Johannesburg vs Monrovia - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Johannesburg	Monrovia
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1082	$536
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2560	$1276
🏠 One person rent	$485	$228
🏘️ Family rent	$833	$382
🍽️ Food expenses	$306	$209
🚐 Transport expenses	$206	$48.4
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1614	$118
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	6 km
🎓 Higher education	74	21
😀 Quality of life	62	27
🏙️ Population	4.43M	1.02M

The cost of living in Johannesburg is 102% more expensive than in Monrovia. Cities ranked 5031st and 8410th ($1082 vs $536) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 4th and 1st in South Africa and Liberia, respectively. Check South Africa vs Liberia comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.5 months in Johannesburg compared to 0.2 months in Monrovia. Johannesburg ranked 1st best city to live in South Africa vs Monrovia ranked 1st in Liberia, while ranked 5648th and 8877th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Johannesburg vs Monrovia infographic

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Prices in Johannesburg vs Monrovia

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

	Johannesburg	Monrovia
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$10.1	$3.24
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$38.1	$20.2
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.03	$4.65
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.51	$1.84
☕ Cappuccino	$2.18	$1.88
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.08	$0.51
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$462	$223
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$342	$148
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$824	$402
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$632	$270
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$78.5	$38
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$122	$59.3
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$40.5	$26.8
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.57%	12.71%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1106	$1537
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$741	$944
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.21	$0.34
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$77.1	$13
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$11.7	$6.09
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.32	$1.04
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.28	$1.19
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.01	$0.64
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.44	$1.19
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.6	$1.58
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.5	$7.2
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.34	$4.37
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.4	$6.79
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.71	$2.29
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.63	$1.19
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.63	$1.64
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.77	$1.02
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.41	$0.96
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.6	$1
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.66	$0.33
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.53	$1.1
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.13	$7.73
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.46	$1.47
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.19	$2.85
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.86	$3.32
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.11	$2.81
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.98	$1.5
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.49	$1.21
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$33.6	$24.4
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$7.33	$4.28
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$29.7	$15.2
💇 Haircut, simple	$6.46	$3.26
👖 Brand Jeans	$52.2	$27
👟 Brand Sneakers	$93.1	$62.4
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$227	$86.3
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$5503	$3157

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 Monrovia

Distance	City	Cost of living
56 km or 35 mi	Kakata	$502
180 km or 112 mi	Kenema	$1281
210 km or 131 mi	Bo	$1283
243 km or 151 mi	Greenville	$502
260 km or 161 mi	Sanniquellie	$503
262 km or 163 mi	Gueckedou	$1010
272 km or 169 mi	Nzerekore	$1003
288 km or 179 mi	Yekepa	$503
361 km or 224 mi	Freetown	$1347
459 km or 285 mi	Forecariah	$999
474 km or 295 mi	Mamou	$1021
479 km or 297 mi	Conakry	$1067
482 km or 300 mi	Kankan	$1007
539 km or 335 mi	Gagnoa	$1082
557 km or 346 mi	Boffa	$999
605 km or 376 mi	Divo	$1083
613 km or 381 mi	Yamoussoukro	$1056
655 km or 407 mi	Bouake	$1123
669 km or 416 mi	Korhogo	$1099
675 km or 419 mi	Bougouni	$508
719 km or 447 mi	Dabou	$1057
730 km or 453 mi	Agboville	$1057
758 km or 471 mi	Abidjan	$1224
769 km or 478 mi	Bamako	$583
777 km or 483 mi	Bafata	$872
792 km or 492 mi	Grand-Bassam	$1059
793 km or 493 mi	Sikasso	$514
809 km or 503 mi	Abengourou	$1066
811 km or 504 mi	Bissau	$895
811 km or 504 mi	Koulikoro	$506
861 km or 535 mi	Kolda	$1044
885 km or 550 mi	Banamba	$506
898 km or 558 mi	Bobo-Dioulasso	$831
919 km or 571 mi	Ziguinchor	$1031
936 km or 582 mi	Segou	$506
969 km or 602 mi	Markala	$508
1004 km or 624 mi	Brikama	$598
1008 km or 627 mi	Obuasi	$631
1012 km or 629 mi	Sekondi-Takoradi	$649
1014 km or 630 mi	Lamin	$541