Johannesburg vs Pyongyang - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Johannesburg	Pyongyang
🚶 Cost of living one person	$993	$1675
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2403	$4114
🏠 One person rent	$441	$959
🏘️ Family rent	$809	$2118
🍽️ Food expenses	$288	$496
🚐 Transport expenses	$181	$168
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1383	$411
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	15 km
🎓 Higher education	72	19
😀 Quality of life	57	20
🏙️ Population	4.43M	2.86M

The cost of living in Johannesburg is 41% less expensive than in Pyongyang. Cities ranked 5539th and 2779th ($993 vs $1675) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 4th and 1st in South Africa and North Korea, respectively. Check South Africa vs North Korea comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.4 months in Johannesburg compared to 0.2 months in Pyongyang. Johannesburg ranked 2nd best city to live in South Africa vs Pyongyang ranked 1st in North Korea, while ranked 5667th and 8868th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Johannesburg vs Pyongyang infographic

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Prices in Johannesburg vs Pyongyang

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

	Johannesburg	Pyongyang
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$9.65	$8.46
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$37.9	$112
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.9	$5.05
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.37	$1.87
☕ Cappuccino	$2.01	$1.89
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.99	$0.51
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$377	$892
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$318	$805
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$790	$3191
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$627	$1625
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$71.9	$81.2
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$110	$125
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$39.5	$55.5
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.55%	12.14%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1031	$1656
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$684	$984
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.62	$0.38
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$72	$47.4
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$9.35	$19
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.28	$0.89
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.18	$2.52
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.95	$2.62
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.36	$2.61
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.58	$2.54
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10	$9.54
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.04	$18.1
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.12	$6.86
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.6	$3.15
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.49	$1.16
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.41	$1.49
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.59	$6.95
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.35	$2.95
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.44	$0.97
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.58	$0.32
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.44	$2.15
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$5.96	$6.94
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.25	$2.71
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.97	$2.82
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.59	$3.34
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.94	$2.9
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.88	$1.52
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.42	$4.43
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$33.2	$24.2
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$7.2	$4.24
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$27.8	$16
💇 Haircut, simple	$5.55	$4.35
👖 Brand Jeans	$48.5	$28.4
👟 Brand Sneakers	$88.8	$63
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$214	$103
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$5271	$3399

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 Pyongyang

Distance	City	Cost of living
27 km or 17 mi	Pyongsong	$1548
44 km or 27 mi	Nampo	$1570
46 km or 29 mi	Sunchon	$1574
59 km or 36 mi	Sariwon	$1561
65 km or 41 mi	Anju	$1554
76 km or 47 mi	Kaechon	$1565
77 km or 48 mi	Chongju	$1547
95 km or 59 mi	Tokchon	$1546
111 km or 69 mi	Haeju	$1550
115 km or 71 mi	Kusong	$1549
135 km or 84 mi	Huichon	$1538
138 km or 86 mi	Kaesong	$1565
149 km or 92 mi	Wonsan	$1568
163 km or 102 mi	Paju	$1075
165 km or 102 mi	Sinuiju	$1572
165 km or 103 mi	Donggang	$505
167 km or 104 mi	Dandong	$503
170 km or 106 mi	Dongducheon	$1055
178 km or 111 mi	Gimpo	$1099
180 km or 112 mi	Yangju	$974
180 km or 112 mi	Pocheon	$1040
181 km or 112 mi	Goyang	$1171
183 km or 113 mi	Uijeongbu	$955
184 km or 114 mi	Hamhung	$1597
192 km or 119 mi	Incheon	$1092
193 km or 120 mi	Bucheon	$1163
195 km or 121 mi	Seoul	$1334
199 km or 124 mi	Gwangmyeong	$1089
202 km or 125 mi	Guri	$1122
202 km or 125 mi	Namyangju	$1129
209 km or 130 mi	Gwacheon	$1070
210 km or 130 mi	Anyang	$1022
210 km or 131 mi	Hanam	$1161
212 km or 132 mi	Ansan	$1070
213 km or 132 mi	Fengcheng	$492
213 km or 133 mi	Gunpo	$1098
215 km or 134 mi	Seongnam	$1400
216 km or 134 mi	Uiwang	$1063
216 km or 134 mi	Siheung	$1283
217 km or 135 mi	Chuncheon	$865