Johannesburg vs Male - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Johannesburg	Male
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1171	$1311
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2754	$2822
🏠 One person rent	$522	$805
🏘️ Family rent	$894	$1397
🍽️ Food expenses	$337	$373
🚐 Transport expenses	$216	$44.3
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1761	$866
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	3 km
🎓 Higher education	73	8
😀 Quality of life	65	64
🏙️ Population	4.8M	133K

The cost of living in Johannesburg is 11% less expensive than in Male. Cities ranked 4839th and 4552nd ($1171 vs $1311) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 4th and 2nd in South Africa and Maldives, respectively. Check South Africa vs Maldives comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.5 months in Johannesburg compared to 0.7 months in Male. Johannesburg ranked 1st best city to live in South Africa vs Male ranked 1st in Maldives, while ranked 5190th and 5347th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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Prices in Johannesburg vs Male

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

	Johannesburg	Male
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$11.5	$6.02
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$43.9	$34
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.73	$9.65
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.81	$4.66
☕ Cappuccino	$2.48	$2.85
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.16	$1.52
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$448	$810
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$377	$620
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$804	$1472
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$689	$1144
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$91	$74.7
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$142	$116
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$40	$72.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.13%	14.01%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1058	$2247
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$785	$1903
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.12	$0.65
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$88.7	$32.2
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$9.88	$17.6
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.4	$0.93
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.43	$1.99
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.16	$1.56
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.66	$1.38
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.52	$1.78
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.48	$7.64
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.59	$6.21
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.91	$9.49
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.97	$4.08
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.87	$3.53
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.87	$4.3
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.99	$2.86
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.64	$1.76
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.75	$1.42
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.75	$0.38
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.62	$1.99
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.21	$10.1
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.66	$2.71
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.47	$14.8
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.83	$5.34
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.49	$3.77
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.29	$3.15
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.41	$1.82
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$38.5	$75.3
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$8.38	$9.78
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$32.1	$22.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$7.19	$4.3
👖 Brand Jeans	$59	$41
👟 Brand Sneakers	$104	$85.6
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$229	$193
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$5808	$3300

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	$1089
13 km or 8 mi	Randburg	$958
19 km or 12 mi	Soweto	$1057
28 km or 17 mi	Benoni	$892
40 km or 25 mi	Springs	$792
41 km or 25 mi	Centurion	$967
53 km or 33 mi	Pretoria	$1049
53 km or 33 mi	Vereeniging	$765
59 km or 36 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$865
71 km or 44 mi	Brits	$950
101 km or 62 mi	Rustenburg	$1017
109 km or 68 mi	Potchefstroom	$791
143 km or 89 mi	Bethal	$910
152 km or 94 mi	Middelburg	$899
155 km or 97 mi	Klerksdorp	$826
179 km or 111 mi	Kroonstad	$875
237 km or 147 mi	Welkom	$826
244 km or 152 mi	Mmabatho	$901
262 km or 163 mi	Lobatse	$697
275 km or 171 mi	Gaborone	$731
287 km or 179 mi	Butha-Buthe	$604
302 km or 188 mi	Kanye	$694
311 km or 193 mi	Mbabane	$652
323 km or 201 mi	Vryheid	$912
325 km or 202 mi	Molepolole	$662
329 km or 204 mi	Teyateyaneng	$573
333 km or 207 mi	Manzini	$511
350 km or 217 mi	Maseru	$681
366 km or 228 mi	Mahalapye	$628
369 km or 229 mi	Bloemfontein	$763
409 km or 254 mi	Mafeteng	$630
417 km or 259 mi	Palapye	$551
429 km or 267 mi	Kimberley	$927
442 km or 275 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$716
443 km or 275 mi	Matola	$916
446 km or 277 mi	Serowe	$583
454 km or 282 mi	Maputo	$966
501 km or 311 mi	Durban	$948
562 km or 349 mi	Francistown	$633
577 km or 358 mi	Xai-Xai	$950

Cities near Male

Distance	City	Cost of living
5.4 km or 3.4 mi	Hulhumale	$1379
610 km or 379 mi	Thiruvananthapuram	$348
618 km or 384 mi	Varkala	$303
621 km or 386 mi	Nagercoil	$275
624 km or 388 mi	Kollam	$251
687 km or 427 mi	Tirunelveli	$269
688 km or 428 mi	Kottayam	$299
713 km or 443 mi	Kochi	$387
714 km or 444 mi	Ernakulam	$350
724 km or 450 mi	Thoothukudi	$293
761 km or 473 mi	Beruwala	$609
763 km or 474 mi	Colombo	$676
766 km or 476 mi	Thrissur	$349
771 km or 479 mi	Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte	$627
772 km or 479 mi	Galle	$518
777 km or 483 mi	Negombo	$487
788 km or 490 mi	Gampaha	$414
803 km or 499 mi	Matara	$499
814 km or 506 mi	Malappuram	$271
817 km or 507 mi	Madurai	$348
825 km or 513 mi	Kozhikode	$316
843 km or 524 mi	Dindigul	$299
849 km or 528 mi	Coimbatore	$331
862 km or 535 mi	Kandy	$447
879 km or 546 mi	Kannur	$320
892 km or 554 mi	Anuradhapura	$554
899 km or 559 mi	Tiruppur	$344
922 km or 573 mi	Erode	$285
935 km or 581 mi	Tiruchirappalli	$303
964 km or 599 mi	Thanjavur	$285
968 km or 602 mi	Mysore	$349
977 km or 607 mi	Salem	$297
979 km or 608 mi	Mangalore	$389
983 km or 611 mi	Trincomalee	$544
1027 km or 638 mi	Udupi	$273
1076 km or 669 mi	Bangalore	$523
1087 km or 675 mi	Cuddalore	$306
1093 km or 679 mi	Tumkur	$332
1106 km or 688 mi	Shimoga	$335
1108 km or 688 mi	Pondicherry	$327