Johannesburg vs Sao Tome - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Johannesburg	Sao Tome
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1082	$1046
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2560	$2477
🏠 One person rent	$485	$343
🏘️ Family rent	$833	$551
🍽️ Food expenses	$306	$571
🚐 Transport expenses	$206	$38.8
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1614	$218
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	6 km
🎓 Higher education	74	1
😀 Quality of life	62	28
🏙️ Population	4.43M	65.5K

The cost of living in Johannesburg is 3% more expensive than in Sao Tome. Cities ranked 5031st and 5224th ($1082 vs $1046) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 4th and 1st in South Africa and Sao Tome and Principe, respectively. Check South Africa vs Sao Tome and Principe comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.5 months in Johannesburg compared to 0.2 months in Sao Tome. Johannesburg ranked 1st best city to live in South Africa vs Sao Tome ranked 1st in Sao Tome and Principe, while ranked 5648th and 8852nd among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Johannesburg vs Sao Tome infographic

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<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/johannesburg/sao-tome.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Johannesburg vs Sao Tome infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/johannesburg/sao-tome" target="_blank">Johannesburg vs Sao Tome - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Johannesburg vs Sao Tome

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

	Johannesburg	Sao Tome
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$10.1	$29.1
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$38.1	$32.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.03	$11.5
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.51	$1.67
☕ Cappuccino	$2.18	$2.31
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.08	$1.93
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$462	$315
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$342	$209
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$824	$581
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$632	$375
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$78.5	$40.7
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$122	$62.8
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$40.5	$71.6
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.57%	7.41%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1106	$1452
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$741	$943
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.21	$1.23
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$77.1	$47.9
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$11.7	$7.43
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.32	$1.68
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.28	$1.58
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.01	$1.06
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.44	$2.32
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.6	$5.03
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.5	$20.3
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.34	$15
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.4	$25.2
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.71	$4.63
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.63	$1.16
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.63	$4.03
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.77	$3.5
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.41	$2.59
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.6	$2.02
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.66	$1.28
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.53	$1.31
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.13	$9.26
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.46	$1.31
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.19	$2.31
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.86	$4.08
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.11	$3.08
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.98	$1.54
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.49	$1.29
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$33.6	$37.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$7.33	$21
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$29.7	$20.3
💇 Haircut, simple	$6.46	$4.09
👖 Brand Jeans	$52.2	$33.6
👟 Brand Sneakers	$93.1	$68
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$227	$130
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$5503	$4068

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 Sao Tome

Distance	City	Cost of living
8.3 km or 5.1 mi	Trindade	$1044
256 km or 159 mi	Port-Gentil	$660
303 km or 188 mi	Libreville	$708
375 km or 233 mi	Bata	$1241
443 km or 275 mi	Malabo	$1413
492 km or 306 mi	Port Harcourt	$676
494 km or 307 mi	Limbe	$755
509 km or 316 mi	Buea	$665
529 km or 328 mi	Douala	$1363
537 km or 333 mi	Aba	$674
543 km or 337 mi	Calabar	$397
565 km or 351 mi	Kumba	$849
574 km or 356 mi	Owerri	$1774
584 km or 363 mi	Umuahia	$961
587 km or 365 mi	Warri	$926
649 km or 403 mi	Onitsha	$1051
653 km or 406 mi	Awka	$878
660 km or 410 mi	Yaounde	$671
677 km or 421 mi	Benin	$632
684 km or 425 mi	Enugu	$563
702 km or 436 mi	Bafoussam	$793
730 km or 454 mi	Bamenda	$698
772 km or 480 mi	Owo	$664
774 km or 481 mi	Lagos	$1102
788 km or 490 mi	Akure	$644
806 km or 501 mi	Pointe-Noire	$585
822 km or 511 mi	Porto-Novo	$743
824 km or 512 mi	Cotonou	$793
827 km or 514 mi	Ado Ekiti	$642
829 km or 515 mi	Ife	$778
845 km or 525 mi	Ibadan	$752
846 km or 526 mi	Abeokuta	$1013
861 km or 535 mi	Osogbo	$705
884 km or 549 mi	Kayes	$536
889 km or 552 mi	Lome	$835
890 km or 553 mi	Oyo	$664
892 km or 555 mi	Cabinda	$706
907 km or 564 mi	Madingou	$536
924 km or 574 mi	Gamboma	$536
926 km or 575 mi	Abomey	$598