Johannesburg vs Paramaribo - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Johannesburg	Paramaribo
🚶 Cost of living one person	$993	$881
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2403	$2350
🏠 One person rent	$441	$301
🏘️ Family rent	$809	$731
🍽️ Food expenses	$288	$420
🚐 Transport expenses	$181	$96.7
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1383	$267
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Good
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	46 km
🎓 Higher education	72	14
😀 Quality of life	57	50
🏙️ Population	4.43M	224K

The cost of living in Johannesburg is 13% more expensive than in Paramaribo. Cities ranked 5539th and 6145th ($993 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 1.4 months in Johannesburg compared to 0.3 months in Paramaribo. Johannesburg ranked 2nd best city to live in South Africa vs Paramaribo ranked 1st in Suriname, while ranked 5667th and 6256th 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	$9.65	$6.93
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$37.9	$56.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.9	$10.5
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.37	$1.99
☕ Cappuccino	$2.01	$2.14
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.99	$1.19
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$377	$464
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$318	$194
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$790	$1077
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$627	$561
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$71.9	$24.2
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$110	$37.2
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$39.5	$29.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.55%	16.08%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1031	$486
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$684	$418
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.62	$0.44
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$72	$89.6
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$9.35	$23
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.28	$1.12
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.18	$1.68
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.95	$1.29
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.36	$1.36
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.58	$3.41
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10	$12.5
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.04	$5.59
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.12	$9.86
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.6	$4.52
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.49	$2.03
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.41	$3.03
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.59	$4.88
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.35	$1.29
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.44	$2.05
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.58	$1.01
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.44	$2.31
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$5.96	$10.1
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.25	$2.16
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.97	$5.67
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.59	$10.5
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.94	$2.87
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.88	$3.79
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.42	$1.59
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$33.2	$12.7
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$7.2	$4.66
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$27.8	$22.9
💇 Haircut, simple	$5.55	$5.63
👖 Brand Jeans	$48.5	$35.9
👟 Brand Sneakers	$88.8	$76
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$214	$63.1
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$5271	$1909

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

$349

$907

$6.64K

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Johannesburg

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 6.8 mi	Sandton	$953
13 km or 8 mi	Randburg	$837
19 km or 12 mi	Soweto	$923
28 km or 17 mi	Benoni	$785
40 km or 25 mi	Springs	$678
41 km or 25 mi	Centurion	$807
53 km or 33 mi	Pretoria	$906
53 km or 33 mi	Vereeniging	$672
59 km or 36 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$773
71 km or 44 mi	Brits	$820
101 km or 62 mi	Rustenburg	$889
109 km or 68 mi	Potchefstroom	$695
143 km or 89 mi	Bethal	$784
152 km or 94 mi	Middelburg	$795
155 km or 97 mi	Klerksdorp	$722
179 km or 111 mi	Kroonstad	$768
237 km or 147 mi	Welkom	$748
244 km or 152 mi	Mmabatho	$780
262 km or 163 mi	Lobatse	$665
275 km or 171 mi	Gaborone	$691
287 km or 179 mi	Butha-Buthe	$535
302 km or 188 mi	Kanye	$664
311 km or 193 mi	Mbabane	$562
323 km or 201 mi	Vryheid	$763
325 km or 202 mi	Molepolole	$628
329 km or 204 mi	Teyateyaneng	$500
333 km or 207 mi	Manzini	$442
350 km or 217 mi	Maseru	$621
366 km or 228 mi	Mahalapye	$631
369 km or 229 mi	Bloemfontein	$657
409 km or 254 mi	Mafeteng	$567
417 km or 259 mi	Palapye	$540
429 km or 267 mi	Kimberley	$814
442 km or 275 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$640
443 km or 275 mi	Matola	$964
446 km or 277 mi	Serowe	$583
454 km or 282 mi	Maputo	$1068
501 km or 311 mi	Durban	$809
562 km or 349 mi	Francistown	$624
577 km or 358 mi	Xai-Xai	$1003

Cities near Paramaribo

Distance	City	Cost of living
132 km or 82 mi	Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni	$1247
201 km or 125 mi	Nieuw Nickerie	$856
263 km or 164 mi	New Amsterdam	$1033
290 km or 180 mi	Kourou	$1645
330 km or 205 mi	Cayenne	$1643
347 km or 216 mi	Linden	$1031
347 km or 216 mi	Georgetown	$1062
698 km or 434 mi	Boa Vista	$560
792 km or 492 mi	Santana	$565
792 km or 492 mi	Macapa	$610
833 km or 518 mi	Upata	$789
837 km or 520 mi	Tucupita	$777
850 km or 528 mi	San Fernando	$953
851 km or 529 mi	Scarborough	$1084
852 km or 530 mi	Oriximina	$697
859 km or 534 mi	Chaguanas	$1064
871 km or 541 mi	Ciudad Guayana	$890
872 km or 542 mi	San Juan	$1178
879 km or 546 mi	Port of Spain	$1193
925 km or 575 mi	Santarem	$639
940 km or 584 mi	Bridgetown	$1353
950 km or 590 mi	Holetown	$1418
958 km or 596 mi	Ciudad Bolivar	$880
960 km or 597 mi	Parintins	$694
983 km or 611 mi	Maturin	$890
988 km or 614 mi	Breves	$590
993 km or 617 mi	Grenville	$1070
996 km or 619 mi	St. George's	$1062
1036 km or 644 mi	Carupano	$737
1049 km or 652 mi	Kingstown	$1000
1052 km or 654 mi	Georgetown	$1007
1057 km or 657 mi	El Tigre	$746
1061 km or 659 mi	Altamira	$611
1066 km or 662 mi	Itacoatiara	$679
1067 km or 663 mi	Maues	$682
1080 km or 671 mi	Vieux Fort	$1197
1082 km or 673 mi	Cantaura	$674
1095 km or 680 mi	Abaetetuba	$518
1099 km or 683 mi	Anaco	$639
1100 km or 683 mi	Cameta	$583