George Town vs Johannesburg - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	George Town	Johannesburg
🚶 Cost of living one person	$3615	$1082
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$8037	$2560
🏠 One person rent	$2516	$485
🏘️ Family rent	$4404	$833
🍽️ Food expenses	$849	$306
🚐 Transport expenses	$60	$206
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$6889	$1614
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	2 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	20	74
😀 Quality of life	80	62
🏙️ Population	41K	4.43M

The cost of living in George Town is 234% more expensive than in Johannesburg. Cities ranked 30th and 5031st ($3615 vs $1082) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 4th in the Cayman Islands and South Africa, respectively. Check the Cayman Islands vs South Africa comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.9 months in George Town compared to 1.5 months in Johannesburg. George Town ranked 1st best city to live in the Cayman Islands vs Johannesburg ranked 1st in South Africa, while ranked 729th and 5648th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in George Town vs Johannesburg infographic

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Prices in George Town vs Johannesburg

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

	George Town	Johannesburg
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$29.9	$10.1
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$82.8	$38.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$15.5	$5.03
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$9.06	$2.51
☕ Cappuccino	$6.79	$2.18
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.45	$1.08
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$2664	$462
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$2179	$342
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$4700	$824
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3941	$632
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$128	$78.5
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$199	$122
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$112	$40.5
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	8.81%	11.57%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$10871	$1106
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4203	$741
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.42	$2.21
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$41.8	$77.1
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$21.3	$11.7
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.71	$1.32
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$3.46	$1.28
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$5.68	$1.01
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.8	$1.44
🥚 Eggs, x12	$9.01	$2.6
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.8	$10.5
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15.9	$5.34
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16.4	$7.4
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.09	$1.71
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.51	$1.63
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.84	$1.63
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.92	$1.77
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.88	$1.41
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.86	$1.6
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.99	$0.66
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.84	$1.53
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$22.9	$6.13
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$4	$1.46
🚬 Cigarette pack	$14.5	$3.19
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$9.88	$5.86
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.58	$4.11
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$4.03	$1.98
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.5	$1.49
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$49.5	$33.6
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$18.2	$7.33
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$110	$29.7
💇 Haircut, simple	$24	$6.46
👖 Brand Jeans	$75.7	$52.2
👟 Brand Sneakers	$140	$93.1
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1779	$227
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$22286	$5503

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near George Town

Distance	City	Cost of living
333 km or 207 mi	Cienfuegos	$855
356 km or 221 mi	Sancti Spiritus	$1221
361 km or 225 mi	Savanna-la-Mar	$1149
375 km or 233 mi	Montego Bay	$1072
377 km or 234 mi	Santa Clara	$1154
381 km or 237 mi	Placetas	$1097
385 km or 239 mi	Colon	$1114
394 km or 245 mi	Ciego de Avila	$1300
402 km or 250 mi	Guines	$1064
412 km or 256 mi	Florida	$1504
414 km or 257 mi	Sagua La Grande	$1146
418 km or 260 mi	Artemisa	$1014
418 km or 260 mi	Cardenas	$1157
419 km or 260 mi	Matanzas	$1164
422 km or 262 mi	Pinar del Rio	$1057
425 km or 264 mi	Moron	$1300
429 km or 266 mi	Camaguey	$1601
430 km or 267 mi	Mandeville	$973
440 km or 273 mi	Havana	$918
459 km or 285 mi	May Pen	$947
461 km or 287 mi	Manzanillo	$2761
473 km or 294 mi	Old Harbour	$1030
476 km or 296 mi	Linstead	$1055
476 km or 296 mi	Yara	$2126
487 km or 303 mi	Spanish Town	$793
498 km or 310 mi	Las Tunas	$1574
503 km or 312 mi	Half Way Tree	$1223
504 km or 313 mi	Kingston	$1364
510 km or 317 mi	Bayamo	$1165
533 km or 331 mi	Port Antonio	$1164
563 km or 350 mi	Holguin	$1354
573 km or 356 mi	Palma Soriano	$1266
587 km or 365 mi	Santiago de Cuba	$1645
588 km or 365 mi	Key West	$3002
593 km or 369 mi	Cozumel	$1040
599 km or 372 mi	Isla Mujeres	$1011
608 km or 378 mi	Cancun	$1107
615 km or 382 mi	Playa del Carmen	$1153
646 km or 401 mi	Tulum	$1207
653 km or 405 mi	Guantanamo	$1656

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