Johannesburg vs Mbabane - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 10, 2024

	Johannesburg	Mbabane
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1079	$623
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2553	$1573
🏠 One person rent	$487	$287
🏘️ Family rent	$837	$548
🍽️ Food expenses	$302	$210
🚐 Transport expenses	$204	$58.9
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1695	$761
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	27 km
🎓 Higher education	72	16
😀 Quality of life	58	38
🏙️ Population	4.43M	60.7K

The cost of living in Johannesburg is 73% more expensive than in Mbabane. Cities ranked 5069th and 7532nd ($1079 vs $623) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd and 1st in South Africa and Eswatini, respectively. Check South Africa vs Eswatini comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.6 months in Johannesburg compared to 1.2 months in Mbabane. Johannesburg ranked 2nd best city to live in South Africa vs Mbabane ranked 1st in Eswatini, while ranked 5446th and 7128th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Johannesburg vs Mbabane infographic

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Prices in Johannesburg vs Mbabane

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

	Johannesburg	Mbabane
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$9.91	$3.14
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$40.5	$29.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.08	$2.4
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.31	$1.91
☕ Cappuccino	$2.04	$1.79
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.01	$0.97
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$405	$211
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$361	$173
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$781	$521
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$657	$389
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$72.2	$48.8
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$111	$75.2
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$44.3	$57.8
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.54%	10.07%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1096	$354
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$753	$262
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.89	$1.17
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$81.8	$30.7
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$10.6	$26.3
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.37	$1.27
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.21	$1.09
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1	$0.78
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.44	$1.3
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.66	$1.76
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.3	$9.95
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.16	$4.42
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.49	$5.41
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.7	$1.67
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.62	$0.76
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.48	$0.97
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.66	$1.44
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.4	$1.03
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.53	$1.2
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.62	$0.52
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.51	$1.21
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.14	$5.91
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.36	$1.23
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.19	$2.65
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$6.05	$4.15
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.18	$3.12
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2	$1.57
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.53	$1.31
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$33.1	$29.3
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$7.67	$3.83
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$29.8	$20.4
💇 Haircut, simple	$6.42	$4.74
👖 Brand Jeans	$51.5	$53.8
👟 Brand Sneakers	$91.2	$76.8
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$241	$130
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$5865	$5172

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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	$997
13 km or 8 mi	Randburg	$874
19 km or 12 mi	Soweto	$971
28 km or 17 mi	Benoni	$822
40 km or 25 mi	Springs	$696
41 km or 25 mi	Centurion	$838
53 km or 33 mi	Pretoria	$909
53 km or 33 mi	Vereeniging	$717
59 km or 36 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$768
71 km or 44 mi	Brits	$848
101 km or 62 mi	Rustenburg	$943
109 km or 68 mi	Potchefstroom	$717
143 km or 89 mi	Bethal	$819
152 km or 94 mi	Middelburg	$841
155 km or 97 mi	Klerksdorp	$689
179 km or 111 mi	Kroonstad	$788
237 km or 147 mi	Welkom	$774
244 km or 152 mi	Mmabatho	$809
262 km or 163 mi	Lobatse	$692
275 km or 171 mi	Gaborone	$718
287 km or 179 mi	Butha-Buthe	$559
302 km or 188 mi	Kanye	$690
311 km or 193 mi	Mbabane	$623
323 km or 201 mi	Vryheid	$791
325 km or 202 mi	Molepolole	$654
329 km or 204 mi	Teyateyaneng	$533
333 km or 207 mi	Manzini	$459
350 km or 217 mi	Maseru	$627
366 km or 228 mi	Mahalapye	$663
369 km or 229 mi	Bloemfontein	$696
409 km or 254 mi	Mafeteng	$581
417 km or 259 mi	Palapye	$554
429 km or 267 mi	Kimberley	$859
442 km or 275 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$674
443 km or 275 mi	Matola	$1003
446 km or 277 mi	Serowe	$600
454 km or 282 mi	Maputo	$1116
501 km or 311 mi	Durban	$834
562 km or 349 mi	Francistown	$585
577 km or 358 mi	Xai-Xai	$1045

Cities near Mbabane

Distance	City	Cost of living
27 km or 17 mi	Manzini	$459
136 km or 85 mi	Matola	$1003
148 km or 92 mi	Maputo	$1116
165 km or 103 mi	Vryheid	$791
171 km or 106 mi	Bethal	$819
179 km or 111 mi	Middelburg	$841
271 km or 168 mi	Springs	$696
284 km or 176 mi	Benoni	$822
287 km or 178 mi	Xai-Xai	$1045
301 km or 187 mi	Centurion	$838
304 km or 189 mi	Pretoria	$909
311 km or 193 mi	Sandton	$997
311 km or 193 mi	Johannesburg	$1079
316 km or 196 mi	Randburg	$874
324 km or 201 mi	Vereeniging	$717
329 km or 204 mi	Soweto	$971
334 km or 207 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$768
348 km or 216 mi	Brits	$848
370 km or 230 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$674
394 km or 245 mi	Durban	$834
398 km or 247 mi	Butha-Buthe	$559
399 km or 248 mi	Rustenburg	$943
406 km or 252 mi	Potchefstroom	$717
416 km or 259 mi	Kroonstad	$788
451 km or 280 mi	Klerksdorp	$689
461 km or 287 mi	Teyateyaneng	$533
477 km or 296 mi	Welkom	$774
491 km or 305 mi	Maseru	$627
546 km or 339 mi	Mafeteng	$581
555 km or 345 mi	Mmabatho	$809
559 km or 347 mi	Gaborone	$718
564 km or 350 mi	Lobatse	$692
566 km or 352 mi	Mahalapye	$663
576 km or 358 mi	Bloemfontein	$696
585 km or 363 mi	Palapye	$554
601 km or 374 mi	Kanye	$690
608 km or 378 mi	Molepolole	$654
628 km or 390 mi	Serowe	$600
628 km or 390 mi	Mthatha	$862
682 km or 424 mi	Francistown	$585