Johannesburg vs Malaga - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Johannesburg	Malaga
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1082	$1617
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2560	$3763
🏠 One person rent	$485	$929
🏘️ Family rent	$833	$1604
🍽️ Food expenses	$306	$467
🚐 Transport expenses	$206	$93.9
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1614	$1700
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	9 km
🎓 Higher education	74	24
😀 Quality of life	62	80
🏙️ Population	4.43M	592K

The cost of living in Johannesburg is 33% less expensive than in Malaga. Cities ranked 5031st and 3451st ($1082 vs $1617) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 4th and 27th 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 1.1 months in Malaga. Johannesburg ranked 1st best city to live in South Africa vs Malaga ranked 21st in Spain, while ranked 5648th and 736th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Johannesburg vs Malaga infographic

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Prices in Johannesburg vs Malaga

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

	Johannesburg	Malaga
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$10.1	$16.5
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$38.1	$59.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.03	$11
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.51	$4.01
☕ Cappuccino	$2.18	$2.96
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.08	$2.47
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$462	$1047
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$342	$767
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$824	$1891
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$632	$1344
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$78.5	$78.8
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$122	$123
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$40.5	$27.4
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.57%	3.82%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1106	$6192
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$741	$5381
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.21	$1.61
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$77.1	$26.2
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$11.7	$16.4
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.32	$1.79
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.28	$1.24
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.01	$1.44
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.44	$1.59
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.6	$2.91
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.5	$18.2
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.34	$8.27
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.4	$14.2
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.71	$2.56
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.63	$2.02
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.63	$1.6
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.77	$2.45
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.41	$1.79
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.6	$2.01
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.66	$0.48
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.53	$2.52
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.13	$6.58
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.46	$1.13
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.19	$6.34
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.86	$12.7
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.11	$2.86
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.98	$2.4
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.49	$2.26
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$33.6	$50.9
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$7.33	$10.2
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$29.7	$42.9
💇 Haircut, simple	$6.46	$20.9
👖 Brand Jeans	$52.2	$86.9
👟 Brand Sneakers	$93.1	$93
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$227	$535
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$5503	$10933

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 Malaga

Distance	City	Cost of living
18 km or 11 mi	Benalmadena	$1584
24 km or 15 mi	Mijas	$1511
27 km or 17 mi	Fuengirola	$1489
36 km or 22 mi	Antequera	$1301
48 km or 30 mi	Marbella	$1924
55 km or 34 mi	Loja	$1461
65 km or 40 mi	Almunecar	$1101
67 km or 41 mi	Ronda	$980
71 km or 44 mi	Estepona	$1666
80 km or 50 mi	Motril	$997
89 km or 55 mi	Granada	$1334
94 km or 58 mi	Alcala la Real	$2260
104 km or 64 mi	La Linea de la Concepcion	$1268
105 km or 65 mi	Gibraltar City	$2429
109 km or 68 mi	Ecija	$1344
113 km or 70 mi	Los Barrios	$1157
114 km or 71 mi	Algeciras	$987
119 km or 74 mi	Martos	$1382
122 km or 76 mi	Ceuta	$1312
124 km or 77 mi	Arcos de la Frontera	$1274
125 km or 78 mi	Adra	$1187
130 km or 81 mi	Jaen	$1133
132 km or 82 mi	Tarifa	$1287
133 km or 83 mi	Cordoba	$1233
137 km or 85 mi	Carmona	$1344
143 km or 89 mi	El Ejido	$1123
148 km or 92 mi	Dos Hermanas	$1359
152 km or 94 mi	Jerez de la Frontera	$989
154 km or 96 mi	Tetouan	$565
158 km or 98 mi	Seville	$1393
158 km or 98 mi	Chiclana de la Frontera	$1166
162 km or 101 mi	Tangier	$863
169 km or 105 mi	Linares	$1369
169 km or 105 mi	Cadiz	$1501
171 km or 106 mi	Ubeda	$1490
174 km or 108 mi	Rota	$1500
176 km or 109 mi	Almeria	$1298
196 km or 122 mi	Almonte	$1316
207 km or 129 mi	Melilla	$931
218 km or 135 mi	Nador	$536