Johannesburg vs Medina - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Johannesburg	Medina
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1082	$1182
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2560	$2412
🏠 One person rent	$485	$673
🏘️ Family rent	$833	$906
🍽️ Food expenses	$306	$308
🚐 Transport expenses	$206	$111
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1614	$1300
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	14 km
🎓 Higher education	74	22
😀 Quality of life	62	70
🏙️ Population	4.43M	1.41M

The cost of living in Johannesburg is 8% less expensive than in Medina. Cities ranked 5031st and 4743rd ($1082 vs $1182) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 4th and 2nd in South Africa and Saudi Arabia, respectively. Check South Africa vs Saudi Arabia comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.5 months in Johannesburg compared to 1.1 months in Medina. Johannesburg ranked 1st best city to live in South Africa vs Medina ranked 6th in Saudi Arabia, while ranked 5648th and 4114th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Johannesburg vs Medina infographic

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Prices in Johannesburg vs Medina

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

	Johannesburg	Medina
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$10.1	$5.56
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$38.1	$31.9
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.03	$7.96
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.51	$1.61
☕ Cappuccino	$2.18	$2.77
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.08	$0.81
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$462	$439
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$342	$505
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$824	$633
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$632	$688
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$78.5	$91.1
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$122	$140
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$40.5	$89.7
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.57%	3.02%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1106	$3803
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$741	$1109
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.21	$1.06
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$77.1	$37.7
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$11.7	$14.8
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.32	$0.62
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.28	$1.65
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.01	$0.95
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.44	$2.35
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.6	$2.06
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.5	$5.32
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.34	$7.18
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.4	$12.6
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.71	$2.42
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.63	$1.98
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.63	$2.33
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.77	$1.52
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.41	$1.39
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.6	$1.32
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.66	$0.49
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.53	$1.88
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.13	$1.32
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.46	$1.68
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.19	$7.47
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.86	$5.3
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.11	$3.94
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.98	$1.35
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.49	$3.15
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$33.6	$79.6
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$7.33	$13.3
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$29.7	$25.9
💇 Haircut, simple	$6.46	$2.79
👖 Brand Jeans	$52.2	$37.2
👟 Brand Sneakers	$93.1	$67
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$227	$286
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$5503	$5508

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 Medina

Distance	City	Cost of living
168 km or 104 mi	Yanbu	$791
328 km or 204 mi	Jeddah	$1155
339 km or 211 mi	Mecca	$1162
378 km or 235 mi	Al Wajh	$940
398 km or 247 mi	Ha'il	$825
422 km or 262 mi	Ar Rass	$862
477 km or 296 mi	Unaizah	$967
531 km or 330 mi	Tabuk	$1069
585 km or 363 mi	Bisha	$918
593 km or 368 mi	Port Sudan	$964
595 km or 370 mi	Dumat al-Jandal	$791
615 km or 382 mi	Sakakah	$769
650 km or 404 mi	Sharm El Sheikh	$589
657 km or 408 mi	Hurghada	$346
661 km or 411 mi	Bareq	$903
675 km or 419 mi	El Gouna	$354
676 km or 420 mi	Dahab	$517
680 km or 423 mi	Aswan	$348
714 km or 444 mi	Luxor	$365
717 km or 446 mi	Qena	$428
719 km or 447 mi	Riyadh	$1627
723 km or 449 mi	Aqaba	$782
729 km or 453 mi	Eilat	$1734
742 km or 461 mi	Ma'an	$798
757 km or 470 mi	Abha	$911
758 km or 471 mi	As Sulayyil	$1008
810 km or 503 mi	Tafilah	$645
827 km or 514 mi	Sohag	$398
839 km or 522 mi	Al-Karak	$718
861 km or 535 mi	Dimona	$1910
870 km or 540 mi	Arad	$1855
890 km or 553 mi	Beersheba	$1645
896 km or 557 mi	Asyut	$271
901 km or 560 mi	Hebron	$837
902 km or 561 mi	Dura	$1021
902 km or 561 mi	Ofakim	$1867
905 km or 562 mi	Rahat	$1879
906 km or 563 mi	Amman	$1009
907 km or 564 mi	Najran	$860
913 km or 567 mi	Bethlehem	$987