1.32
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.39	$1.28
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.82	$1.01
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.74	$1.44
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.22	$2.6
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.45	$10.5
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.87	$5.34
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.22	$7.4
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.71	$1.71
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.39	$1.63
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.78	$1.63
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.55	$1.77
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.37	$1.41
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.22	$1.6
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.57	$0.66
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.34	$1.53
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$4.24	$6.13
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.48	$1.46
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.55	$3.19
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$11.5	$5.86
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.31	$4.11
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$0.51	$1.98
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.89	$1.49
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$30.5	$33.6
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$6.36	$7.33
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$18.1	$29.7
💇 Haircut, simple	$4.46	$6.46
👖 Brand Jeans	$43.2	$52.2
👟 Brand Sneakers	$67.6	$93.1
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$138	$227
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$3401	$5503

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Gaborone

Distance	City	Cost of living
50 km or 31 mi	Molepolole	$607
67 km or 42 mi	Lobatse	$637
67 km or 42 mi	Kanye	$637
136 km or 84 mi	Mmabatho	$833
174 km or 108 mi	Rustenburg	$940
196 km or 122 mi	Mahalapye	$577
215 km or 134 mi	Brits	$875
257 km or 160 mi	Klerksdorp	$762
258 km or 160 mi	Potchefstroom	$731
259 km or 161 mi	Pretoria	$975
264 km or 164 mi	Randburg	$890
265 km or 165 mi	Palapye	$514
266 km or 165 mi	Centurion	$892
266 km or 165 mi	Soweto	$984
266 km or 165 mi	Serowe	$536
269 km or 167 mi	Sandton	$984
275 km or 171 mi	Johannesburg	$1082
296 km or 184 mi	Benoni	$826
298 km or 185 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$799
302 km or 188 mi	Vereeniging	$706
310 km or 193 mi	Springs	$740
358 km or 222 mi	Kroonstad	$808
379 km or 235 mi	Welkom	$762
380 km or 236 mi	Middelburg	$830
407 km or 253 mi	Bethal	$838
421 km or 261 mi	Francistown	$587
468 km or 291 mi	Kimberley	$861
495 km or 308 mi	Bloemfontein	$698
514 km or 319 mi	Butha-Buthe	$570
531 km or 330 mi	Teyateyaneng	$533
540 km or 336 mi	Maseru	$650
559 km or 347 mi	Mbabane	$599
569 km or 354 mi	Bulawayo	$658
584 km or 363 mi	Manzini	$469
589 km or 366 mi	Mafeteng	$598
597 km or 371 mi	Vryheid	$827
628 km or 390 mi	Upington	$746
675 km or 419 mi	Matola	$908
685 km or 425 mi	Maputo	$915
705 km or 438 mi	Gweru	$587

Cities near Johannesburg

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 6.8 mi	Sandton	$984
13 km or 8 mi	Randburg	$890
19 km or 12 mi	Soweto	$984
28 km or 17 mi	Benoni	$826
40 km or 25 mi	Springs	$740
41 km or 25 mi	Centurion	$892
53 km or 33 mi	Pretoria	$975
53 km or 33 mi	Vereeniging	$706
59 km or 36 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$799
71 km or 44 mi	Brits	$875
101 km or 62 mi	Rustenburg	$940
109 km or 68 mi	Potchefstroom	$731
143 km or 89 mi	Bethal	$838
152 km or 94 mi	Middelburg	$830
155 km or 97 mi	Klerksdorp	$762
179 km or 111 mi	Kroonstad	$808
237 km or 147 mi	Welkom	$762
244 km or 152 mi	Mmabatho	$833
262 km or 163 mi	Lobatse	$637
275 km or 171 mi	Gaborone	$668
287 km or 179 mi	Butha-Buthe	$570
302 km or 188 mi	Kanye	$637
311 km or 193 mi	Mbabane	$599
323 km or 201 mi	Vryheid	$827
325 km or 202 mi	Molepolole	$607
329 km or 204 mi	Teyateyaneng	$533
333 km or 207 mi	Manzini	$469
350 km or 217 mi	Maseru	$650
366 km or 228 mi	Mahalapye	$577
369 km or 229 mi	Bloemfontein	$698
409 km or 254 mi	Mafeteng	$598
417 km or 259 mi	Palapye	$514
429 km or 267 mi	Kimberley	$861
442 km or 275 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$705
443 km or 275 mi	Matola	$908
446 km or 277 mi	Serowe	$536
454 km or 282 mi	Maputo	$915
501 km or 311 mi	Durban	$892
562 km or 349 mi	Francistown	$587
577 km or 358 mi	Xai-Xai	$915