Gothenburg vs Johannesburg - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Gothenburg	Johannesburg
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1864	$1171
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4287	$2754
🏠 One person rent	$914	$522
🏘️ Family rent	$1596	$894
🍽️ Food expenses	$605	$337
🚐 Transport expenses	$184	$216
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3974	$1761
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	13 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	46	73
😀 Quality of life	92	65
🏙️ Population	675K	4.8M

The cost of living in Gothenburg is 59% more expensive than in Johannesburg. Cities ranked 2599th and 4839th ($1864 vs $1171) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 7th and 4th in Sweden and South Africa, respectively. Check Sweden vs South Africa comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 2.1 months in Gothenburg compared to 1.5 months in Johannesburg. Gothenburg ranked 3rd best city to live in Sweden vs Johannesburg ranked 1st in South Africa, while ranked 83rd and 5190th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/gothenburg/johannesburg.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Gothenburg vs Johannesburg infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/gothenburg/johannesburg" target="_blank">Gothenburg vs Johannesburg - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Gothenburg vs Johannesburg

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

	Gothenburg	Johannesburg
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$14.3	$11.5
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$93.1	$43.9
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$12.1	$5.73
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$7.79	$2.81
☕ Cappuccino	$5.37	$2.48
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.16	$1.16
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$976	$448
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$756	$377
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1788	$804
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1354	$689
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$76.4	$91
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$117	$142
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$38.3	$40
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.58%	11.13%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6682	$1058
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4044	$785
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$4.11	$2.12
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$95.5	$88.7
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$23.1	$9.88
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.9	$1.4
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.79	$1.43
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$3.05	$1.16
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.31	$1.66
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.78	$2.52
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12	$9.48
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.3	$5.59
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$21	$7.91
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.32	$1.97
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.69	$1.87
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3	$1.87
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.29	$1.99
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.85	$1.64
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.84	$1.75
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.21	$0.75
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.26	$1.62
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$13.2	$6.21
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.24	$1.66
🚬 Cigarette pack	$8.53	$3.47
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$9.25	$5.83
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.19	$4.49
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.36	$2.29
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.03	$1.41
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$40.7	$38.5
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$18.8	$8.38
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$59.6	$32.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$28.2	$7.19
👖 Brand Jeans	$88.6	$59
👟 Brand Sneakers	$99.7	$104
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$197	$229
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$4729	$5808

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Gothenburg

Distance	City	Cost of living
2.8 km or 1.7 mi	Molndal	$1738
58 km or 36 mi	Boras	$1612
66 km or 41 mi	Varberg	$1491
70 km or 44 mi	Trollhattan	$1405
76 km or 47 mi	Uddevalla	$1588
80 km or 50 mi	Vanersborg	$1469
90 km or 56 mi	Frederikshavn	$1563
126 km or 78 mi	Halmstad	$1412
130 km or 81 mi	Jonkoping	$1581
134 km or 83 mi	Varnamo	$1633
136 km or 84 mi	Skovde	$1656
142 km or 88 mi	Aalborg	$1864
150 km or 93 mi	Ljungby	$1549
157 km or 98 mi	Mariestad	$1594
164 km or 102 mi	Halden	$1890
167 km or 104 mi	Angelholm	$1562
179 km or 111 mi	Randers	$1691
182 km or 113 mi	Fredrikstad	$2262
186 km or 115 mi	Sarpsborg	$2018
186 km or 115 mi	Helsingor	$2042
186 km or 116 mi	Vetlanda	$1641
187 km or 116 mi	Helsingborg	$1590
191 km or 118 mi	Vaxjo	$1516
191 km or 119 mi	Larvik	$1986
192 km or 119 mi	Sandefjord	$2123
194 km or 121 mi	Hillerod	$2364
199 km or 124 mi	Hassleholm	$1550
200 km or 124 mi	Aarhus	$2158
202 km or 125 mi	Horsholm	$2273
202 km or 126 mi	Tonsberg	$2073
206 km or 128 mi	Landskrona	$1412
207 km or 129 mi	Viborg	$1667
208 km or 129 mi	Arendal	$1965
210 km or 131 mi	Karlstad	$1562
212 km or 132 mi	Moss	$2079
212 km or 132 mi	Porsgrunn	$1966
213 km or 132 mi	Horten	$1957
216 km or 134 mi	Gentofte	$2429
222 km or 138 mi	Skien	$1959
223 km or 138 mi	Arvika	$1481

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