Johannesburg vs Lagos - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 10, 2024

	Johannesburg	Lagos
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1079	$1133
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2553	$2969
🏠 One person rent	$487	$607
🏘️ Family rent	$837	$1499
🍽️ Food expenses	$302	$285
🚐 Transport expenses	$204	$184
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1695	$180
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	17 km
🎓 Higher education	72	46
😀 Quality of life	58	41
🏙️ Population	4.43M	15.1M

The cost of living in Johannesburg is 5% less expensive than in Lagos. Cities ranked 5069th and 4791st ($1079 vs $1133) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd and 3rd in South Africa and Nigeria, respectively. Check South Africa vs Nigeria comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.6 months in Johannesburg compared to 0.2 months in Lagos. Johannesburg ranked 2nd best city to live in South Africa vs Lagos ranked 1st in Nigeria, while ranked 5446th and 6804th among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Johannesburg vs Lagos infographic

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Prices in Johannesburg vs Lagos

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

	Johannesburg	Lagos
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$9.91	$2.98
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$40.5	$45.7
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.08	$6.78
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.31	$0.96
☕ Cappuccino	$2.04	$2.55
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.01	$0.38
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$405	$810
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$361	$476
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$781	$2211
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$657	$1225
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$72.2	$24.3
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$111	$37.4
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$44.3	$39.8
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.54%	16.26%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1096	$1328
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$753	$253
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.89	$0.68
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$81.8	$36.5
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$10.6	$18.9
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.37	$0.71
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.21	$2.95
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1	$1.46
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.44	$2.14
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.66	$2.07
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.3	$5.65
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.16	$4.98
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.49	$6.29
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.7	$3.7
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.62	$2.59
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.48	$2.38
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.66	$2.93
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.4	$2.46
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.53	$1.89
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.62	$0.3
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.51	$0.5
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.14	$6.01
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.36	$0.99
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.19	$1.28
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$6.05	$1.31
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.18	$1.03
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2	$0.42
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.53	$0.45
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$33.1	$40.4
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$7.67	$6.4
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$29.8	$9.95
💇 Haircut, simple	$6.42	$2.06
👖 Brand Jeans	$51.5	$21.6
👟 Brand Sneakers	$91.2	$77.5
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$241	$82
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$5865	$2307

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	$997
13 km or 8 mi	Randburg	$874
19 km or 12 mi	Soweto	$971
28 km or 17 mi	Benoni	$822
40 km or 25 mi	Springs	$696
41 km or 25 mi	Centurion	$838
53 km or 33 mi	Pretoria	$909
53 km or 33 mi	Vereeniging	$717
59 km or 36 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$768
71 km or 44 mi	Brits	$848
101 km or 62 mi	Rustenburg	$943
109 km or 68 mi	Potchefstroom	$717
143 km or 89 mi	Bethal	$819
152 km or 94 mi	Middelburg	$841
155 km or 97 mi	Klerksdorp	$689
179 km or 111 mi	Kroonstad	$788
237 km or 147 mi	Welkom	$774
244 km or 152 mi	Mmabatho	$809
262 km or 163 mi	Lobatse	$692
275 km or 171 mi	Gaborone	$718
287 km or 179 mi	Butha-Buthe	$559
302 km or 188 mi	Kanye	$690
311 km or 193 mi	Mbabane	$623
323 km or 201 mi	Vryheid	$791
325 km or 202 mi	Molepolole	$654
329 km or 204 mi	Teyateyaneng	$533
333 km or 207 mi	Manzini	$459
350 km or 217 mi	Maseru	$627
366 km or 228 mi	Mahalapye	$663
369 km or 229 mi	Bloemfontein	$696
409 km or 254 mi	Mafeteng	$581
417 km or 259 mi	Palapye	$554
429 km or 267 mi	Kimberley	$859
442 km or 275 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$674
443 km or 275 mi	Matola	$1003
446 km or 277 mi	Serowe	$600
454 km or 282 mi	Maputo	$1116
501 km or 311 mi	Durban	$834
562 km or 349 mi	Francistown	$585
577 km or 358 mi	Xai-Xai	$1045

Cities near Lagos

Distance	City	Cost of living
78 km or 48 mi	Abeokuta	$1019
87 km or 54 mi	Porto-Novo	$710
109 km or 68 mi	Cotonou	$755
120 km or 74 mi	Ibadan	$759
165 km or 102 mi	Oyo	$699
171 km or 106 mi	Ife	$774
176 km or 109 mi	Abomey	$617
195 km or 121 mi	Osogbo	$704
203 km or 126 mi	Save	$644
217 km or 135 mi	Akure	$635
239 km or 148 mi	Ado Ekiti	$681
243 km or 151 mi	Lome	$711
245 km or 152 mi	Benin	$537
254 km or 158 mi	Owo	$658
261 km or 162 mi	Ilorin	$526
278 km or 173 mi	Atakpame	$655
280 km or 174 mi	Warri	$886
310 km or 193 mi	Kpalime	$656
324 km or 201 mi	Ho	$345
332 km or 206 mi	Hohoe	$570
355 km or 221 mi	Sotouboua	$652
375 km or 233 mi	Onitsha	$1036
376 km or 234 mi	Sokode	$652
388 km or 241 mi	Tema	$368
389 km or 242 mi	Ashaiman	$546
406 km or 252 mi	Awka	$846
407 km or 253 mi	Koforidua	$585
408 km or 253 mi	Accra	$747
416 km or 258 mi	Owerri	$1686
422 km or 262 mi	Kara	$656
441 km or 274 mi	Port Harcourt	$651
452 km or 281 mi	Enugu	$469
463 km or 288 mi	Umuahia	$906
463 km or 288 mi	Aba	$638
495 km or 307 mi	Minna	$787
536 km or 333 mi	Abuja	$1262
555 km or 345 mi	Kumasi	$412
562 km or 350 mi	Obuasi	$546
570 km or 354 mi	Calabar	$374
572 km or 356 mi	Tamale	$492