Johannesburg vs Lucknow - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Johannesburg	Lucknow
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1204	$326
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2788	$789
🏠 One person rent	$547	$113
🏘️ Family rent	$919	$190
🍽️ Food expenses	$351	$132
🚐 Transport expenses	$210	$45.5
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$420	$257
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Unhealthy
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	11 km
🎓 Higher education	73	63
😀 Quality of life	60	59
🏙️ Population	4.8M	3.38M

The cost of living in Johannesburg is 269% more expensive than in Lucknow. Cities ranked 4745th and 9120th ($1204 vs $326) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 4th and 85th in South Africa and India, respectively. Check South Africa vs India comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.3 months in Johannesburg compared to 0.8 months in Lucknow. Johannesburg ranked 1st best city to live in South Africa vs Lucknow ranked 18th in India, while ranked 5850th and 5952nd among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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Prices in Johannesburg vs Lucknow

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

	Johannesburg	Lucknow
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$12.2	$1.53
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$46	$10.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$6.16	$3.13
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.44	$1.56
☕ Cappuccino	$2.41	$1.65
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.2	$0.35
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$473	$116
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$385	$64.7
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$862	$213
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$679	$117
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$106	$30.3
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$164	$46.8
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$38.8	$7.51
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	10.88%	8.48%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1060	$1173
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$777	$530
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.85	$0.42
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$92.2	$7.63
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$8.38	$2.88
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.42	$1.05
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.36	$0.7
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.24	$0.45
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.81	$0.58
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.48	$0.98
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.99	$3.34
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.77	$2.39
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.11	$5.53
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.12	$1.41
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.89	$0.6
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.93	$0.94
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.07	$0.51
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.64	$0.34
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.75	$0.46
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.86	$0.2
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.58	$0.87
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.1	$8
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.89	$1.65
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.4	$4.22
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.66	$1.76
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.33	$2.83
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.25	$1.47
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.36	$0.92
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$37.8	$14.2
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$8.59	$3.16
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$31	$11.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$7.27	$2.39
👖 Brand Jeans	$57.1	$23
👟 Brand Sneakers	$107	$38.2
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$244	$39.8
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$5103	$975

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 Lucknow

Distance	City	Cost of living
74 km or 46 mi	Kanpur	$308
180 km or 112 mi	Allahabad	$291
207 km or 129 mi	Dhangadhi	$348
213 km or 132 mi	Jaunpur	$266
226 km or 141 mi	Bareilly	$271
238 km or 148 mi	Bheemdatta	$330
243 km or 151 mi	Gorakhpur	$295
249 km or 155 mi	Mirzapur	$264
267 km or 166 mi	Varanasi	$255
283 km or 176 mi	Gwalior	$339
284 km or 176 mi	Jhansi	$299
292 km or 182 mi	Agra	$352
299 km or 186 mi	Satna	$291
305 km or 189 mi	Sambhal	$284
306 km or 190 mi	Aligarh	$286
311 km or 193 mi	Moradabad	$273
331 km or 205 mi	Mathura	$276
336 km or 209 mi	Pokhara	$386
389 km or 242 mi	Birgunj	$317
398 km or 247 mi	Meerut	$335
399 km or 248 mi	Faridabad	$344
402 km or 250 mi	Ghaziabad	$368
405 km or 252 mi	Noida	$404
409 km or 254 mi	Hetauda	$288
419 km or 260 mi	Delhi	$479
422 km or 262 mi	Jabalpur	$270
425 km or 264 mi	Gurgaon	$509
436 km or 271 mi	Alwar	$245
440 km or 274 mi	Patna	$293
443 km or 276 mi	Lalitpur	$336
445 km or 276 mi	Rishikesh	$369
447 km or 278 mi	Kathmandu	$424
454 km or 282 mi	Sonipat	$256
456 km or 284 mi	Muzaffarpur	$263
469 km or 292 mi	Gaya	$274
480 km or 298 mi	Dehradun	$395
480 km or 298 mi	Saharanpur	$270
486 km or 302 mi	Vidisha	$309
487 km or 303 mi	Rohtak	$239
494 km or 307 mi	Janakpur	$287