Johannesburg vs Madrid - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Johannesburg	Madrid
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1204	$2109
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2788	$4833
🏠 One person rent	$547	$1251
🏘️ Family rent	$919	$2104
🍽️ Food expenses	$351	$517
🚐 Transport expenses	$210	$191
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$420	$2569
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	10 km
🎓 Higher education	73	98
😀 Quality of life	60	91
🏙️ Population	4.8M	3.51M

The cost of living in Johannesburg is 43% less expensive than in Madrid. Cities ranked 4745th and 1723rd ($1204 vs $2109) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 4th and 4th in South Africa and Spain, respectively. Check South Africa vs Spain comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.3 months in Johannesburg compared to 1.2 months in Madrid. Johannesburg ranked 1st best city to live in South Africa vs Madrid ranked 1st in Spain, while ranked 5850th and 160th 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 Madrid

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

	Johannesburg	Madrid
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$12.2	$17.6
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$46	$60.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$6.16	$13.1
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.44	$4.64
☕ Cappuccino	$2.41	$3.76
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.2	$3.27
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$473	$1411
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$385	$1035
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$862	$2589
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$679	$1735
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$106	$108
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$164	$165
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$38.8	$33.4
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	10.88%	3.1%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1060	$9054
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$777	$4487
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.85	$1.75
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$92.2	$42.5
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$8.38	$18.1
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.42	$1.8
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.36	$1.28
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.24	$1.34
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.81	$1.51
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.48	$3.97
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.99	$17.3
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.77	$8.98
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.11	$17.7
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.12	$3.06
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.89	$2.39
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.93	$2.64
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.07	$2.88
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.64	$2.22
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.75	$2.27
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.86	$0.67
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.58	$2.95
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.1	$8.81
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.89	$1.32
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.4	$7.01
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.66	$11.7
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.33	$4.43
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.25	$2.43
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.36	$2.55
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$37.8	$53.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$8.59	$11.8
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$31	$68.9
💇 Haircut, simple	$7.27	$17.4
👖 Brand Jeans	$57.1	$99.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$107	$114
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$244	$729
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$5103	$16324

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 Madrid

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 6.6 mi	Pozuelo de Alarcon	$1899
11 km or 6.7 mi	Coslada	$1721
14 km or 8.5 mi	Alcobendas	$1708
18 km or 11 mi	Mostoles	$1716
18 km or 11 mi	Fuenlabrada	$1603
18 km or 11 mi	Torrejon de Ardoz	$1643
21 km or 13 mi	Tres Cantos	$1667
29 km or 18 mi	Alcala de Henares	$1678
50 km or 31 mi	Guadalajara	$1200
68 km or 42 mi	Toledo	$1320
69 km or 43 mi	Segovia	$1360
138 km or 86 mi	Cuenca	$1246
155 km or 97 mi	Laguna de Duero	$1396
158 km or 98 mi	Villarrobledo	$1397
162 km or 101 mi	Valladolid	$1415
177 km or 110 mi	Salamanca	$1191
196 km or 122 mi	Puertollano	$896
208 km or 129 mi	Plasencia	$1267
211 km or 131 mi	Zamora	$1373
215 km or 133 mi	Burgos	$1242
223 km or 139 mi	Albacete	$1303
242 km or 150 mi	Villanueva de la Serena	$1325
244 km or 151 mi	Requena	$1421
250 km or 156 mi	Logrono	$1115
251 km or 156 mi	Caceres	$1187
253 km or 157 mi	Tudela	$1424
258 km or 160 mi	Linares	$1395
269 km or 167 mi	Ubeda	$1499
272 km or 169 mi	Zaragoza	$1436
281 km or 175 mi	Merida	$1276
283 km or 176 mi	Vitoria-Gasteiz	$1697
288 km or 179 mi	Leon	$1265
295 km or 183 mi	Jaen	$1125
296 km or 184 mi	Jumilla	$1316
297 km or 184 mi	Cordoba	$1291
298 km or 185 mi	Yecla	$1203
299 km or 186 mi	Braganca	$935
301 km or 187 mi	Martos	$1390
302 km or 187 mi	Caravaca de la Cruz	$1351
302 km or 188 mi	Valencia	$1812