Johannesburg vs Madrid - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Johannesburg	Madrid
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1082	$2015
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2560	$4668
🏠 One person rent	$485	$1177
🏘️ Family rent	$833	$2051
🍽️ Food expenses	$306	$499
🚐 Transport expenses	$206	$189
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1614	$2580
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	10 km
🎓 Higher education	74	98
😀 Quality of life	62	92
🏙️ Population	4.43M	3.42M

The cost of living in Johannesburg is 46% less expensive than in Madrid. Cities ranked 5031st and 1962nd ($1082 vs $2015) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 4th and 5th in South Africa and Spain, respectively. Check South Africa vs Spain comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.5 months in Johannesburg compared to 1.3 months in Madrid. Johannesburg ranked 1st best city to live in South Africa vs Madrid ranked 1st in Spain, while ranked 5648th and 142nd among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Johannesburg vs Madrid infographic

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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	$10.1	$16.4
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$38.1	$62.3
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.03	$12
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.51	$4.96
☕ Cappuccino	$2.18	$3.72
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.08	$3.13
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$462	$1341
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$342	$959
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$824	$2482
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$632	$1691
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$78.5	$110
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$122	$169
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$40.5	$32.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.57%	3.1%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1106	$8353
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$741	$4881
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.21	$1.74
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$77.1	$43.1
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$11.7	$17.7
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.32	$1.8
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.28	$1.21
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.01	$1.46
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.44	$1.46
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.6	$3.62
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.5	$16.5
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.34	$8.96
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.4	$17.5
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.71	$2.83
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.63	$2.3
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.63	$2.65
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.77	$2.88
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.41	$2.12
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.6	$2.22
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.66	$0.65
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.53	$2.51
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.13	$8.79
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.46	$1.39
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.19	$6.94
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.86	$10.5
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.11	$3.97
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.98	$2.6
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.49	$2.8
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$33.6	$52
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$7.33	$11.8
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$29.7	$70.5
💇 Haircut, simple	$6.46	$17.4
👖 Brand Jeans	$52.2	$102
👟 Brand Sneakers	$93.1	$107
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$227	$678
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$5503	$12418

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	$984
13 km or 8 mi	Randburg	$890
19 km or 12 mi	Soweto	$984
28 km or 17 mi	Benoni	$826
40 km or 25 mi	Springs	$740
41 km or 25 mi	Centurion	$892
53 km or 33 mi	Pretoria	$975
53 km or 33 mi	Vereeniging	$706
59 km or 36 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$799
71 km or 44 mi	Brits	$875
101 km or 62 mi	Rustenburg	$940
109 km or 68 mi	Potchefstroom	$731
143 km or 89 mi	Bethal	$838
152 km or 94 mi	Middelburg	$830
155 km or 97 mi	Klerksdorp	$762
179 km or 111 mi	Kroonstad	$808
237 km or 147 mi	Welkom	$762
244 km or 152 mi	Mmabatho	$833
262 km or 163 mi	Lobatse	$637
275 km or 171 mi	Gaborone	$668
287 km or 179 mi	Butha-Buthe	$570
302 km or 188 mi	Kanye	$637
311 km or 193 mi	Mbabane	$599
323 km or 201 mi	Vryheid	$827
325 km or 202 mi	Molepolole	$607
329 km or 204 mi	Teyateyaneng	$533
333 km or 207 mi	Manzini	$469
350 km or 217 mi	Maseru	$650
366 km or 228 mi	Mahalapye	$577
369 km or 229 mi	Bloemfontein	$698
409 km or 254 mi	Mafeteng	$598
417 km or 259 mi	Palapye	$514
429 km or 267 mi	Kimberley	$861
442 km or 275 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$705
443 km or 275 mi	Matola	$908
446 km or 277 mi	Serowe	$536
454 km or 282 mi	Maputo	$915
501 km or 311 mi	Durban	$892
562 km or 349 mi	Francistown	$587
577 km or 358 mi	Xai-Xai	$915

Cities near Madrid

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 6.6 mi	Pozuelo de Alarcon	$1870
11 km or 6.7 mi	Coslada	$1674
14 km or 8.5 mi	Alcobendas	$1656
18 km or 11 mi	Mostoles	$1703
18 km or 11 mi	Fuenlabrada	$1592
18 km or 11 mi	Torrejon de Ardoz	$1581
21 km or 13 mi	Tres Cantos	$1627
29 km or 18 mi	Alcala de Henares	$1573
50 km or 31 mi	Guadalajara	$1194
68 km or 42 mi	Toledo	$1325
69 km or 43 mi	Segovia	$1385
138 km or 86 mi	Cuenca	$1217
155 km or 97 mi	Laguna de Duero	$1346
158 km or 98 mi	Villarrobledo	$1400
162 km or 101 mi	Valladolid	$1367
177 km or 110 mi	Salamanca	$1189
196 km or 122 mi	Puertollano	$893
208 km or 129 mi	Plasencia	$1225
211 km or 131 mi	Zamora	$1337
215 km or 133 mi	Burgos	$1343
223 km or 139 mi	Albacete	$1464
242 km or 150 mi	Villanueva de la Serena	$1312
244 km or 151 mi	Requena	$1407
250 km or 156 mi	Logrono	$1118
251 km or 156 mi	Caceres	$1225
253 km or 157 mi	Tudela	$1414
258 km or 160 mi	Linares	$1369
269 km or 167 mi	Ubeda	$1490
272 km or 169 mi	Zaragoza	$1457
281 km or 175 mi	Merida	$1272
283 km or 176 mi	Vitoria-Gasteiz	$1685
288 km or 179 mi	Leon	$1303
295 km or 183 mi	Jaen	$1133
296 km or 184 mi	Jumilla	$1345
297 km or 184 mi	Cordoba	$1233
298 km or 185 mi	Yecla	$1320
299 km or 186 mi	Braganca	$913
301 km or 187 mi	Martos	$1382
302 km or 187 mi	Caravaca de la Cruz	$1344
302 km or 188 mi	Valencia	$1703