Johannesburg vs Phoenix - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Johannesburg	Phoenix
🚶 Cost of living one person	$993	$2395
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2403	$5245
🏠 One person rent	$441	$1494
🏘️ Family rent	$809	$2384
🍽️ Food expenses	$288	$594
🚐 Transport expenses	$181	$151
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1383	$4432
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	72	69
😀 Quality of life	57	90
🏙️ Population	4.43M	1.61M

The cost of living in Johannesburg is 59% less expensive than in Phoenix. Cities ranked 5539th and 955th ($993 vs $2395) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 4th and 875th in South Africa and the United States, respectively. Check South Africa vs the United States comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.4 months in Johannesburg compared to 1.9 months in Phoenix. Johannesburg ranked 2nd best city to live in South Africa vs Phoenix ranked 31st in the United States, while ranked 5667th and 146th among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Johannesburg vs Phoenix infographic

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Prices in Johannesburg vs Phoenix

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

	Johannesburg	Phoenix
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$9.65	$19
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$37.9	$71.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.9	$12.2
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.37	$6.03
☕ Cappuccino	$2.01	$6.21
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.99	$2.67
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$377	$1526
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$318	$1215
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$790	$2412
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$627	$2009
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$71.9	$146
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$110	$224
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$39.5	$70.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.55%	6.5%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1031	$3736
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$684	$3133
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.62	$2
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$72	$63.4
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$9.35	$14.5
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.28	$0.98
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.18	$0.88
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.95	$3.44
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.36	$3.81
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.58	$4.41
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10	$11.3
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.04	$10.1
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.12	$12.7
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.6	$4.18
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.49	$1.43
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.41	$3.93
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.59	$4.16
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.35	$2.58
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.44	$2.41
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.58	$1.45
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.44	$2.7
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$5.96	$16.1
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.25	$2.3
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.97	$10.3
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.59	$6.39
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.94	$4.91
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.88	$4.8
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.42	$2.19
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$33.2	$27.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$7.2	$12.1
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$27.8	$132
💇 Haircut, simple	$5.55	$17.7
👖 Brand Jeans	$48.5	$50.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$88.8	$92.3
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$214	$1103
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$5271	$12281

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	$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 Phoenix

Distance	City	Cost of living
13 km or 8.1 mi	Glendale	$1979
14 km or 9 mi	Scottsdale	$2524
16 km or 10 mi	Peoria	$2342
17 km or 10 mi	Tempe	$2423
25 km or 15 mi	El Mirage	$2304
26 km or 16 mi	Mesa	$2413
27 km or 17 mi	Avondale	$2525
28 km or 17 mi	Goodyear	$2468
29 km or 18 mi	Surprise	$2328
33 km or 21 mi	Chandler	$2306
33 km or 21 mi	Gilbert	$2417
33 km or 21 mi	Fountain Hills	$2353
51 km or 31 mi	Queen Creek	$2353
51 km or 32 mi	Apache Junction	$2342
51 km or 32 mi	Buckeye	$2388
53 km or 33 mi	Maricopa	$2281
78 km or 48 mi	Casa Grande	$2296
84 km or 52 mi	Florence	$2319
118 km or 73 mi	Prescott	$2466
122 km or 76 mi	Prescott Valley	$2423
155 km or 96 mi	Marana	$2073
160 km or 99 mi	Oro Valley	$2056
165 km or 102 mi	Casas Adobes	$2027
181 km or 112 mi	Tucson	$1957
190 km or 118 mi	Flagstaff	$2543
205 km or 128 mi	Sahuarita	$2037
232 km or 144 mi	Lake Havasu	$2013
234 km or 145 mi	Blythe	$2763
254 km or 158 mi	Yuma	$1815
259 km or 161 mi	Kingman	$1926
264 km or 164 mi	Nogales	$2077
268 km or 166 mi	Nogales	$830
276 km or 171 mi	San Luis	$1947
276 km or 172 mi	San Luis Rio Colorado	$823
278 km or 173 mi	Sierra Vista	$1638
290 km or 180 mi	Bullhead	$1852
313 km or 194 mi	Caborca	$788
327 km or 203 mi	Brawley	$2729
330 km or 205 mi	Mexicali	$913
332 km or 207 mi	Calexico	$2724