Johannesburg vs Kabul - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Johannesburg	Kabul
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1171	$473
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2754	$1051
🏠 One person rent	$522	$200
🏘️ Family rent	$894	$280
🍽️ Food expenses	$337	$163
🚐 Transport expenses	$216	$75.2
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1761	$120
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Unhealthy
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	6 km
🎓 Higher education	73	33
😀 Quality of life	65	25
🏙️ Population	4.8M	5.33M

The cost of living in Johannesburg is 148% more expensive than in Kabul. Cities ranked 4839th and 8823rd ($1171 vs $473) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 4th and 3rd in South Africa and Afghanistan, respectively. Check South Africa vs Afghanistan comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.5 months in Johannesburg compared to 0.3 months in Kabul. Johannesburg ranked 1st best city to live in South Africa vs Kabul ranked 1st in Afghanistan, while ranked 5190th and 8992nd among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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Prices in Johannesburg vs Kabul

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

	Johannesburg	Kabul
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$11.5	$2.79
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$43.9	$9.56
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.73	$5.12
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.81	$2.79
☕ Cappuccino	$2.48	$1.38
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.16	$0.39
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$448	$108
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$377	$72.2
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$804	$196
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$689	$127
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$91	$35
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$142	$53.5
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$40	$85.8
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.13%	12.8%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1058	$579
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$785	$300
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.12	$0.19
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$88.7	$12.2
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$9.88	$6.53
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.4	$1
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.43	$0.92
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.16	$0.25
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.66	$1.61
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.52	$1.57
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.48	$4.77
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.59	$4.05
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.91	$6.32
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.97	$0.62
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.87	$0.81
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.87	$0.85
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.99	$0.53
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.64	$0.45
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.75	$0.47
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.75	$0.25
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.62	$1.02
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.21	$2.07
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.66	$0.87
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.47	$2.79
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.83	$3.37
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.49	$3.97
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.29	$1.16
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.41	$1.55
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$38.5	$11.7
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$8.38	$2.45
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$32.1	$15.6
💇 Haircut, simple	$7.19	$3.13
👖 Brand Jeans	$59	$15.1
👟 Brand Sneakers	$104	$39.8
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$229	$20.2
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$5808	$1540

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

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

Cities near Kabul

Distance	City	Cost of living
105 km or 65 mi	Gardez	$433
119 km or 74 mi	Jalalabad	$368
129 km or 80 mi	Ghazni	$425
150 km or 93 mi	Khost	$423
163 km or 101 mi	Puli Khumri	$429
223 km or 138 mi	Peshawar	$323
235 km or 146 mi	Kohat	$379
246 km or 153 mi	Kunduz	$454
266 km or 166 mi	Mardan	$370
293 km or 182 mi	Mingora	$369
304 km or 189 mi	Mazar-i-Sharif	$488
336 km or 209 mi	Wah	$360
368 km or 229 mi	Islamabad	$464
369 km or 229 mi	Qurghonteppa	$704
374 km or 232 mi	Rawalpindi	$427
389 km or 242 mi	Sheberghan	$457
425 km or 264 mi	Sargodha	$381
450 km or 280 mi	Tursunzoda	$702
451 km or 280 mi	Dushanbe	$735
451 km or 280 mi	Mirpur	$279
456 km or 284 mi	Mandi Bahauddin	$338
458 km or 285 mi	Kandahar	$463
467 km or 290 mi	Jhang	$302
474 km or 294 mi	Chiniot	$378
476 km or 296 mi	Baramulla	$264
499 km or 310 mi	Gojra	$367
501 km or 312 mi	Hafizabad	$371
503 km or 313 mi	Faisalabad	$348
505 km or 314 mi	Gujrat	$330
517 km or 321 mi	Dera Ghazi Khan	$257
520 km or 323 mi	Srinagar	$353
523 km or 325 mi	Quetta	$298
526 km or 327 mi	Multan	$417
534 km or 332 mi	Sahiwal	$318
536 km or 333 mi	Gujranwala	$308
538 km or 334 mi	Khanewal	$382
546 km or 340 mi	Sialkot	$308
549 km or 341 mi	Sheikhupura	$379
550 km or 342 mi	Kamoke	$326
553 km or 344 mi	Lashkargah	$467