Johannesburg vs Perth - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Johannesburg	Perth
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1171	$2448
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2754	$5605
🏠 One person rent	$522	$1473
🏘️ Family rent	$894	$2303
🍽️ Food expenses	$337	$587
🚐 Transport expenses	$216	$226
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1761	$4181
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	10 km
🎓 Higher education	73	94
😀 Quality of life	65	96
🏙️ Population	4.8M	2.14M

The cost of living in Johannesburg is 52% less expensive than in Perth. Cities ranked 4839th and 978th ($1171 vs $2448) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 4th and 6th in South Africa and Australia, respectively. Check South Africa vs Australia comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.5 months in Johannesburg compared to 1.7 months in Perth. Johannesburg ranked 1st best city to live in South Africa vs Perth ranked 4th in Australia, while ranked 5190th and 10th 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 Perth

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

	Johannesburg	Perth
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$11.5	$15.6
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$43.9	$74.3
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.73	$11.7
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.81	$8.55
☕ Cappuccino	$2.48	$4.27
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.16	$2.94
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$448	$1621
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$377	$1228
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$804	$2691
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$689	$1923
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$91	$109
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$142	$169
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$40	$56.9
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.13%	5.84%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1058	$6285
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$785	$4935
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.12	$2.83
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$88.7	$88
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$9.88	$20.2
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.4	$1.27
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.43	$1.52
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.16	$2.67
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.66	$2.17
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.52	$5.76
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.48	$11.1
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.59	$8.82
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.91	$14.3
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.97	$4.05
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.87	$3.36
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.87	$3.43
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.99	$4.91
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.64	$2.85
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.75	$1.86
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.75	$1.01
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.62	$3.05
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.21	$12.4
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.66	$4.62
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.47	$22.3
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.83	$9.3
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.49	$5.8
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.29	$3.09
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.41	$2.96
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$38.5	$47.7
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$8.38	$17.4
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$32.1	$66.3
💇 Haircut, simple	$7.19	$24.6
👖 Brand Jeans	$59	$81
👟 Brand Sneakers	$104	$119
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$229	$2141
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$5808	$15409

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 Perth

Distance	City	Cost of living
156 km or 97 mi	Bunbury	$1838
195 km or 121 mi	Busselton	$2219
372 km or 231 mi	Geraldton	$2016
390 km or 242 mi	Albany	$2025
549 km or 341 mi	Kalgoorlie	$1618
1989 km or 1236 mi	Whyalla	$2128
1991 km or 1237 mi	Alice Springs	$1590
2130 km or 1323 mi	Adelaide	$2338
2357 km or 1465 mi	Mount Gambier	$1901
2456 km or 1526 mi	Mildura	$1904
2513 km or 1562 mi	Warrnambool	$1870
2550 km or 1584 mi	Kupang	$527
2590 km or 1609 mi	Denpasar	$496
2599 km or 1615 mi	Mataram	$409
2608 km or 1620 mi	Ubud	$822
2609 km or 1621 mi	Bali	$1175
2621 km or 1629 mi	Ballarat	$1604
2628 km or 1633 mi	Bima	$593
2652 km or 1648 mi	Bendigo	$1487
2655 km or 1650 mi	Darwin	$1861
2672 km or 1660 mi	Geelong	$2217
2680 km or 1665 mi	Blitar	$439
2687 km or 1669 mi	Malang	$379
2687 km or 1670 mi	Melton	$1906
2696 km or 1675 mi	Tarneit	$1822
2698 km or 1676 mi	Sunbury	$1928
2699 km or 1677 mi	Hoppers Crossing	$1854
2700 km or 1678 mi	Batu	$408
2705 km or 1681 mi	Probolinggo	$476
2713 km or 1686 mi	Kediri	$453
2721 km or 1690 mi	Pasuruan	$459
2722 km or 1691 mi	Melbourne	$2496
2724 km or 1693 mi	South Yarra	$1829
2730 km or 1696 mi	Maliana	$514
2740 km or 1703 mi	Frankston	$1889
2741 km or 1703 mi	Ainaro	$513
2742 km or 1703 mi	Madiun	$445
2745 km or 1706 mi	Yogyakarta	$445
2745 km or 1706 mi	Mojokerto	$419
2745 km or 1706 mi	Dandenong	$1894