Johannesburg vs Los Angeles - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Johannesburg	Los Angeles
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1204	$3420
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2788	$7800
🏠 One person rent	$547	$2177
🏘️ Family rent	$919	$3742
🍽️ Food expenses	$351	$761
🚐 Transport expenses	$210	$263
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$420	$4482
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Good
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	17 km
🎓 Higher education	73	99
😀 Quality of life	60	93
🏙️ Population	4.8M	3.9M

The cost of living in Johannesburg is 65% less expensive than in Los Angeles. Cities ranked 4745th and 62nd ($1204 vs $3420) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 4th and 47th in South Africa and the United States, respectively. Check South Africa vs the United States comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.3 months in Johannesburg compared to 1.3 months in Los Angeles. Johannesburg ranked 1st best city to live in South Africa vs Los Angeles ranked 8th in the United States, while ranked 5850th and 50th among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/johannesburg/los-angeles.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Johannesburg vs Los Angeles infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/johannesburg/los-angeles" target="_blank">Johannesburg vs Los Angeles - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Johannesburg vs Los Angeles

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

	Johannesburg	Los Angeles
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$12.2	$22.4
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$46	$104
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$6.16	$14.1
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.44	$8.92
☕ Cappuccino	$2.41	$6.66
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.2	$3.53
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$473	$2356
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$385	$1856
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$862	$4109
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$679	$3268
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$106	$152
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$164	$236
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$38.8	$69.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	10.88%	6.28%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1060	$8186
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$777	$7185
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.85	$1.76
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$92.2	$95.5
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$8.38	$19.5
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.42	$1.37
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.36	$1.32
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.24	$4.33
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.81	$4.26
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.48	$6.59
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.99	$15.1
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.77	$14.3
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.11	$20.4
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.12	$5.08
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.89	$2.46
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.93	$5.3
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.07	$5.19
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.64	$2.89
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.75	$2.91
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.86	$1.67
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.58	$3.57
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.1	$15.3
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.89	$2.99
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.4	$12.9
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.66	$9.24
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.33	$6.99
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.25	$5.99
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.36	$2.92
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$37.8	$70.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$8.59	$18.2
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$31	$164
💇 Haircut, simple	$7.27	$29.5
👖 Brand Jeans	$57.1	$80.1
👟 Brand Sneakers	$107	$110
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$244	$1748
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$5103	$23685

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	$1104
13 km or 8 mi	Randburg	$912
19 km or 12 mi	Soweto	$1031
28 km or 17 mi	Benoni	$851
40 km or 25 mi	Springs	$784
41 km or 25 mi	Centurion	$997
53 km or 33 mi	Pretoria	$1015
53 km or 33 mi	Vereeniging	$742
59 km or 36 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$867
71 km or 44 mi	Brits	$950
101 km or 62 mi	Rustenburg	$994
109 km or 68 mi	Potchefstroom	$789
143 km or 89 mi	Bethal	$902
152 km or 94 mi	Middelburg	$875
155 km or 97 mi	Klerksdorp	$860
179 km or 111 mi	Kroonstad	$872
237 km or 147 mi	Welkom	$811
244 km or 152 mi	Mmabatho	$903
262 km or 163 mi	Lobatse	$691
275 km or 171 mi	Gaborone	$723
287 km or 179 mi	Butha-Buthe	$589
302 km or 188 mi	Kanye	$691
311 km or 193 mi	Mbabane	$607
323 km or 201 mi	Vryheid	$882
325 km or 202 mi	Molepolole	$663
329 km or 204 mi	Teyateyaneng	$558
333 km or 207 mi	Manzini	$494
350 km or 217 mi	Maseru	$660
366 km or 228 mi	Mahalapye	$615
369 km or 229 mi	Bloemfontein	$742
409 km or 254 mi	Mafeteng	$611
417 km or 259 mi	Palapye	$549
429 km or 267 mi	Kimberley	$904
442 km or 275 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$725
443 km or 275 mi	Matola	$912
446 km or 277 mi	Serowe	$590
454 km or 282 mi	Maputo	$1014
501 km or 311 mi	Durban	$938
562 km or 349 mi	Francistown	$632
577 km or 358 mi	Xai-Xai	$965

Cities near Los Angeles

Distance	City	Cost of living
8.1 km or 5 mi	Huntington Park	$2945
8.9 km or 5.5 mi	Maywood	$2888
9.2 km or 5.7 mi	Florence-Graham	$2945
10 km or 6.2 mi	Bell	$2868
10 km or 6.2 mi	Monterey Park	$2786
11 km or 6.6 mi	Alhambra	$3031
11 km or 6.6 mi	South Pasadena	$3020
11 km or 7 mi	Cudahy	$2866
12 km or 7.6 mi	San Gabriel	$3184
12 km or 7.7 mi	Bell Gardens	$2798
12 km or 7.8 mi	West Hollywood	$3055
13 km or 7.8 mi	Montebello	$2826
13 km or 8 mi	South Gate	$2867
13 km or 8.2 mi	Glendale	$3717
14 km or 8.8 mi	Inglewood	$3066
15 km or 9 mi	Beverly Hills	$2945
15 km or 9.1 mi	Lynwood	$2880
15 km or 9.3 mi	Rosemead	$2868
15 km or 9.5 mi	Culver	$3054
15 km or 9.6 mi	Pasadena	$3802
16 km or 9.9 mi	Pico Rivera	$2818
16 km or 10 mi	Burbank	$3369
16 km or 10 mi	Downey	$2766
17 km or 11 mi	Compton	$2922
18 km or 11 mi	La Canada Flintridge	$3179
18 km or 11 mi	Hawthorne	$3139
18 km or 11 mi	Temple	$2909
18 km or 11 mi	South El Monte	$2849
18 km or 11 mi	West Whittier-Los Nietos	$2826
18 km or 11 mi	Paramount	$2793
19 km or 12 mi	Gardena	$3076
20 km or 12 mi	El Monte	$2858
21 km or 13 mi	Lawndale	$3243
21 km or 13 mi	Arcadia	$3020
21 km or 13 mi	Bellflower	$2758
22 km or 14 mi	Norwalk	$2694
22 km or 14 mi	Santa Monica	$3654
22 km or 14 mi	Whittier	$2835
23 km or 15 mi	Manhattan Beach	$3295
24 km or 15 mi	Carson	$3000