Johannesburg vs London - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Johannesburg	London
🚶 Cost of living one person	$993	$3296
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2403	$7841
🏠 One person rent	$441	$2211
🏘️ Family rent	$809	$4100
🍽️ Food expenses	$288	$551
🚐 Transport expenses	$181	$375
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1383	$4153
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	13 km
🎓 Higher education	72	100
😀 Quality of life	57	99
🏙️ Population	4.43M	8.8M

The cost of living in Johannesburg is 70% less expensive than in London. Cities ranked 5539th and 58th ($993 vs $3296) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 4th and 2nd in South Africa and the United Kingdom, respectively. Check South Africa vs the United Kingdom comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.4 months in Johannesburg compared to 1.3 months in London. Johannesburg ranked 2nd best city to live in South Africa vs London ranked 1st in the United Kingdom, while ranked 5667th and 4th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Johannesburg vs London infographic

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Prices in Johannesburg vs London

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

	Johannesburg	London
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$9.65	$21.4
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$37.9	$84
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.9	$9.67
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.37	$8.03
☕ Cappuccino	$2.01	$4.64
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.99	$2.46
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$377	$2704
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$318	$1831
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$790	$5123
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$627	$3478
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$71.9	$167
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$110	$255
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$39.5	$38.5
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.55%	5.06%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1031	$20412
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$684	$10524
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.62	$3.62
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$72	$91.9
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$9.35	$30.2
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.28	$1.82
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.18	$1.53
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.95	$1.86
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.36	$2.25
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.58	$4.77
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10	$11
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.04	$8.95
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.12	$13.5
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.6	$2.95
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.49	$1.75
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.41	$2.99
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.59	$3.14
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.35	$1.43
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.44	$1.59
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.58	$1.1
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.44	$2.87
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$5.96	$11.9
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.25	$2.74
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.97	$20.2
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.59	$3.29
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.94	$5.99
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.88	$2.7
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.42	$2.61
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$33.2	$55.7
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$7.2	$17.6
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$27.8	$69.7
💇 Haircut, simple	$5.55	$15.3
👖 Brand Jeans	$48.5	$97.6
👟 Brand Sneakers	$88.8	$113
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$214	$2250
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$5271	$26090

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

$349

$907

$6.64K

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

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

Cities near London

Distance	City	Cost of living
1.3 km or 0.8 mi	Westminster	$2868
11 km or 7 mi	Wimbledon	$2332
13 km or 8.3 mi	Richmond	$2273
15 km or 9.3 mi	Croydon	$2414
16 km or 10 mi	Greenford	$2209
19 km or 12 mi	Ewell	$2207
21 km or 13 mi	Coulsdon	$2214
23 km or 14 mi	Esher	$2185
24 km or 15 mi	Walton-on-Thames	$2182
25 km or 15 mi	Watford	$2470
27 km or 17 mi	Upminster	$2136
28 km or 17 mi	Rickmansworth	$2217
31 km or 19 mi	St Albans	$2261
32 km or 20 mi	Grays	$2028
32 km or 20 mi	Hertford	$2076
32 km or 20 mi	Slough	$2112
32 km or 20 mi	Brentwood	$2433
35 km or 22 mi	Harlow	$2199
35 km or 22 mi	Gravesend	$2035
35 km or 22 mi	Hemel Hempstead	$2122
37 km or 23 mi	Woking	$2429
38 km or 24 mi	Harpenden	$2052
40 km or 25 mi	Billericay	$2048
41 km or 25 mi	Maidenhead	$2623
43 km or 27 mi	East Grinstead	$2052
43 km or 27 mi	Basildon	$1924
43 km or 27 mi	Guildford	$2422
44 km or 27 mi	Crawley	$2092
44 km or 27 mi	Stevenage	$1987
44 km or 27 mi	Bracknell	$2248
44 km or 28 mi	Rochester	$1973
44 km or 28 mi	Tonbridge	$2063
45 km or 28 mi	High Wycombe	$2089
46 km or 28 mi	Bishop's Stortford	$2062
46 km or 28 mi	Luton	$1885
47 km or 29 mi	Chatham	$2263
49 km or 30 mi	Chelmsford	$1948
49 km or 30 mi	Gillingham	$2135
49 km or 30 mi	Godalming	$2344
49 km or 31 mi	Farnborough	$2009