Johannesburg vs Meru - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Johannesburg	Meru
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1082	$549
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2560	$1431
🏠 One person rent	$485	$175
🏘️ Family rent	$833	$281
🍽️ Food expenses	$306	$268
🚐 Transport expenses	$206	$42.6
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1614	$360
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	69 km
🎓 Higher education	74	29
😀 Quality of life	62	32
🏙️ Population	4.43M	42.7K

The cost of living in Johannesburg is 97% more expensive than in Meru. Cities ranked 5031st and 8291st ($1082 vs $549) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 4th and 3rd in South Africa and Kenya, respectively. Check South Africa vs Kenya comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.5 months in Johannesburg compared to 0.7 months in Meru. Johannesburg ranked 1st best city to live in South Africa vs Meru ranked 9th in Kenya, while ranked 5648th and 8680th among best cities to live in the world.

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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	$10.1	$5.83
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$38.1	$38.8
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.03	$6.95
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.51	$2.31
☕ Cappuccino	$2.18	$2.44
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.08	$0.7
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$462	$167
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$342	$98.5
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$824	$304
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$632	$181
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$78.5	$23.5
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$122	$35.9
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$40.5	$39.5
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.57%	15.01%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1106	$1175
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$741	$1345
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.21	$0.87
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$77.1	$28.3
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$11.7	$17.1
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.32	$1.07
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.28	$0.85
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.01	$0.39
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.44	$1.08
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.6	$1.43
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.5	$11.2
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.34	$6.53
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.4	$5.05
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.71	$3.09
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.63	$0.76
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.63	$0.78
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.77	$0.77
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.41	$1.04
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.6	$1.01
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.66	$0.29
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.53	$1.38
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.13	$11.7
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.46	$2.17
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.19	$3.28
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.86	$2.59
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.11	$3.65
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.98	$1.18
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.49	$1.15
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$33.6	$39.2
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$7.33	$7.28
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$29.7	$21.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$6.46	$3.53
👖 Brand Jeans	$52.2	$19.5
👟 Brand Sneakers	$93.1	$68.1
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$227	$222
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$5503	$8839

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 Meru

Distance	City	Cost of living
138 km or 85 mi	Thika	$460
175 km or 109 mi	Nairobi	$811
179 km or 111 mi	Machakos	$420
180 km or 112 mi	Nakuru	$503
268 km or 167 mi	Eldoret	$528
323 km or 201 mi	Kisumu	$543
354 km or 220 mi	Mumias	$511
378 km or 235 mi	Moshi	$533
392 km or 244 mi	Tororo	$623
395 km or 245 mi	Arusha	$612
403 km or 250 mi	Mbale	$654
455 km or 283 mi	Malindi	$548
496 km or 308 mi	Jinja	$582
508 km or 316 mi	Mombasa	$596
559 km or 347 mi	Kira Town	$658
564 km or 351 mi	Kampala	$717
577 km or 359 mi	Entebbe	$578
591 km or 367 mi	Tanga	$552
600 km or 373 mi	Mwanza	$656
666 km or 414 mi	Gulu	$627
712 km or 442 mi	Stone Town	$567
712 km or 443 mi	Zanzibar	$609
732 km or 455 mi	Dodoma	$526
749 km or 465 mi	Baidoa	$724
764 km or 475 mi	Morogoro	$421
783 km or 486 mi	Dar es Salaam	$799
784 km or 487 mi	Awasa	$1031
819 km or 509 mi	Arua	$617
840 km or 522 mi	Bunia	$833
852 km or 529 mi	Jimma	$802
852 km or 530 mi	Kasese	$567
858 km or 533 mi	Juba	$527
862 km or 536 mi	Byumba	$597
873 km or 542 mi	Kigali	$758
875 km or 544 mi	Muyinga	$687
883 km or 549 mi	Mogadishu	$715
907 km or 563 mi	Ruhengeri	$499
911 km or 566 mi	Ruyigi	$687
911 km or 566 mi	Beni	$820
918 km or 570 mi	Nyanza	$524