Johannesburg vs Meru - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 01, 2024

	Johannesburg	Meru
🚶 Cost of living one person	$908	$486
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2207	$1333
🏠 One person rent	$403	$177
🏘️ Family rent	$738	$398
🍽️ Food expenses	$254	$228
🚐 Transport expenses	$173	$31.4
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1428	$406
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	69 km
🎓 Higher education	72	30
😀 Quality of life	61	29
🏙️ Population	4.43M	42.7K

The cost of living in Johannesburg is 87% more expensive than in Meru. Cities ranked 5921st and 8601st ($908 vs $486) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 5th in South Africa and Kenya, respectively. Check South Africa vs Kenya comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.6 months in Johannesburg compared to 0.8 months in Meru. Johannesburg ranked 1st best city to live in South Africa vs Meru ranked 9th in Kenya, while ranked 5184th and 8527th 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	$7.41	$4.16
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$35.4	$27.7
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.44	$4.84
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.09	$2.06
☕ Cappuccino	$1.82	$2.13
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.98	$0.49
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$350	$195
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$277	$109
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$667	$557
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$564	$284
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$71.1	$14.9
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$114	$22.9
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$39.6	$36.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.12%	13.12%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$840	$862
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$689	$864
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.78	$0.7
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$66	$26.4
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$9.26	$10.7
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.23	$0.94
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.09	$0.8
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.9	$0.49
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.35	$1.65
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.11	$1.53
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.94	$10.3
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.54	$5.39
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.88	$4.24
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.5	$2.03
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.47	$0.82
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.27	$1.53
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.52	$0.75
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.31	$0.82
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.43	$0.84
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.54	$0.37
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.36	$1.2
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$5.33	$10.3
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.16	$1.71
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.88	$2.4
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$3.76	$3.48
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.7	$4.28
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.91	$1.04
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.11	$0.93
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$31.4	$33.6
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$6.28	$5.51
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$27.3	$18.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$6.37	$3.28
👖 Brand Jeans	$45	$16.6
👟 Brand Sneakers	$83.7	$49
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$232	$136
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$4829	$6789

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	$889
13 km or 8 mi	Randburg	$776
19 km or 12 mi	Soweto	$875
28 km or 17 mi	Benoni	$741
40 km or 25 mi	Springs	$631
41 km or 25 mi	Centurion	$755
53 km or 33 mi	Pretoria	$783
53 km or 33 mi	Vereeniging	$637
59 km or 36 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$698
71 km or 44 mi	Brits	$751
101 km or 62 mi	Rustenburg	$845
109 km or 68 mi	Potchefstroom	$625
143 km or 89 mi	Bethal	$746
152 km or 94 mi	Middelburg	$866
155 km or 97 mi	Klerksdorp	$621
179 km or 111 mi	Kroonstad	$701
237 km or 147 mi	Welkom	$682
244 km or 152 mi	Mmabatho	$719
262 km or 163 mi	Lobatse	$631
275 km or 171 mi	Gaborone	$656
287 km or 179 mi	Butha-Buthe	$511
302 km or 188 mi	Kanye	$633
311 km or 193 mi	Mbabane	$558
323 km or 201 mi	Vryheid	$739
325 km or 202 mi	Molepolole	$603
329 km or 204 mi	Teyateyaneng	$511
333 km or 207 mi	Manzini	$447
350 km or 217 mi	Maseru	$535
366 km or 228 mi	Mahalapye	$605
369 km or 229 mi	Bloemfontein	$601
409 km or 254 mi	Mafeteng	$511
417 km or 259 mi	Palapye	$511
429 km or 267 mi	Kimberley	$753
442 km or 275 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$609
443 km or 275 mi	Matola	$978
446 km or 277 mi	Serowe	$554
454 km or 282 mi	Maputo	$1084
501 km or 311 mi	Durban	$780
562 km or 349 mi	Francistown	$550
577 km or 358 mi	Xai-Xai	$952

Cities near Meru

Distance	City	Cost of living
138 km or 85 mi	Thika	$530
175 km or 109 mi	Nairobi	$646
179 km or 111 mi	Machakos	$524
180 km or 112 mi	Nakuru	$439
268 km or 167 mi	Eldoret	$405
323 km or 201 mi	Kisumu	$441
354 km or 220 mi	Mumias	$424
378 km or 235 mi	Moshi	$536
392 km or 244 mi	Tororo	$557
395 km or 245 mi	Arusha	$571
403 km or 250 mi	Mbale	$557
455 km or 283 mi	Malindi	$452
496 km or 308 mi	Jinja	$542
508 km or 316 mi	Mombasa	$493
559 km or 347 mi	Kira Town	$600
564 km or 351 mi	Kampala	$654
577 km or 359 mi	Entebbe	$547
591 km or 367 mi	Tanga	$622
600 km or 373 mi	Mwanza	$493
666 km or 414 mi	Gulu	$556
712 km or 442 mi	Stone Town	$706
712 km or 443 mi	Zanzibar	$762
732 km or 455 mi	Dodoma	$581
749 km or 465 mi	Baidoa	$805
764 km or 475 mi	Morogoro	$600
783 km or 486 mi	Dar es Salaam	$720
784 km or 487 mi	Awasa	$840
819 km or 509 mi	Arua	$553
840 km or 522 mi	Bunia	$748
852 km or 529 mi	Jimma	$871
852 km or 530 mi	Kasese	$543
858 km or 533 mi	Juba	$498
862 km or 536 mi	Byumba	$599
873 km or 542 mi	Kigali	$677
875 km or 544 mi	Muyinga	$449
883 km or 549 mi	Mogadishu	$819
907 km or 563 mi	Ruhengeri	$575
911 km or 566 mi	Ruyigi	$446
911 km or 566 mi	Beni	$747
918 km or 570 mi	Nyanza	$539