Johannesburg vs Pattaya - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Johannesburg	Pattaya
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1082	$812
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2560	$1968
🏠 One person rent	$485	$418
🏘️ Family rent	$833	$729
🍽️ Food expenses	$306	$283
🚐 Transport expenses	$206	$32.7
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1614	$475
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	32 km
🎓 Higher education	74	31
😀 Quality of life	62	57
🏙️ Population	4.43M	120K

The cost of living in Johannesburg is 33% more expensive than in Pattaya. Cities ranked 5031st and 6620th ($1082 vs $812) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 4th and 5th in South Africa and Thailand, respectively. Check South Africa vs Thailand comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.5 months in Johannesburg compared to 0.6 months in Pattaya. Johannesburg ranked 1st best city to live in South Africa vs Pattaya ranked 6th in Thailand, while ranked 5648th and 6140th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Johannesburg vs Pattaya infographic

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Prices in Johannesburg vs Pattaya

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

	Johannesburg	Pattaya
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$10.1	$3.71
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$38.1	$30.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.03	$8.76
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.51	$2.25
☕ Cappuccino	$2.18	$2.12
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.08	$0.84
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$462	$473
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$342	$321
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$824	$870
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$632	$577
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$78.5	$48
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$122	$74.7
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$40.5	$18.4
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.57%	5.41%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1106	$2484
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$741	$1738
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.21	$0.31
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$77.1	$20.5
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$11.7	$12.3
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.32	$1.3
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.28	$1.69
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.01	$1.39
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.44	$1.4
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.6	$2.16
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.5	$16.4
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.34	$2.99
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.4	$9.35
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.71	$3.35
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.63	$1.39
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.63	$1.81
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.77	$1.64
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.41	$1.36
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.6	$1.05
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.66	$0.34
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.53	$1.13
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.13	$18.5
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.46	$1.8
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.19	$4.57
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.86	$2.71
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.11	$4.52
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.98	$1.74
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.49	$1.31
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$33.6	$45.3
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$7.33	$7.73
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$29.7	$27.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$6.46	$3.98
👖 Brand Jeans	$52.2	$29.6
👟 Brand Sneakers	$93.1	$91.4
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$227	$294
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$5503	$10383

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 Pattaya

Distance	City	Cost of living
5.7 km or 3.5 mi	Nong Prue	$787
16 km or 9.7 mi	Laem Chabang	$779
23 km or 14 mi	Chaophraya Surasak	$770
84 km or 52 mi	Pu Chao Saming Phrai	$774
85 km or 53 mi	Klaeng	$718
85 km or 53 mi	Lat Luang	$774
98 km or 61 mi	Bangkok	$958
110 km or 68 mi	Nonthaburi	$737
110 km or 68 mi	Hua Hin	$724
115 km or 72 mi	Pak Kret	$736
119 km or 74 mi	Rangsit	$635
130 km or 81 mi	Tha Khlong	$675
132 km or 82 mi	Nakhon Pathom	$623
184 km or 114 mi	Ko Chang	$708
237 km or 147 mi	Serei Saophoan	$623
250 km or 156 mi	Battambang	$571
255 km or 159 mi	Myeik	$553
259 km or 161 mi	Nakhon Ratchasima	$588
318 km or 198 mi	Nakhon Sawan	$680
324 km or 202 mi	Siem Reap	$650
340 km or 211 mi	Ko Tao	$812
372 km or 231 mi	Ko Pha-ngan	$765
383 km or 238 mi	Sihanoukville	$763
396 km or 246 mi	Ko Samui	$741
435 km or 270 mi	Phitsanulok	$558
440 km or 273 mi	Khon Kaen	$590
442 km or 275 mi	Kampot	$622
450 km or 280 mi	Phu Quoc	$511
457 km or 284 mi	Surat Thani	$593
464 km or 288 mi	Phnom Penh	$829
497 km or 309 mi	Ubon Ratchathani	$558
506 km or 314 mi	Kampong Cham	$504
508 km or 315 mi	Prey Veng	$727
512 km or 318 mi	Nakhon Si Thammarat	$810
527 km or 328 mi	Mawlamyine	$567
535 km or 333 mi	Udon Thani	$578
553 km or 343 mi	Stung Treng	$635
561 km or 349 mi	Hpa-an	$581
562 km or 349 mi	Rach Gia	$515
571 km or 355 mi	Long Xuyen	$498