Johannesburg vs London - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Johannesburg	London
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1082	$3851
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2560	$8597
🏠 One person rent	$485	$2689
🏘️ Family rent	$833	$4575
🍽️ Food expenses	$306	$592
🚐 Transport expenses	$206	$400
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1614	$4336
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	13 km
🎓 Higher education	74	100
😀 Quality of life	62	99
🏙️ Population	4.43M	8.8M

The cost of living in Johannesburg is 72% less expensive than in London. Cities ranked 5031st and 8th ($1082 vs $3851) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 4th and 1st 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 1.5 months in Johannesburg compared to 1.1 months in London. Johannesburg ranked 1st best city to live in South Africa vs London ranked 1st in the United Kingdom, while ranked 5648th and 5th 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 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	$10.1	$22.2
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$38.1	$91.7
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.03	$10.2
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.51	$9.11
☕ Cappuccino	$2.18	$5.24
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.08	$3.08
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$462	$3237
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$342	$2291
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$824	$4710
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$632	$4163
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$78.5	$170
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$122	$264
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$40.5	$39.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.57%	4.83%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1106	$21687
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$741	$11040
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.21	$4.04
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$77.1	$101
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$11.7	$31.5
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.32	$1.85
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.28	$1.65
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.01	$2.11
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.44	$2.38
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.6	$5.16
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.5	$12
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.34	$9.17
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.4	$15.8
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.71	$3.05
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.63	$1.72
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.63	$3.18
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.77	$3.28
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.41	$1.43
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.6	$1.82
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.66	$1.2
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.53	$3.31
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.13	$13.2
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.46	$3.12
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.19	$22.4
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.86	$4.31
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.11	$6
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.98	$2.76
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.49	$2.97
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$33.6	$59
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$7.33	$18.6
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$29.7	$69.9
💇 Haircut, simple	$6.46	$16.9
👖 Brand Jeans	$52.2	$110
👟 Brand Sneakers	$93.1	$120
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$227	$2511
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$5503	$27583

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 London

Distance	City	Cost of living
1.3 km or 0.8 mi	Westminster	$2960
11 km or 7 mi	Wimbledon	$2512
13 km or 8.3 mi	Richmond	$2449
15 km or 9.3 mi	Croydon	$2514
16 km or 10 mi	Greenford	$2435
19 km or 12 mi	Ewell	$2367
21 km or 13 mi	Coulsdon	$2352
23 km or 14 mi	Esher	$2337
24 km or 15 mi	Walton-on-Thames	$2326
25 km or 15 mi	Watford	$2633
27 km or 17 mi	Upminster	$2299
28 km or 17 mi	Rickmansworth	$2374
31 km or 19 mi	St Albans	$2456
32 km or 20 mi	Grays	$2200
32 km or 20 mi	Hertford	$2197
32 km or 20 mi	Slough	$2273
32 km or 20 mi	Brentwood	$2655
35 km or 22 mi	Harlow	$2091
35 km or 22 mi	Gravesend	$2176
35 km or 22 mi	Hemel Hempstead	$2274
37 km or 23 mi	Woking	$2515
38 km or 24 mi	Harpenden	$2224
40 km or 25 mi	Billericay	$2205
41 km or 25 mi	Maidenhead	$2785
43 km or 27 mi	East Grinstead	$2206
43 km or 27 mi	Basildon	$2164
43 km or 27 mi	Guildford	$2559
44 km or 27 mi	Crawley	$2275
44 km or 27 mi	Stevenage	$2223
44 km or 27 mi	Bracknell	$2469
44 km or 28 mi	Rochester	$1780
44 km or 28 mi	Tonbridge	$2118
45 km or 28 mi	High Wycombe	$2122
46 km or 28 mi	Bishop's Stortford	$2132
46 km or 28 mi	Luton	$2160
47 km or 29 mi	Chatham	$2419
49 km or 30 mi	Chelmsford	$2000
49 km or 30 mi	Gillingham	$2245
49 km or 30 mi	Godalming	$2416
49 km or 31 mi	Farnborough	$2165