Johannesburg vs Lilongwe - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Johannesburg	Lilongwe
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1082	$592
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2560	$1419
🏠 One person rent	$485	$250
🏘️ Family rent	$833	$390
🍽️ Food expenses	$306	$241
🚐 Transport expenses	$206	$51.8
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1614	$105
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	22 km
🎓 Higher education	74	12
😀 Quality of life	62	25
🏙️ Population	4.43M	989K

The cost of living in Johannesburg is 83% more expensive than in Lilongwe. Cities ranked 5031st and 7884th ($1082 vs $592) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 4th and 1st in South Africa and Malawi, respectively. Check South Africa vs Malawi comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.5 months in Johannesburg compared to 0.2 months in Lilongwe. Johannesburg ranked 1st best city to live in South Africa vs Lilongwe ranked 7th in Malawi, while ranked 5648th and 8966th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Johannesburg vs Lilongwe infographic

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Prices in Johannesburg vs Lilongwe

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

	Johannesburg	Lilongwe
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$10.1	$4.27
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$38.1	$24.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.03	$8.09
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.51	$1.55
☕ Cappuccino	$2.18	$2.34
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.08	$1.43
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$462	$374
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$342	$114
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$824	$603
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$632	$207
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$78.5	$34.2
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$122	$53.6
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$40.5	$50.6
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.57%	12.87%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1106	$10587
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$741	$593
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.21	$0.92
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$77.1	$11.6
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$11.7	$5.7
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.32	$1.34
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.28	$1.06
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.01	$1.07
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.44	$1.42
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.6	$2.27
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.5	$13.4
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.34	$3.25
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.4	$4.01
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.71	$2.38
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.63	$1.24
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.63	$1.5
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.77	$1.34
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.41	$1.26
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.6	$1.24
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.66	$0.42
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.53	$1.13
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.13	$12
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.46	$0.92
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.19	$1.57
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.86	$2.12
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.11	$4.05
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.98	$0.75
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.49	$0.66
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$33.6	$29.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$7.33	$4.17
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$29.7	$17
💇 Haircut, simple	$6.46	$3.59
👖 Brand Jeans	$52.2	$23
👟 Brand Sneakers	$93.1	$49.5
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$227	$353
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$5503	$2356

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 Lilongwe

Distance	City	Cost of living
123 km or 76 mi	Monkey Bay	$519
134 km or 83 mi	Ntcheu	$493
169 km or 105 mi	Mangochi	$496
228 km or 142 mi	Zomba	$458
233 km or 145 mi	Mzimba	$565
240 km or 149 mi	Blantyre	$506
243 km or 151 mi	Tete	$820
283 km or 176 mi	Mzuzu	$527
293 km or 182 mi	Mulanje	$461
506 km or 314 mi	Kasama	$888
518 km or 322 mi	Harare	$1021
524 km or 326 mi	Marondera	$779
533 km or 331 mi	Chitungwiza	$751
536 km or 333 mi	Chinhoyi	$650
545 km or 339 mi	Quelimane	$692
550 km or 342 mi	Kapiri Mposhi	$748
566 km or 352 mi	Mbeya	$495
567 km or 353 mi	Mutare	$755
568 km or 353 mi	Ndola	$577
572 km or 355 mi	Chimoio	$916
603 km or 375 mi	Nampula	$935
613 km or 381 mi	Lusaka	$655
616 km or 383 mi	Mansa	$912
616 km or 383 mi	Kitwe	$1062
618 km or 384 mi	Mufulira	$1278
637 km or 396 mi	Kadoma	$761
660 km or 410 mi	Chingola	$1069
660 km or 410 mi	Beira	$996
682 km or 424 mi	Kwekwe	$716
732 km or 455 mi	Lubumbashi	$1124
740 km or 460 mi	Pemba	$1511
741 km or 460 mi	Gweru	$587
744 km or 462 mi	Nacala	$1168
746 km or 464 mi	Masvingo	$873
795 km or 494 mi	Choma	$687
835 km or 519 mi	Likasi	$1032
883 km or 549 mi	Bulawayo	$658
886 km or 551 mi	Dodoma	$526
902 km or 560 mi	Morogoro	$421
949 km or 590 mi	Livingstone	$653