Johannesburg vs Melbourne - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Johannesburg	Melbourne
🚶 Cost of living one person	$993	$2194
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2403	$5150
🏠 One person rent	$441	$1216
🏘️ Family rent	$809	$1971
🍽️ Food expenses	$288	$541
🚐 Transport expenses	$181	$296
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1383	$3902
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	72	100
😀 Quality of life	57	100
🏙️ Population	4.43M	5.03M

The cost of living in Johannesburg is 55% less expensive than in Melbourne. Cities ranked 5539th and 1365th ($993 vs $2194) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 4th and 4th in South Africa and Australia, respectively. Check South Africa vs Australia comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.4 months in Johannesburg compared to 1.8 months in Melbourne. Johannesburg ranked 2nd best city to live in South Africa vs Melbourne ranked 1st in Australia, while ranked 5667th and 1st among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Johannesburg vs Melbourne infographic

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Prices in Johannesburg vs Melbourne

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

	Johannesburg	Melbourne
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$9.65	$14.2
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$37.9	$67.9
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.9	$9.78
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.37	$8.09
☕ Cappuccino	$2.01	$3.38
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.99	$2.54
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$377	$1287
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$318	$1014
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$790	$2611
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$627	$1561
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$71.9	$98.7
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$110	$150
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$39.5	$49.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.55%	6.24%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1031	$6900
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$684	$5335
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.62	$3.51
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$72	$117
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$9.35	$15.7
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.28	$1.2
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.18	$1.39
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.95	$2.28
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.36	$2.2
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.58	$4.68
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10	$9.78
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.04	$9.79
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.12	$14.1
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.6	$3.2
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.49	$2.8
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.41	$2.91
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.59	$3.93
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.35	$2.47
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.44	$2.23
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.58	$0.93
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.44	$2.59
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$5.96	$12.5
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.25	$4.57
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.97	$29
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.59	$5.67
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.94	$7
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.88	$3.2
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.42	$3.67
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$33.2	$47.2
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$7.2	$15.1
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$27.8	$52.3
💇 Haircut, simple	$5.55	$22.2
👖 Brand Jeans	$48.5	$70.1
👟 Brand Sneakers	$88.8	$107
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$214	$1683
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$5271	$19705

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

$349

$907

$6.64K

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Johannesburg

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 6.8 mi	Sandton	$953
13 km or 8 mi	Randburg	$837
19 km or 12 mi	Soweto	$923
28 km or 17 mi	Benoni	$785
40 km or 25 mi	Springs	$678
41 km or 25 mi	Centurion	$807
53 km or 33 mi	Pretoria	$906
53 km or 33 mi	Vereeniging	$672
59 km or 36 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$773
71 km or 44 mi	Brits	$820
101 km or 62 mi	Rustenburg	$889
109 km or 68 mi	Potchefstroom	$695
143 km or 89 mi	Bethal	$784
152 km or 94 mi	Middelburg	$795
155 km or 97 mi	Klerksdorp	$722
179 km or 111 mi	Kroonstad	$768
237 km or 147 mi	Welkom	$748
244 km or 152 mi	Mmabatho	$780
262 km or 163 mi	Lobatse	$665
275 km or 171 mi	Gaborone	$691
287 km or 179 mi	Butha-Buthe	$535
302 km or 188 mi	Kanye	$664
311 km or 193 mi	Mbabane	$562
323 km or 201 mi	Vryheid	$763
325 km or 202 mi	Molepolole	$628
329 km or 204 mi	Teyateyaneng	$500
333 km or 207 mi	Manzini	$442
350 km or 217 mi	Maseru	$621
366 km or 228 mi	Mahalapye	$631
369 km or 229 mi	Bloemfontein	$657
409 km or 254 mi	Mafeteng	$567
417 km or 259 mi	Palapye	$540
429 km or 267 mi	Kimberley	$814
442 km or 275 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$640
443 km or 275 mi	Matola	$964
446 km or 277 mi	Serowe	$583
454 km or 282 mi	Maputo	$1068
501 km or 311 mi	Durban	$809
562 km or 349 mi	Francistown	$624
577 km or 358 mi	Xai-Xai	$1003

Cities near Melbourne

Distance	City	Cost of living
3.2 km or 2 mi	South Yarra	$1620
24 km or 15 mi	Hoppers Crossing	$1635
25 km or 16 mi	Tarneit	$1625
29 km or 18 mi	Dandenong	$1645
34 km or 21 mi	Sunbury	$1691
37 km or 23 mi	Melton	$1669
40 km or 25 mi	Frankston	$1671
41 km or 25 mi	Berwick	$1643
42 km or 26 mi	Cranbourne	$1600
54 km or 34 mi	Pakenham	$1654
65 km or 40 mi	Geelong	$1981
102 km or 64 mi	Ballarat	$1390
134 km or 83 mi	Bendigo	$1291
144 km or 90 mi	Traralgon	$1727
164 km or 102 mi	Shepparton	$1601
226 km or 140 mi	Warrnambool	$1631
367 km or 228 mi	Mount Gambier	$1701
369 km or 230 mi	Wagga Wagga	$1457
392 km or 244 mi	Devonport	$1768
404 km or 251 mi	Griffith	$1619
444 km or 276 mi	Launceston	$1651
466 km or 290 mi	Canberra	$2023
477 km or 296 mi	Mildura	$1691
546 km or 339 mi	Goulburn	$1616
597 km or 371 mi	Hobart	$2106
628 km or 390 mi	Orange	$1511
643 km or 399 mi	Bathurst	$1538
651 km or 405 mi	Wollongong	$1416
655 km or 407 mi	Adelaide	$1978
700 km or 435 mi	Blacktown	$1584
702 km or 436 mi	Dubbo	$1702
703 km or 437 mi	Parramatta	$2252
707 km or 440 mi	Kellyville	$1824
713 km or 443 mi	Sydney	$2539
728 km or 452 mi	Dee Why	$2099
822 km or 511 mi	Newcastle	$1448
891 km or 554 mi	Whyalla	$1795
1015 km or 631 mi	Port Macquarie	$1681
1021 km or 634 mi	Armidale	$1185
1123 km or 698 mi	Coffs Harbour	$1963