Johannesburg vs Meru - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Johannesburg	Meru
🚶 Cost of living one person	$993	$541
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2403	$1478
🏠 One person rent	$441	$181
🏘️ Family rent	$809	$382
🍽️ Food expenses	$288	$266
🚐 Transport expenses	$181	$37.9
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1383	$433
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	69 km
🎓 Higher education	72	29
😀 Quality of life	57	27
🏙️ Population	4.43M	42.7K

The cost of living in Johannesburg is 83% more expensive than in Meru. Cities ranked 5539th and 8317th ($993 vs $541) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 4th and 4th in South Africa and Kenya, respectively. Check South Africa vs Kenya comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.4 months in Johannesburg compared to 0.8 months in Meru. Johannesburg ranked 2nd best city to live in South Africa vs Meru ranked 9th in Kenya, while ranked 5667th and 8421st among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Johannesburg vs Meru infographic

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Prices in Johannesburg vs Meru

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

	Johannesburg	Meru
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$9.65	$5.38
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$37.9	$38.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.9	$6.67
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.37	$2.32
☕ Cappuccino	$2.01	$2.3
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.99	$0.72
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$377	$199
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$318	$104
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$790	$516
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$627	$263
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$71.9	$20.2
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$110	$30.9
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$39.5	$37.9
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.55%	14.83%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1031	$1127
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$684	$1251
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.62	$0.87
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$72	$28.3
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$9.35	$14
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.28	$1.07
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.18	$0.93
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.95	$0.27
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.36	$1.65
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.58	$1.54
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10	$11.2
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.04	$6.35
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.12	$4.98
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.6	$2.97
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.49	$0.77
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.41	$0.76
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.59	$0.78
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.35	$1.09
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.44	$1.17
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.58	$0.26
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.44	$1.34
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$5.96	$12
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.25	$2.13
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.97	$3.07
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.59	$2.56
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.94	$3.57
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.88	$1.17
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.42	$1.14
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$33.2	$34.3
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$7.2	$6.2
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$27.8	$20.5
💇 Haircut, simple	$5.55	$3.52
👖 Brand Jeans	$48.5	$19
👟 Brand Sneakers	$88.8	$59.8
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$214	$189
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$5271	$8023

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 Meru

Distance	City	Cost of living
138 km or 85 mi	Thika	$589
175 km or 109 mi	Nairobi	$760
179 km or 111 mi	Machakos	$408
180 km or 112 mi	Nakuru	$500
268 km or 167 mi	Eldoret	$483
323 km or 201 mi	Kisumu	$522
354 km or 220 mi	Mumias	$490
378 km or 235 mi	Moshi	$561
392 km or 244 mi	Tororo	$602
395 km or 245 mi	Arusha	$638
403 km or 250 mi	Mbale	$605
455 km or 283 mi	Malindi	$498
496 km or 308 mi	Jinja	$562
508 km or 316 mi	Mombasa	$580
559 km or 347 mi	Kira Town	$646
564 km or 351 mi	Kampala	$698
577 km or 359 mi	Entebbe	$558
591 km or 367 mi	Tanga	$545
600 km or 373 mi	Mwanza	$625
666 km or 414 mi	Gulu	$594
712 km or 442 mi	Stone Town	$523
712 km or 443 mi	Zanzibar	$552
732 km or 455 mi	Dodoma	$502
749 km or 465 mi	Baidoa	$706
764 km or 475 mi	Morogoro	$486
783 km or 486 mi	Dar es Salaam	$811
784 km or 487 mi	Awasa	$886
819 km or 509 mi	Arua	$585
840 km or 522 mi	Bunia	$801
852 km or 529 mi	Jimma	$654
852 km or 530 mi	Kasese	$573
858 km or 533 mi	Juba	$513
862 km or 536 mi	Byumba	$613
873 km or 542 mi	Kigali	$771
875 km or 544 mi	Muyinga	$650
883 km or 549 mi	Mogadishu	$711
907 km or 563 mi	Ruhengeri	$492
911 km or 566 mi	Ruyigi	$648
911 km or 566 mi	Beni	$785
918 km or 570 mi	Nyanza	$518