Johannesburg vs Paramaribo - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Johannesburg	Paramaribo
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1082	$881
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2560	$2144
🏠 One person rent	$485	$277
🏘️ Family rent	$833	$477
🍽️ Food expenses	$306	$447
🚐 Transport expenses	$206	$96.1
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1614	$271
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	46 km
🎓 Higher education	74	14
😀 Quality of life	62	55
🏙️ Population	4.43M	224K

The cost of living in Johannesburg is 23% more expensive than in Paramaribo. Cities ranked 5031st and 6325th ($1082 vs $881) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 4th and 1st in South Africa and Suriname, respectively. Check South Africa vs Suriname comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.5 months in Johannesburg compared to 0.3 months in Paramaribo. Johannesburg ranked 1st best city to live in South Africa vs Paramaribo ranked 1st in Suriname, while ranked 5648th and 6283rd among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Johannesburg vs Paramaribo infographic

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Prices in Johannesburg vs Paramaribo

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

	Johannesburg	Paramaribo
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$10.1	$10
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$38.1	$53.5
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.03	$11.4
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.51	$3.33
☕ Cappuccino	$2.18	$2.67
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.08	$1.18
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$462	$340
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$342	$195
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$824	$622
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$632	$358
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$78.5	$24.1
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$122	$37
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$40.5	$29.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.57%	15.86%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1106	$492
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$741	$414
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.21	$0.44
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$77.1	$89.2
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$11.7	$22.9
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.32	$1.11
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.28	$1.76
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.01	$1.29
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.44	$1.49
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.6	$3.4
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.5	$12.5
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.34	$5.58
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.4	$9.96
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.71	$4.63
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.63	$2.03
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.63	$3.62
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.77	$6.1
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.41	$1.3
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.6	$2.03
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.66	$1
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.53	$2.09
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.13	$9.24
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.46	$2.19
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.19	$5.62
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.86	$9.33
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.11	$2.65
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.98	$3.51
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.49	$1.46
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$33.6	$12
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$7.33	$4.65
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$29.7	$20.8
💇 Haircut, simple	$6.46	$4.77
👖 Brand Jeans	$52.2	$36.6
👟 Brand Sneakers	$93.1	$75.4
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$227	$62.7
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$5503	$1874

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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 Paramaribo

Distance	City	Cost of living
132 km or 82 mi	Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni	$1885
201 km or 125 mi	Nieuw Nickerie	$858
263 km or 164 mi	New Amsterdam	$1199
290 km or 180 mi	Kourou	$1934
330 km or 205 mi	Cayenne	$1931
347 km or 216 mi	Linden	$1201
347 km or 216 mi	Georgetown	$1151
698 km or 434 mi	Boa Vista	$692
792 km or 492 mi	Santana	$573
792 km or 492 mi	Macapa	$606
833 km or 518 mi	Upata	$784
837 km or 520 mi	Tucupita	$764
850 km or 528 mi	San Fernando	$1007
851 km or 529 mi	Scarborough	$1111
852 km or 530 mi	Oriximina	$716
859 km or 534 mi	Chaguanas	$1079
871 km or 541 mi	Ciudad Guayana	$889
872 km or 542 mi	San Juan	$1213
879 km or 546 mi	Port of Spain	$1248
925 km or 575 mi	Santarem	$653
940 km or 584 mi	Bridgetown	$1352
950 km or 590 mi	Holetown	$1463
958 km or 596 mi	Ciudad Bolivar	$868
960 km or 597 mi	Parintins	$701
983 km or 611 mi	Maturin	$838
988 km or 614 mi	Breves	$622
993 km or 617 mi	Grenville	$1076
996 km or 619 mi	St. George's	$1075
1036 km or 644 mi	Carupano	$697
1049 km or 652 mi	Kingstown	$988
1052 km or 654 mi	Georgetown	$988
1057 km or 657 mi	El Tigre	$736
1061 km or 659 mi	Altamira	$631
1066 km or 662 mi	Itacoatiara	$697
1067 km or 663 mi	Maues	$693
1080 km or 671 mi	Vieux Fort	$1196
1082 km or 673 mi	Cantaura	$674
1095 km or 680 mi	Abaetetuba	$577
1099 km or 683 mi	Anaco	$642
1100 km or 683 mi	Cameta	$620