Hong Kong vs Johannesburg - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Hong Kong	Johannesburg
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2674	$1171
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$6072	$2754
🏠 One person rent	$1749	$522
🏘️ Family rent	$3066	$894
🍽️ Food expenses	$544	$337
🚐 Transport expenses	$234	$216
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1241	$1761
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	19 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	100	73
😀 Quality of life	82	65
🏙️ Population	7.41M	4.8M

The cost of living in Hong Kong is 128% more expensive than in Johannesburg. Cities ranked 621st and 4839th ($2674 vs $1171) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 4th in China and South Africa, respectively. Check China vs South Africa comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.5 months in Hong Kong compared to 1.5 months in Johannesburg. Hong Kong ranked 1st best city to live in China vs Johannesburg ranked 1st in South Africa, while ranked 632nd 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/hong-kong/johannesburg.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Hong Kong vs Johannesburg infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/hong-kong/johannesburg" target="_blank">Hong Kong vs Johannesburg - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Hong Kong vs Johannesburg

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

	Hong Kong	Johannesburg
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$7.89	$11.5
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$64	$43.9
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$6.27	$5.73
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$6.97	$2.81
☕ Cappuccino	$5.37	$2.48
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.27	$1.16
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$2025	$448
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1485	$377
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3592	$804
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2650	$689
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$135	$91
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$207	$142
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$21	$40
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.8%	11.13%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$25175	$1058
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$16126	$785
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.54	$2.12
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$71	$88.7
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$14.5	$9.88
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.76	$1.4
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$3.11	$1.43
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.31	$1.16
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.12	$1.66
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.85	$2.52
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$24.5	$9.48
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.95	$5.59
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$21	$7.91
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.79	$1.97
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.36	$1.87
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.98	$1.87
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.17	$1.99
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.65	$1.64
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.5	$1.75
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.22	$0.75
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.5	$1.62
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$20.1	$6.21
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.06	$1.66
🚬 Cigarette pack	$13.1	$3.47
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$17.4	$5.83
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$6	$4.49
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.98	$2.29
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.72	$1.41
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$77.7	$38.5
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$12.9	$8.38
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$65.9	$32.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$23.8	$7.19
👖 Brand Jeans	$75.2	$59
👟 Brand Sneakers	$86.5	$104
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1026	$229
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$22890	$5808

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Hong Kong

Distance	City	Cost of living
5 km or 3.1 mi	Kowloon	$2415
30 km or 19 mi	Shenzhen	$939
61 km or 38 mi	Zhuhai	$674
64 km or 40 mi	Macau	$1718
88 km or 55 mi	Zhongshan	$534
95 km or 59 mi	Dongguan	$666
96 km or 60 mi	Huizhou	$621
116 km or 72 mi	Jiangmen	$848
132 km or 82 mi	Guangzhou	$782
132 km or 82 mi	Shanwei	$943
137 km or 85 mi	Foshan	$611
152 km or 94 mi	Kaiping	$844
173 km or 107 mi	Heyuan	$765
193 km or 120 mi	Qingyuan	$795
195 km or 121 mi	Zhaoqing	$807
229 km or 143 mi	Yunfu	$832
231 km or 144 mi	Yangjiang	$896
236 km or 147 mi	Puning	$589
267 km or 166 mi	Jieyang	$464
286 km or 178 mi	Shaoguan	$807
287 km or 178 mi	Shantou	$602
297 km or 184 mi	Chaozhou	$465
301 km or 187 mi	Meizhou	$673
320 km or 199 mi	Wuzhou	$816
333 km or 207 mi	Lianzhou	$760
341 km or 212 mi	Maoming	$789
343 km or 213 mi	Gaozhou	$790
357 km or 222 mi	Hezhou	$769
403 km or 250 mi	Ganzhou	$814
406 km or 252 mi	Zhanjiang	$805
408 km or 254 mi	Chenzhou	$730
414 km or 257 mi	Yulin	$738
427 km or 266 mi	Longyan	$698
435 km or 270 mi	Zhangzhou	$696
469 km or 292 mi	Xiamen	$723
471 km or 292 mi	Haikou	$694
475 km or 295 mi	Guigang	$699
489 km or 304 mi	Kinmen	$903
516 km or 320 mi	Guilin	$533
529 km or 329 mi	Laibin	$608

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