Johannesburg vs Los Angeles - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Johannesburg	Los Angeles
🚶 Cost of living one person	$993	$3196
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2403	$7594
🏠 One person rent	$441	$2049
🏘️ Family rent	$809	$3732
🍽️ Food expenses	$288	$709
🚐 Transport expenses	$181	$220
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1383	$4771
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	17 km
🎓 Higher education	72	99
😀 Quality of life	57	93
🏙️ Population	4.43M	3.9M

The cost of living in Johannesburg is 69% less expensive than in Los Angeles. Cities ranked 5539th and 80th ($993 vs $3196) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 4th and 71st 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 1.4 months in Johannesburg compared to 1.5 months in Los Angeles. Johannesburg ranked 2nd best city to live in South Africa vs Los Angeles ranked 7th in the United States, while ranked 5667th and 58th 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	$9.65	$21.7
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$37.9	$87.7
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.9	$12.9
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.37	$8.51
☕ Cappuccino	$2.01	$5.77
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.99	$2.7
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$377	$2168
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$318	$1758
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$790	$4056
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$627	$3293
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$71.9	$142
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$110	$220
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$39.5	$66.8
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.55%	6.74%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1031	$8056
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$684	$7115
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.62	$2.01
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$72	$73.5
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$9.35	$16.8
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.28	$1.26
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.18	$1.29
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.95	$4.1
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.36	$4.56
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.58	$6.05
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10	$12.2
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.04	$14.5
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.12	$17.5
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.6	$5.12
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.49	$2.43
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.41	$4.03
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.59	$4.31
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.35	$2.63
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.44	$2.62
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.58	$1.56
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.44	$3.26
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$5.96	$15.4
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.25	$2.92
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.97	$11.7
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.59	$10.4
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.94	$7
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.88	$5.25
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.42	$2.63
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$33.2	$49.3
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$7.2	$18.1
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$27.8	$190
💇 Haircut, simple	$5.55	$27.8
👖 Brand Jeans	$48.5	$60.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$88.8	$105
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$214	$1650
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$5271	$28838

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	$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 Los Angeles

Distance	City	Cost of living
8.1 km or 5 mi	Huntington Park	$2887
8.9 km or 5.5 mi	Maywood	$2803
9.2 km or 5.7 mi	Florence-Graham	$2873
10 km or 6.2 mi	Bell	$2798
10 km or 6.2 mi	Monterey Park	$2735
11 km or 6.6 mi	Alhambra	$2936
11 km or 6.6 mi	South Pasadena	$2902
11 km or 7 mi	Cudahy	$2768
12 km or 7.6 mi	San Gabriel	$3061
12 km or 7.7 mi	Bell Gardens	$2727
12 km or 7.8 mi	West Hollywood	$3105
13 km or 7.8 mi	Montebello	$2739
13 km or 8 mi	South Gate	$2786
13 km or 8.2 mi	Glendale	$3659
14 km or 8.8 mi	Inglewood	$3014
15 km or 9 mi	Beverly Hills	$2903
15 km or 9.1 mi	Lynwood	$2788
15 km or 9.3 mi	Rosemead	$2780
15 km or 9.5 mi	Culver	$3033
15 km or 9.6 mi	Pasadena	$3416
16 km or 9.9 mi	Pico Rivera	$2750
16 km or 10 mi	Burbank	$3370
16 km or 10 mi	Downey	$2735
17 km or 11 mi	Compton	$2851
18 km or 11 mi	La Canada Flintridge	$3086
18 km or 11 mi	Hawthorne	$3104
18 km or 11 mi	Temple	$2824
18 km or 11 mi	South El Monte	$2787
18 km or 11 mi	West Whittier-Los Nietos	$2750
18 km or 11 mi	Paramount	$2720
19 km or 12 mi	Gardena	$3022
20 km or 12 mi	El Monte	$2775
21 km or 13 mi	Lawndale	$3162
21 km or 13 mi	Arcadia	$2758
21 km or 13 mi	Bellflower	$2669
22 km or 14 mi	Norwalk	$2662
22 km or 14 mi	Santa Monica	$3573
22 km or 14 mi	Whittier	$2789
23 km or 15 mi	Manhattan Beach	$3256
24 km or 15 mi	Carson	$2919