Johannesburg vs Pattaya - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Johannesburg	Pattaya
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1171	$874
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2754	$2115
🏠 One person rent	$522	$463
🏘️ Family rent	$894	$800
🍽️ Food expenses	$337	$296
🚐 Transport expenses	$216	$31.1
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1761	$487
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	32 km
🎓 Higher education	73	31
😀 Quality of life	65	59
🏙️ Population	4.8M	120K

The cost of living in Johannesburg is 34% more expensive than in Pattaya. Cities ranked 4839th and 6471st ($1171 vs $874) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 4th and 4th 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 3rd in Thailand, while ranked 5190th and 6065th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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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	$11.5	$3.85
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$43.9	$32.7
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.73	$9.69
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.81	$2.44
☕ Cappuccino	$2.48	$2.25
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.16	$0.87
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$448	$543
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$377	$349
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$804	$1002
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$689	$618
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$91	$55.3
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$142	$85.7
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$40	$19.7
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.13%	5.41%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1058	$2865
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$785	$1743
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.12	$0.32
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$88.7	$21.2
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$9.88	$11
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.4	$1.32
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.43	$1.72
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.16	$1.49
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.66	$1.46
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.52	$2.18
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.48	$16.8
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.59	$3.11
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.91	$9.85
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.97	$3.53
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.87	$1.48
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.87	$1.88
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.99	$1.84
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.64	$1.41
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.75	$1.16
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.75	$0.35
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.62	$1.18
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.21	$16.1
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.66	$1.78
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.47	$4.75
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.83	$2.83
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.49	$4.7
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.29	$1.77
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.41	$1.38
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$38.5	$46.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$8.38	$8.36
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$32.1	$28.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$7.19	$4.13
👖 Brand Jeans	$59	$34.2
👟 Brand Sneakers	$104	$98.3
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$229	$340
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$5808	$12044

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	$1089
13 km or 8 mi	Randburg	$958
19 km or 12 mi	Soweto	$1057
28 km or 17 mi	Benoni	$892
40 km or 25 mi	Springs	$792
41 km or 25 mi	Centurion	$967
53 km or 33 mi	Pretoria	$1049
53 km or 33 mi	Vereeniging	$765
59 km or 36 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$865
71 km or 44 mi	Brits	$950
101 km or 62 mi	Rustenburg	$1017
109 km or 68 mi	Potchefstroom	$791
143 km or 89 mi	Bethal	$910
152 km or 94 mi	Middelburg	$899
155 km or 97 mi	Klerksdorp	$826
179 km or 111 mi	Kroonstad	$875
237 km or 147 mi	Welkom	$826
244 km or 152 mi	Mmabatho	$901
262 km or 163 mi	Lobatse	$697
275 km or 171 mi	Gaborone	$731
287 km or 179 mi	Butha-Buthe	$604
302 km or 188 mi	Kanye	$694
311 km or 193 mi	Mbabane	$652
323 km or 201 mi	Vryheid	$912
325 km or 202 mi	Molepolole	$662
329 km or 204 mi	Teyateyaneng	$573
333 km or 207 mi	Manzini	$511
350 km or 217 mi	Maseru	$681
366 km or 228 mi	Mahalapye	$628
369 km or 229 mi	Bloemfontein	$763
409 km or 254 mi	Mafeteng	$630
417 km or 259 mi	Palapye	$551
429 km or 267 mi	Kimberley	$927
442 km or 275 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$716
443 km or 275 mi	Matola	$916
446 km or 277 mi	Serowe	$583
454 km or 282 mi	Maputo	$966
501 km or 311 mi	Durban	$948
562 km or 349 mi	Francistown	$633
577 km or 358 mi	Xai-Xai	$950

Cities near Pattaya

Distance	City	Cost of living
5.7 km or 3.5 mi	Nong Prue	$846
16 km or 9.7 mi	Laem Chabang	$838
23 km or 14 mi	Chaophraya Surasak	$823
84 km or 52 mi	Pu Chao Saming Phrai	$829
85 km or 53 mi	Klaeng	$768
85 km or 53 mi	Lat Luang	$833
98 km or 61 mi	Bangkok	$1027
110 km or 68 mi	Nonthaburi	$789
110 km or 68 mi	Hua Hin	$784
115 km or 72 mi	Pak Kret	$788
119 km or 74 mi	Rangsit	$656
130 km or 81 mi	Tha Khlong	$710
132 km or 82 mi	Nakhon Pathom	$658
184 km or 114 mi	Ko Chang	$763
237 km or 147 mi	Serei Saophoan	$629
250 km or 156 mi	Battambang	$575
255 km or 159 mi	Myeik	$562
259 km or 161 mi	Nakhon Ratchasima	$610
318 km or 198 mi	Nakhon Sawan	$730
324 km or 202 mi	Siem Reap	$679
340 km or 211 mi	Ko Tao	$845
372 km or 231 mi	Ko Pha-ngan	$805
383 km or 238 mi	Sihanoukville	$764
396 km or 246 mi	Ko Samui	$782
435 km or 270 mi	Phitsanulok	$585
440 km or 273 mi	Khon Kaen	$621
442 km or 275 mi	Kampot	$587
450 km or 280 mi	Phu Quoc	$530
457 km or 284 mi	Surat Thani	$612
464 km or 288 mi	Phnom Penh	$882
497 km or 309 mi	Ubon Ratchathani	$583
506 km or 314 mi	Kampong Cham	$501
508 km or 315 mi	Prey Veng	$760
512 km or 318 mi	Nakhon Si Thammarat	$834
527 km or 328 mi	Mawlamyine	$571
535 km or 333 mi	Udon Thani	$581
553 km or 343 mi	Stung Treng	$652
561 km or 349 mi	Hpa-an	$593
562 km or 349 mi	Rach Gia	$535
571 km or 355 mi	Long Xuyen	$514