Johannesburg vs Los Angeles - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 10, 2024

	Johannesburg	Los Angeles
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1079	$3187
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2553	$7653
🏠 One person rent	$487	$2045
🏘️ Family rent	$837	$3732
🍽️ Food expenses	$302	$714
🚐 Transport expenses	$204	$218
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1695	$5275
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	17 km
🎓 Higher education	72	99
😀 Quality of life	58	94
🏙️ Population	4.43M	3.9M

The cost of living in Johannesburg is 66% less expensive than in Los Angeles. Cities ranked 5069th and 72nd ($1079 vs $3187) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd and 59th 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 1.6 months in Johannesburg compared to 1.7 months in Los Angeles. Johannesburg ranked 2nd best city to live in South Africa vs Los Angeles ranked 8th in the United States, while ranked 5446th and 47th 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 Los Angeles infographic

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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	$9.91	$21.6
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$40.5	$103
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.08	$12.3
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.31	$7.95
☕ Cappuccino	$2.04	$5.63
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.01	$2.93
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$405	$2261
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$361	$1732
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$781	$3983
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$657	$3315
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$72.2	$139
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$111	$215
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$44.3	$67.8
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.54%	6.58%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1096	$7592
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$753	$7011
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.89	$1.76
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$81.8	$73.9
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$10.6	$16.3
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.37	$1.36
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.21	$1.26
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1	$4.22
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.44	$4.49
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.66	$5.2
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.3	$13.3
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.16	$13.7
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.49	$17.1
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.7	$5.19
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.62	$2.32
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.48	$3.72
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.66	$4.63
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.4	$2.59
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.53	$2.64
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.62	$1.45
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.51	$3.29
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.14	$15.7
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.36	$3.35
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.19	$12
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$6.05	$10.4
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.18	$8.06
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2	$4.89
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.53	$2.21
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$33.1	$57.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$7.67	$18.1
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$29.8	$174
💇 Haircut, simple	$6.42	$27.2
👖 Brand Jeans	$51.5	$61
👟 Brand Sneakers	$91.2	$100
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$241	$1998
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$5865	$28613

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 Los Angeles

Distance	City	Cost of living
8.1 km or 5 mi	Huntington Park	$2682
8.9 km or 5.5 mi	Maywood	$2673
9.2 km or 5.7 mi	Florence-Graham	$2720
10 km or 6.2 mi	Bell	$2652
10 km or 6.2 mi	Monterey Park	$2748
11 km or 6.6 mi	Alhambra	$2883
11 km or 6.6 mi	South Pasadena	$2849
11 km or 7 mi	Cudahy	$2604
12 km or 7.6 mi	San Gabriel	$2984
12 km or 7.7 mi	Bell Gardens	$2561
12 km or 7.8 mi	West Hollywood	$2738
13 km or 7.8 mi	Montebello	$2675
13 km or 8 mi	South Gate	$2612
13 km or 8.2 mi	Glendale	$3553
14 km or 8.8 mi	Inglewood	$2831
15 km or 9 mi	Beverly Hills	$2289
15 km or 9.1 mi	Lynwood	$2633
15 km or 9.3 mi	Rosemead	$2733
15 km or 9.5 mi	Culver	$2844
15 km or 9.6 mi	Pasadena	$3327
16 km or 9.9 mi	Pico Rivera	$2638
16 km or 10 mi	Burbank	$3271
16 km or 10 mi	Downey	$2354
17 km or 11 mi	Compton	$2709
18 km or 11 mi	La Canada Flintridge	$3009
18 km or 11 mi	Hawthorne	$2861
18 km or 11 mi	Temple	$2776
18 km or 11 mi	South El Monte	$2714
18 km or 11 mi	West Whittier-Los Nietos	$2629
18 km or 11 mi	Paramount	$2572
19 km or 12 mi	Gardena	$2866
20 km or 12 mi	El Monte	$2715
21 km or 13 mi	Lawndale	$3054
21 km or 13 mi	Arcadia	$2717
21 km or 13 mi	Bellflower	$2552
22 km or 14 mi	Norwalk	$2569
22 km or 14 mi	Santa Monica	$3589
22 km or 14 mi	Whittier	$2673
23 km or 15 mi	Manhattan Beach	$3065
24 km or 15 mi	Carson	$2754