Gwangju vs Johannesburg - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Gwangju	Johannesburg
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1081	$1082
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2620	$2560
🏠 One person rent	$462	$485
🏘️ Family rent	$793	$833
🍽️ Food expenses	$422	$306
🚐 Transport expenses	$114	$206
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$2442	$1614
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	11 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	58	74
😀 Quality of life	87	62
🏙️ Population	1.49M	4.43M

The cost of living in Gwangju is 0.1% less expensive than in Johannesburg. Cities ranked 5038th and 5031st ($1081 vs $1082) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 26th and 4th in South Korea and South Africa, respectively. Check South Korea vs South Africa comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 2.3 months in Gwangju compared to 1.5 months in Johannesburg. Gwangju ranked 7th best city to live in South Korea vs Johannesburg ranked 1st in South Africa, while ranked 363rd and 5648th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Gwangju vs Johannesburg infographic

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Prices in Gwangju vs Johannesburg

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

	Gwangju	Johannesburg
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$6.64	$10.1
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$35.2	$38.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.63	$5.03
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.78	$2.51
☕ Cappuccino	$3.46	$2.18
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.32	$1.08
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$390	$462
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$307	$342
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$709	$824
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$560	$632
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$119	$78.5
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$183	$122
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$19.6	$40.5
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.94%	11.57%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7419	$1106
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4877	$741
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.88	$2.21
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$63.2	$77.1
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$7.55	$11.7
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.17	$1.32
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.74	$1.28
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.27	$1.01
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.64	$1.44
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.52	$2.6
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.98	$10.5
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.38	$5.34
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.9	$7.4
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.11	$1.71
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.79	$1.63
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.11	$1.63
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.4	$1.77
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.28	$1.41
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.35	$1.6
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.85	$0.66
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.69	$1.53
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$15.8	$6.13
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.52	$1.46
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.14	$3.19
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$8.13	$5.86
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.5	$4.11
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.24	$1.98
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.39	$1.49
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$45.4	$33.6
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$8.33	$7.33
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$34.8	$29.7
💇 Haircut, simple	$6.38	$6.46
👖 Brand Jeans	$47.8	$52.2
👟 Brand Sneakers	$61.1	$93.1
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$253	$227
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$10915	$5503

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Gwangju

Distance	City	Cost of living
24 km or 15 mi	Naju	$1001
45 km or 28 mi	Jeongeup	$981
50 km or 31 mi	Namwon	$980
57 km or 36 mi	Suncheon	$1016
64 km or 39 mi	Mokpo	$1005
71 km or 44 mi	Gimje	$982
76 km or 47 mi	Gwangyang	$991
76 km or 47 mi	Jeonju	$831
82 km or 51 mi	Yeosu	$994
86 km or 54 mi	Iksan	$998
92 km or 57 mi	Gunsan	$1020
106 km or 66 mi	Jinju	$1064
116 km or 72 mi	Nonsan	$1046
127 km or 79 mi	Gyeryong	$976
131 km or 81 mi	Sacheon	$984
132 km or 82 mi	Asan	$1050
133 km or 82 mi	Boryeong	$1085
138 km or 86 mi	Daejeon	$959
142 km or 88 mi	Tongyeong	$934
145 km or 90 mi	Gongju	$1063
148 km or 92 mi	Masan	$1008
150 km or 93 mi	Sejong	$1020
151 km or 94 mi	Gimcheon	$934
156 km or 97 mi	Geoje	$913
158 km or 98 mi	Changwon	$1084
170 km or 106 mi	Miryang	$1038
171 km or 106 mi	Daegu	$1062
171 km or 107 mi	Cheongju	$924
174 km or 108 mi	Gumi	$949
179 km or 111 mi	Sangju	$957
179 km or 111 mi	Gimhae	$975
180 km or 112 mi	Gyeongsan	$1001
184 km or 114 mi	Cheonan	$1153
184 km or 115 mi	Seosan	$1068
188 km or 117 mi	Jeju	$1069
193 km or 120 mi	Busan	$1108
194 km or 120 mi	Yangsan	$1039
194 km or 120 mi	Dangjin	$1059
196 km or 122 mi	Mungyeong	$973
203 km or 126 mi	Jeju Island	$1100

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