Harare vs Johannesburg - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 01, 2024

	Harare	Johannesburg
🚶 Cost of living one person	$957	$908
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2551	$2207
🏠 One person rent	$422	$403
🏘️ Family rent	$917	$738
🍽️ Food expenses	$294	$254
🚐 Transport expenses	$164	$173
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$440	$1428
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	37	72
😀 Quality of life	47	61
🏙️ Population	2.15M	4.43M

The cost of living in Harare is 5% more expensive than in Johannesburg. Cities ranked 5620th and 5921st ($957 vs $908) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 1st in Zimbabwe and South Africa, respectively. Check Zimbabwe vs South Africa comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.5 months in Harare compared to 1.6 months in Johannesburg. Harare ranked 1st best city to live in Zimbabwe vs Johannesburg ranked 1st in South Africa, while ranked 6463rd and 5184th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Harare vs Johannesburg infographic

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Prices in Harare vs Johannesburg

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

	Harare	Johannesburg
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$6.43	$7.41
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$39.6	$35.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.97	$4.44
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.48	$2.09
☕ Cappuccino	$2.9	$1.82
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.59	$0.98
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$303	$350
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$261	$277
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$938	$667
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$698	$564
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$35.3	$71.1
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$53.5	$114
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$117	$39.6
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	13.57%	11.12%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1378	$840
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1341	$689
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.99	$1.78
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$31.9	$66
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$21.2	$9.26
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.65	$1.23
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.58	$1.09
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.02	$0.9
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.42	$1.35
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.98	$2.11
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.37	$7.94
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.54	$4.54
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.8	$5.88
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.23	$1.5
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.52	$1.47
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.04	$1.27
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.72	$1.52
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.15	$1.31
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.82	$1.43
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.55	$0.54
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.27	$1.36
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.96	$5.33
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.26	$1.16
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.01	$2.88
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.88	$3.76
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$6.06	$3.7
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.69	$1.91
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.6	$1.11
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$44.5	$31.4
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$12	$6.28
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$37.2	$27.3
💇 Haircut, simple	$7.96	$6.37
👖 Brand Jeans	$19.3	$45
👟 Brand Sneakers	$38.5	$83.7
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$291	$232
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$7309	$4829

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Harare

Distance	City	Cost of living
18 km or 11 mi	Chitungwiza	$852
66 km or 41 mi	Marondera	$761
105 km or 65 mi	Chinhoyi	$784
133 km or 83 mi	Kadoma	$689
165 km or 103 mi	Kwekwe	$691
213 km or 132 mi	Mutare	$645
223 km or 138 mi	Gweru	$722
251 km or 156 mi	Masvingo	$837
291 km or 181 mi	Chimoio	$993
328 km or 204 mi	Tete	$970
369 km or 229 mi	Bulawayo	$777
399 km or 248 mi	Lusaka	$777
447 km or 278 mi	Choma	$795
458 km or 284 mi	Beira	$1014
478 km or 297 mi	Blantyre	$363
498 km or 309 mi	Kapiri Mposhi	$968
510 km or 317 mi	Ntcheu	$332
514 km or 319 mi	Mulanje	$327
518 km or 322 mi	Lilongwe	$367
525 km or 326 mi	Francistown	$550
531 km or 330 mi	Zomba	$326
549 km or 341 mi	Livingstone	$734
584 km or 363 mi	Mangochi	$332
588 km or 365 mi	Monkey Bay	$335
599 km or 372 mi	Ndola	$1210
618 km or 384 mi	Quelimane	$992
635 km or 394 mi	Kitwe	$1238
659 km or 409 mi	Mufulira	$1236
665 km or 413 mi	Palapye	$511
679 km or 422 mi	Serowe	$554
680 km or 422 mi	Chingola	$1107
714 km or 444 mi	Mzimba	$337
734 km or 456 mi	Mahalapye	$605
775 km or 482 mi	Mansa	$1121
778 km or 484 mi	Mzuzu	$338
786 km or 489 mi	Lubumbashi	$1025
847 km or 526 mi	Xai-Xai	$952
847 km or 526 mi	Kasama	$1176
892 km or 554 mi	Likasi	$953
898 km or 558 mi	Middelburg	$866

Cities near Johannesburg

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 6.8 mi	Sandton	$889
13 km or 8 mi	Randburg	$776
19 km or 12 mi	Soweto	$875
28 km or 17 mi	Benoni	$741
40 km or 25 mi	Springs	$631
41 km or 25 mi	Centurion	$755
53 km or 33 mi	Pretoria	$783
53 km or 33 mi	Vereeniging	$637
59 km or 36 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$698
71 km or 44 mi	Brits	$751
101 km or 62 mi	Rustenburg	$845
109 km or 68 mi	Potchefstroom	$625
143 km or 89 mi	Bethal	$746
152 km or 94 mi	Middelburg	$866
155 km or 97 mi	Klerksdorp	$621
179 km or 111 mi	Kroonstad	$701
237 km or 147 mi	Welkom	$682
244 km or 152 mi	Mmabatho	$719
262 km or 163 mi	Lobatse	$631
275 km or 171 mi	Gaborone	$656
287 km or 179 mi	Butha-Buthe	$511
302 km or 188 mi	Kanye	$633
311 km or 193 mi	Mbabane	$558
323 km or 201 mi	Vryheid	$739
325 km or 202 mi	Molepolole	$603
329 km or 204 mi	Teyateyaneng	$511
333 km or 207 mi	Manzini	$447
350 km or 217 mi	Maseru	$535
366 km or 228 mi	Mahalapye	$605
369 km or 229 mi	Bloemfontein	$601
409 km or 254 mi	Mafeteng	$511
417 km or 259 mi	Palapye	$511
429 km or 267 mi	Kimberley	$753
442 km or 275 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$609
443 km or 275 mi	Matola	$978
446 km or 277 mi	Serowe	$554
454 km or 282 mi	Maputo	$1084
501 km or 311 mi	Durban	$780
562 km or 349 mi	Francistown	$550
577 km or 358 mi	Xai-Xai	$952