Johannesburg vs Male - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Johannesburg	Male
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1082	$1320
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2560	$2817
🏠 One person rent	$485	$818
🏘️ Family rent	$833	$1403
🍽️ Food expenses	$306	$368
🚐 Transport expenses	$206	$43.1
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1614	$988
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	3 km
🎓 Higher education	74	7
😀 Quality of life	62	66
🏙️ Population	4.43M	133K

The cost of living in Johannesburg is 18% less expensive than in Male. Cities ranked 5031st and 4439th ($1082 vs $1320) 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 5648th and 5057th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Johannesburg vs Male infographic

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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	$10.1	$5.55
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$38.1	$29.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.03	$9.82
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.51	$4.77
☕ Cappuccino	$2.18	$3.29
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.08	$1.45
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$462	$870
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$342	$609
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$824	$1575
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$632	$1116
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$78.5	$75
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$122	$114
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$40.5	$81.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.57%	14%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1106	$2585
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$741	$1897
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.21	$0.65
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$77.1	$29.1
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$11.7	$17.5
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.32	$0.93
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.28	$1.85
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.01	$1.59
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.44	$1.34
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.6	$1.78
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.5	$9.08
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.34	$6.15
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.4	$8.98
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.71	$4.03
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.63	$3.83
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.63	$4.35
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.77	$3.26
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.41	$1.53
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.6	$1.22
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.66	$0.35
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.53	$1.97
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.13	$8.87
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.46	$2.96
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.19	$13
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.86	$5.39
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.11	$3.83
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.98	$3.18
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.49	$1.81
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$33.6	$80.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$7.33	$9.82
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$29.7	$23.2
💇 Haircut, simple	$6.46	$4.39
👖 Brand Jeans	$52.2	$42.7
👟 Brand Sneakers	$93.1	$90.5
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$227	$166
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$5503	$3575

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 Male

Distance	City	Cost of living
5.4 km or 3.4 mi	Hulhumale	$1445
610 km or 379 mi	Thiruvananthapuram	$344
618 km or 384 mi	Varkala	$308
621 km or 386 mi	Nagercoil	$279
624 km or 388 mi	Kollam	$253
687 km or 427 mi	Tirunelveli	$270
688 km or 428 mi	Kottayam	$300
713 km or 443 mi	Kochi	$382
714 km or 444 mi	Ernakulam	$351
724 km or 450 mi	Thoothukudi	$296
761 km or 473 mi	Beruwala	$590
763 km or 474 mi	Colombo	$646
766 km or 476 mi	Thrissur	$356
771 km or 479 mi	Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte	$626
772 km or 479 mi	Galle	$512
777 km or 483 mi	Negombo	$469
788 km or 490 mi	Gampaha	$420
803 km or 499 mi	Matara	$479
814 km or 506 mi	Malappuram	$286
817 km or 507 mi	Madurai	$347
825 km or 513 mi	Kozhikode	$321
843 km or 524 mi	Dindigul	$310
849 km or 528 mi	Coimbatore	$326
862 km or 535 mi	Kandy	$440
879 km or 546 mi	Kannur	$317
892 km or 554 mi	Anuradhapura	$535
899 km or 559 mi	Tiruppur	$347
922 km or 573 mi	Erode	$286
935 km or 581 mi	Tiruchirappalli	$300
964 km or 599 mi	Thanjavur	$275
968 km or 602 mi	Mysore	$346
977 km or 607 mi	Salem	$295
979 km or 608 mi	Mangalore	$400
983 km or 611 mi	Trincomalee	$530
1027 km or 638 mi	Udupi	$283
1076 km or 669 mi	Bangalore	$524
1087 km or 675 mi	Cuddalore	$300
1093 km or 679 mi	Tumkur	$355
1106 km or 688 mi	Shimoga	$340
1108 km or 688 mi	Pondicherry	$327