Istanbul vs Johannesburg - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Istanbul	Johannesburg
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1248	$993
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$3224	$2403
🏠 One person rent	$649	$441
🏘️ Family rent	$1199	$809
🍽️ Food expenses	$354	$288
🚐 Transport expenses	$125	$181
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$883	$1383
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	95	72
😀 Quality of life	76	57
🏙️ Population	15.7M	4.43M

The cost of living in Istanbul is 26% more expensive than in Johannesburg. Cities ranked 4347th and 5539th ($1248 vs $993) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 4th in Turkey and South Africa, respectively. Check Turkey vs South Africa comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.7 months in Istanbul compared to 1.4 months in Johannesburg. Istanbul ranked 1st best city to live in Turkey vs Johannesburg ranked 2nd in South Africa, while ranked 850th and 5667th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Istanbul vs Johannesburg infographic

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

Prices in Istanbul vs Johannesburg

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

	Istanbul	Johannesburg
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$11	$9.65
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$49.1	$37.9
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$8.29	$4.9
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$4.14	$2.37
☕ Cappuccino	$3.37	$2.01
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.38	$0.99
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$853	$377
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$529	$318
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1671	$790
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$985	$627
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$41.3	$71.9
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$63.7	$110
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$13.4	$39.5
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	47.81%	11.55%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3233	$1031
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1719	$684
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.74	$1.62
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$42.7	$72
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$5.79	$9.35
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.23	$1.28
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.11	$1.18
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.79	$0.95
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.11	$1.36
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.36	$2.58
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.72	$10
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.14	$5.04
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$19.1	$6.12
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.37	$1.6
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.13	$1.49
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.2	$1.41
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.56	$1.59
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.61	$1.35
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.61	$1.44
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.38	$0.58
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.49	$1.44
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$11.1	$5.96
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.18	$1.25
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.19	$2.97
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.59	$5.59
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.23	$3.94
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.91	$1.88
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.38	$1.42
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$54.7	$33.2
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$6.81	$7.2
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$78.3	$27.8
💇 Haircut, simple	$8.76	$5.55
👖 Brand Jeans	$58.1	$48.5
👟 Brand Sneakers	$103	$88.8
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$815	$214
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$17728	$5271

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Istanbul

Distance	City	Cost of living
40 km or 25 mi	Cayirova	$599
46 km or 28 mi	Gebze	$573
73 km or 45 mi	Korfez	$782
79 km or 49 mi	Kocaeli	$718
83 km or 51 mi	Golcuk	$835
87 km or 54 mi	Izmit	$1113
91 km or 56 mi	Kapakli	$701
92 km or 57 mi	Bursa	$743
96 km or 59 mi	Kartepe	$872
98 km or 61 mi	Corlu	$690
111 km or 69 mi	Bandirma	$679
113 km or 70 mi	Inegol	$708
121 km or 75 mi	Tekirdag	$661
124 km or 77 mi	Adapazari	$455
124 km or 77 mi	Sakarya	$547
129 km or 80 mi	Bilecik	$755
141 km or 88 mi	Luleburgaz	$661
166 km or 103 mi	Kirklareli	$642
176 km or 110 mi	Balikesir	$707
186 km or 115 mi	Duzce	$535
190 km or 118 mi	Eskisehir	$691
192 km or 120 mi	Uzunkopru	$652
197 km or 122 mi	Kutahya	$568
207 km or 129 mi	Burgas	$721
208 km or 129 mi	Karadeniz Eregli	$626
214 km or 133 mi	Edirne	$624
224 km or 139 mi	Bolu	$616
234 km or 145 mi	Soma	$679
236 km or 147 mi	Canakkale	$690
259 km or 161 mi	Varna	$892
260 km or 162 mi	Alexandroupoli	$911
261 km or 162 mi	Yambol	$546
261 km or 162 mi	Usak	$629
284 km or 177 mi	Afyonkarahisar	$464
287 km or 178 mi	Sliven	$631
290 km or 180 mi	Salihli	$677
290 km or 180 mi	Bartin	$710
295 km or 184 mi	Manisa	$638
296 km or 184 mi	Mytilene	$934
299 km or 186 mi	Komotini	$899

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