Houston vs Johannesburg - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Houston	Johannesburg
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2265	$993
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5664	$2403
🏠 One person rent	$1305	$441
🏘️ Family rent	$2467	$809
🍽️ Food expenses	$581	$288
🚐 Transport expenses	$212	$181
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4390	$1383
😷 Air quality	Good	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	16 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	100	72
😀 Quality of life	91	57
🏙️ Population	2.3M	4.43M

The cost of living in Houston is 128% more expensive than in Johannesburg. Cities ranked 1229th and 5539th ($2265 vs $993) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1115th and 4th in the United States and South Africa, respectively. Check the United States vs South Africa comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.9 months in Houston compared to 1.4 months in Johannesburg. Houston ranked 14th best city to live in the United States vs Johannesburg ranked 2nd in South Africa, while ranked 97th and 5667th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Houston vs Johannesburg infographic

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Prices in Houston vs Johannesburg

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

	Houston	Johannesburg
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$17.2	$9.65
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$76	$37.9
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$10.3	$4.9
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$5.88	$2.37
☕ Cappuccino	$5.4	$2.01
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.71	$0.99
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1390	$377
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1037	$318
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2766	$790
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2058	$627
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$132	$71.9
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$202	$110
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$65.6	$39.5
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.58%	11.55%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2714	$1031
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1949	$684
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.25	$1.62
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$71.7	$72
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$23.9	$9.35
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.79	$1.28
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.92	$1.18
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$3	$0.95
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.4	$1.36
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.07	$2.58
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.8	$10
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.4	$5.04
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16.6	$6.12
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.29	$1.6
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.37	$1.49
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.95	$1.41
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.04	$1.59
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.73	$1.35
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.43	$1.44
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.34	$0.58
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.01	$1.44
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$14.6	$5.96
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.15	$1.25
🚬 Cigarette pack	$9.62	$2.97
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$9.29	$5.59
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.13	$3.94
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.64	$1.88
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.46	$1.42
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$37.8	$33.2
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$14.5	$7.2
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$127	$27.8
💇 Haircut, simple	$21.6	$5.55
👖 Brand Jeans	$50.4	$48.5
👟 Brand Sneakers	$98.6	$88.8
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1470	$214
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$18964	$5271

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Houston

Distance	City	Cost of living
22 km or 14 mi	Pasadena	$2182
25 km or 15 mi	Pearland	$2108
25 km or 16 mi	Missouri	$2087
27 km or 17 mi	Deer Park	$2196
29 km or 18 mi	Sugar Land	$2028
32 km or 20 mi	Spring	$2093
33 km or 21 mi	Friendswood	$2097
35 km or 22 mi	La Porte	$2232
40 km or 25 mi	Baytown	$2311
41 km or 25 mi	League	$2065
42 km or 26 mi	Alvin	$2056
47 km or 29 mi	Rosenberg	$2107
48 km or 30 mi	The Woodlands	$2698
59 km or 37 mi	Texas City	$2014
62 km or 38 mi	Conroe	$1799
76 km or 47 mi	Galveston	$1855
81 km or 50 mi	Lake Jackson	$2089
108 km or 67 mi	Huntsville	$2089
126 km or 78 mi	Beaumont	$1673
129 km or 80 mi	College Station	$1853
138 km or 86 mi	Bryan	$1944
140 km or 87 mi	Port Arthur	$1907
186 km or 115 mi	Lufkin	$1878
188 km or 117 mi	Victoria	$2215
203 km or 126 mi	Sulphur	$2037
215 km or 134 mi	Lake Charles	$1986
217 km or 135 mi	Nacogdoches	$1510
229 km or 142 mi	Pflugerville	$2218
234 km or 145 mi	Austin	$2455
236 km or 146 mi	Round Rock	$2163
239 km or 149 mi	Temple	$2134
242 km or 150 mi	Kyle	$2223
242 km or 150 mi	Georgetown	$2192
247 km or 153 mi	San Marcos	$2224
249 km or 155 mi	Cedar Park	$2244
250 km or 156 mi	Seguin	$2182
254 km or 158 mi	Leander	$2260
261 km or 162 mi	Waco	$2230
262 km or 163 mi	Harker Heights	$2044
264 km or 164 mi	New Braunfels	$2182

Cities near Johannesburg

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 6.8 mi	Sandton	$953
13 km or 8 mi	Randburg	$837
19 km or 12 mi	Soweto	$923
28 km or 17 mi	Benoni	$785
40 km or 25 mi	Springs	$678
41 km or 25 mi	Centurion	$807
53 km or 33 mi	Pretoria	$906
53 km or 33 mi	Vereeniging	$672
59 km or 36 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$773
71 km or 44 mi	Brits	$820
101 km or 62 mi	Rustenburg	$889
109 km or 68 mi	Potchefstroom	$695
143 km or 89 mi	Bethal	$784
152 km or 94 mi	Middelburg	$795
155 km or 97 mi	Klerksdorp	$722
179 km or 111 mi	Kroonstad	$768
237 km or 147 mi	Welkom	$748
244 km or 152 mi	Mmabatho	$780
262 km or 163 mi	Lobatse	$665
275 km or 171 mi	Gaborone	$691
287 km or 179 mi	Butha-Buthe	$535
302 km or 188 mi	Kanye	$664
311 km or 193 mi	Mbabane	$562
323 km or 201 mi	Vryheid	$763
325 km or 202 mi	Molepolole	$628
329 km or 204 mi	Teyateyaneng	$500
333 km or 207 mi	Manzini	$442
350 km or 217 mi	Maseru	$621
366 km or 228 mi	Mahalapye	$631
369 km or 229 mi	Bloemfontein	$657
409 km or 254 mi	Mafeteng	$567
417 km or 259 mi	Palapye	$540
429 km or 267 mi	Kimberley	$814
442 km or 275 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$640
443 km or 275 mi	Matola	$964
446 km or 277 mi	Serowe	$583
454 km or 282 mi	Maputo	$1068
501 km or 311 mi	Durban	$809
562 km or 349 mi	Francistown	$624
577 km or 358 mi	Xai-Xai	$1003