Johannesburg vs Kampala - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Johannesburg	Kampala
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1082	$717
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2560	$1679
🏠 One person rent	$485	$303
🏘️ Family rent	$833	$495
🍽️ Food expenses	$306	$268
🚐 Transport expenses	$206	$89.5
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1614	$142
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Bad
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	34 km
🎓 Higher education	74	57
😀 Quality of life	62	49
🏙️ Population	4.43M	1.68M

The cost of living in Johannesburg is 51% more expensive than in Kampala. Cities ranked 5031st and 7003rd ($1082 vs $717) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 4th and 1st in South Africa and Uganda, respectively. Check South Africa vs Uganda comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.5 months in Johannesburg compared to 0.2 months in Kampala. Johannesburg ranked 1st best city to live in South Africa vs Kampala ranked 1st in Uganda, while ranked 5648th and 6747th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Johannesburg vs Kampala infographic

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Prices in Johannesburg vs Kampala

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

	Johannesburg	Kampala
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$10.1	$2.93
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$38.1	$29.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.03	$8.95
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.51	$1.47
☕ Cappuccino	$2.18	$2.91
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.08	$0.5
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$462	$375
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$342	$190
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$824	$669
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$632	$338
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$78.5	$28.6
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$122	$43.7
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$40.5	$47.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.57%	20.47%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1106	$1201
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$741	$1048
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.21	$0.87
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$77.1	$44.2
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$11.7	$4.07
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.32	$1.54
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.28	$0.75
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.01	$1.17
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.44	$1.44
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.6	$1.76
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.5	$4.7
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.34	$4.96
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.4	$4.54
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.71	$2.8
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.63	$1.49
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.63	$1.71
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.77	$1.62
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.41	$1.59
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.6	$1.7
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.66	$0.4
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.53	$1.44
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.13	$11.8
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.46	$1.23
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.19	$3.73
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.86	$4.5
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.11	$6.94
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.98	$1.56
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.49	$1.35
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$33.6	$47.3
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$7.33	$6.64
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$29.7	$18.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$6.46	$6.43
👖 Brand Jeans	$52.2	$17.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$93.1	$44.7
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$227	$176
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$5503	$3783

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	$984
13 km or 8 mi	Randburg	$890
19 km or 12 mi	Soweto	$984
28 km or 17 mi	Benoni	$826
40 km or 25 mi	Springs	$740
41 km or 25 mi	Centurion	$892
53 km or 33 mi	Pretoria	$975
53 km or 33 mi	Vereeniging	$706
59 km or 36 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$799
71 km or 44 mi	Brits	$875
101 km or 62 mi	Rustenburg	$940
109 km or 68 mi	Potchefstroom	$731
143 km or 89 mi	Bethal	$838
152 km or 94 mi	Middelburg	$830
155 km or 97 mi	Klerksdorp	$762
179 km or 111 mi	Kroonstad	$808
237 km or 147 mi	Welkom	$762
244 km or 152 mi	Mmabatho	$833
262 km or 163 mi	Lobatse	$637
275 km or 171 mi	Gaborone	$668
287 km or 179 mi	Butha-Buthe	$570
302 km or 188 mi	Kanye	$637
311 km or 193 mi	Mbabane	$599
323 km or 201 mi	Vryheid	$827
325 km or 202 mi	Molepolole	$607
329 km or 204 mi	Teyateyaneng	$533
333 km or 207 mi	Manzini	$469
350 km or 217 mi	Maseru	$650
366 km or 228 mi	Mahalapye	$577
369 km or 229 mi	Bloemfontein	$698
409 km or 254 mi	Mafeteng	$598
417 km or 259 mi	Palapye	$514
429 km or 267 mi	Kimberley	$861
442 km or 275 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$705
443 km or 275 mi	Matola	$908
446 km or 277 mi	Serowe	$536
454 km or 282 mi	Maputo	$915
501 km or 311 mi	Durban	$892
562 km or 349 mi	Francistown	$587
577 km or 358 mi	Xai-Xai	$915

Cities near Kampala

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 7 mi	Kira Town	$658
32 km or 20 mi	Entebbe	$578
70 km or 44 mi	Jinja	$582
183 km or 114 mi	Tororo	$623
197 km or 122 mi	Mbale	$654
212 km or 131 mi	Mumias	$511
246 km or 153 mi	Kisumu	$543
274 km or 171 mi	Gulu	$627
288 km or 179 mi	Kasese	$567
294 km or 183 mi	Bunia	$833
301 km or 187 mi	Eldoret	$528
317 km or 197 mi	Mwanza	$656
347 km or 216 mi	Beni	$820
350 km or 217 mi	Byumba	$597
355 km or 220 mi	Arua	$617
366 km or 227 mi	Butembo	$804
377 km or 234 mi	Kigali	$758
384 km or 238 mi	Ruhengeri	$499
393 km or 244 mi	Nakuru	$503
431 km or 268 mi	Muyinga	$687
432 km or 269 mi	Nyanza	$524
432 km or 269 mi	Gisenyi	$396
446 km or 277 mi	Kibuye	$491
452 km or 281 mi	Butare	$412
471 km or 293 mi	Ngozi	$686
494 km or 307 mi	Ruyigi	$687
503 km or 313 mi	Nairobi	$811
510 km or 317 mi	Gitega	$689
514 km or 320 mi	Cyangugu	$505
516 km or 321 mi	Juba	$527
517 km or 321 mi	Bubanza	$689
520 km or 323 mi	Bukavu	$803
523 km or 325 mi	Thika	$460
545 km or 339 mi	Bujumbura	$754
551 km or 343 mi	Rutana	$688
559 km or 348 mi	Machakos	$420
563 km or 350 mi	Uvira	$842
564 km or 351 mi	Meru	$549
583 km or 362 mi	Makamba	$688
613 km or 381 mi	Arusha	$612