Johannesburg vs Panama City - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Johannesburg	Panama City
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1204	$1590
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2788	$3556
🏠 One person rent	$547	$946
🏘️ Family rent	$919	$1545
🍽️ Food expenses	$351	$439
🚐 Transport expenses	$210	$100
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$420	$973
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	7 km
🎓 Higher education	73	42
😀 Quality of life	60	71
🏙️ Population	4.8M	1.54M

The cost of living in Johannesburg is 24% less expensive than in Panama City. Cities ranked 4745th and 3634th ($1204 vs $1590) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 4th and 1st in South Africa and Panama, respectively. Check South Africa vs Panama comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.3 months in Johannesburg compared to 0.6 months in Panama City. Johannesburg ranked 1st best city to live in South Africa vs Panama City ranked 1st in Panama, while ranked 5850th and 3213th among best cities to live in the world.

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<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/johannesburg/panama-city.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Johannesburg vs Panama City infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/johannesburg/panama-city" target="_blank">Johannesburg vs Panama City - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Johannesburg vs Panama City

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

	Johannesburg	Panama City
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$12.2	$9.69
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$46	$45.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$6.16	$8.03
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.44	$2.93
☕ Cappuccino	$2.41	$4.3
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.2	$1.82
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$473	$1068
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$385	$747
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$862	$1913
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$679	$1223
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$106	$90.4
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$164	$140
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$38.8	$44.6
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	10.88%	6.27%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1060	$3111
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$777	$1732
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.85	$0.35
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$92.2	$22.5
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$8.38	$14.7
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.42	$0.98
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.36	$1.83
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.24	$2.17
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.81	$2.34
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.48	$3.11
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.99	$12.1
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.77	$7.11
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.11	$10.6
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.12	$3.56
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.89	$1.54
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.93	$3.7
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.07	$3.36
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.64	$2.62
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.75	$3.19
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.86	$1.24
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.58	$2.37
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.1	$12.1
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.89	$1.35
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.4	$5.95
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.66	$8.08
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.33	$7.95
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.25	$2.92
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.36	$3.05
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$37.8	$41.9
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$8.59	$7.52
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$31	$42.9
💇 Haircut, simple	$7.27	$14.5
👖 Brand Jeans	$57.1	$58.4
👟 Brand Sneakers	$107	$90.7
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$244	$505
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$5103	$11486

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	$1104
13 km or 8 mi	Randburg	$912
19 km or 12 mi	Soweto	$1031
28 km or 17 mi	Benoni	$851
40 km or 25 mi	Springs	$784
41 km or 25 mi	Centurion	$997
53 km or 33 mi	Pretoria	$1015
53 km or 33 mi	Vereeniging	$742
59 km or 36 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$867
71 km or 44 mi	Brits	$950
101 km or 62 mi	Rustenburg	$994
109 km or 68 mi	Potchefstroom	$789
143 km or 89 mi	Bethal	$902
152 km or 94 mi	Middelburg	$875
155 km or 97 mi	Klerksdorp	$860
179 km or 111 mi	Kroonstad	$872
237 km or 147 mi	Welkom	$811
244 km or 152 mi	Mmabatho	$903
262 km or 163 mi	Lobatse	$691
275 km or 171 mi	Gaborone	$723
287 km or 179 mi	Butha-Buthe	$589
302 km or 188 mi	Kanye	$691
311 km or 193 mi	Mbabane	$607
323 km or 201 mi	Vryheid	$882
325 km or 202 mi	Molepolole	$663
329 km or 204 mi	Teyateyaneng	$558
333 km or 207 mi	Manzini	$494
350 km or 217 mi	Maseru	$660
366 km or 228 mi	Mahalapye	$615
369 km or 229 mi	Bloemfontein	$742
409 km or 254 mi	Mafeteng	$611
417 km or 259 mi	Palapye	$549
429 km or 267 mi	Kimberley	$904
442 km or 275 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$725
443 km or 275 mi	Matola	$912
446 km or 277 mi	Serowe	$590
454 km or 282 mi	Maputo	$1014
501 km or 311 mi	Durban	$938
562 km or 349 mi	Francistown	$632
577 km or 358 mi	Xai-Xai	$965

Cities near Panama City

Distance	City	Cost of living
8.1 km or 5 mi	Balboa	$1396
16 km or 9.9 mi	Tocumen	$1373
26 km or 16 mi	Pacora	$1361
34 km or 21 mi	La Chorrera	$982
59 km or 37 mi	Colon	$1185
108 km or 67 mi	Penonome	$1147
154 km or 96 mi	Chitre	$1144
190 km or 118 mi	Santiago de Veraguas	$1112
321 km or 199 mi	Turbo	$797
329 km or 204 mi	David	$909
398 km or 247 mi	Monteria	$733
403 km or 250 mi	Limon	$1228
406 km or 252 mi	Santa Cruz de Lorica	$789
452 km or 281 mi	Sincelejo	$586
463 km or 288 mi	Cartagena	$1186
483 km or 300 mi	Quibdo	$802
494 km or 307 mi	Cartago	$1361
513 km or 319 mi	San Jose	$1574
518 km or 322 mi	Heredia	$1471
521 km or 324 mi	Magangue	$727
526 km or 327 mi	Bello	$1012
529 km or 329 mi	Alajuela	$1362
530 km or 329 mi	Medellin	$1162
534 km or 332 mi	Envigado	$1041
558 km or 347 mi	Soledad	$967
559 km or 348 mi	Barranquilla	$931
595 km or 370 mi	Puntarenas	$872
617 km or 383 mi	Cartago	$769
617 km or 383 mi	Cienaga	$882
623 km or 387 mi	Manizales	$737
627 km or 390 mi	Santa Teresa	$1325
627 km or 390 mi	Pereira	$862
631 km or 392 mi	Santa Marta	$973
632 km or 393 mi	Buenaventura	$856
636 km or 395 mi	Minca	$891
651 km or 404 mi	Salento	$749
652 km or 405 mi	Armenia	$749
657 km or 408 mi	Tulua	$563
658 km or 409 mi	Barrancabermeja	$1001
675 km or 419 mi	Liberia	$1024