Johannesburg vs Sao Tome - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Johannesburg	Sao Tome
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1204	$1011
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2788	$2409
🏠 One person rent	$547	$322
🏘️ Family rent	$919	$515
🍽️ Food expenses	$351	$552
🚐 Transport expenses	$210	$42.2
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$420	$271
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	6 km
🎓 Higher education	73	1
😀 Quality of life	60	29
🏙️ Population	4.8M	65.5K

The cost of living in Johannesburg is 19% more expensive than in Sao Tome. Cities ranked 4745th and 5493rd ($1204 vs $1011) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 4th and 2nd 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 0.3 months in Johannesburg compared to 0.3 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 5850th and 8825th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Share this picture

Use the link below to embed the infographic from our site and automatically keep the data layer up to date.

If you prefer to download the image, please credit us as a source.

<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	$12.2	$25.3
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$46	$35.7
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$6.16	$11.7
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.44	$1.65
☕ Cappuccino	$2.41	$2.31
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.2	$1.89
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$473	$266
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$385	$183
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$862	$488
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$679	$332
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$106	$52.9
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$164	$81.7
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$38.8	$69.7
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	10.88%	7.34%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1060	$1893
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$777	$1191
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.85	$1.41
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$92.2	$47.7
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$8.38	$9.19
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.42	$1.77
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.36	$1.59
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.24	$1.04
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.81	$2.02
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.48	$5.06
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.99	$20.4
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.77	$14.8
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.11	$25.1
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.12	$3.83
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.89	$1.24
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.93	$3.72
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.07	$3.54
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.64	$2.98
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.75	$2.43
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.86	$1.28
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.58	$1.31
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.1	$8.11
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.89	$1.43
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.4	$2.35
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.66	$4.19
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.33	$3.13
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.25	$1.55
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.36	$1.29
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$37.8	$35.4
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$8.59	$20.8
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$31	$21.9
💇 Haircut, simple	$7.27	$4.66
👖 Brand Jeans	$57.1	$34.5
👟 Brand Sneakers	$107	$68.8
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$244	$171
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$5103	$2877

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	$1104
13 km or 8 mi	Randburg	$912
19 km or 12 mi	Soweto	$1031
28 km or 17 mi	Benoni	$851
40 km or 25 mi	Springs	$784
41 km or 25 mi	Centurion	$997
53 km or 33 mi	Pretoria	$1015
53 km or 33 mi	Vereeniging	$742
59 km or 36 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$867
71 km or 44 mi	Brits	$950
101 km or 62 mi	Rustenburg	$994
109 km or 68 mi	Potchefstroom	$789
143 km or 89 mi	Bethal	$902
152 km or 94 mi	Middelburg	$875
155 km or 97 mi	Klerksdorp	$860
179 km or 111 mi	Kroonstad	$872
237 km or 147 mi	Welkom	$811
244 km or 152 mi	Mmabatho	$903
262 km or 163 mi	Lobatse	$691
275 km or 171 mi	Gaborone	$723
287 km or 179 mi	Butha-Buthe	$589
302 km or 188 mi	Kanye	$691
311 km or 193 mi	Mbabane	$607
323 km or 201 mi	Vryheid	$882
325 km or 202 mi	Molepolole	$663
329 km or 204 mi	Teyateyaneng	$558
333 km or 207 mi	Manzini	$494
350 km or 217 mi	Maseru	$660
366 km or 228 mi	Mahalapye	$615
369 km or 229 mi	Bloemfontein	$742
409 km or 254 mi	Mafeteng	$611
417 km or 259 mi	Palapye	$549
429 km or 267 mi	Kimberley	$904
442 km or 275 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$725
443 km or 275 mi	Matola	$912
446 km or 277 mi	Serowe	$590
454 km or 282 mi	Maputo	$1014
501 km or 311 mi	Durban	$938
562 km or 349 mi	Francistown	$632
577 km or 358 mi	Xai-Xai	$965

Cities near Sao Tome

Distance	City	Cost of living
8.3 km or 5.1 mi	Trindade	$1013
256 km or 159 mi	Port-Gentil	$698
303 km or 188 mi	Libreville	$743
375 km or 233 mi	Bata	$1209
443 km or 275 mi	Malabo	$1272
492 km or 306 mi	Port Harcourt	$559
494 km or 307 mi	Limbe	$738
509 km or 316 mi	Buea	$627
529 km or 328 mi	Douala	$1156
537 km or 333 mi	Aba	$591
543 km or 337 mi	Calabar	$373
565 km or 351 mi	Kumba	$821
574 km or 356 mi	Owerri	$1364
584 km or 363 mi	Umuahia	$773
587 km or 365 mi	Warri	$786
649 km or 403 mi	Onitsha	$795
653 km or 406 mi	Awka	$693
660 km or 410 mi	Yaounde	$666
677 km or 421 mi	Benin	$627
684 km or 425 mi	Enugu	$564
702 km or 436 mi	Bafoussam	$759
730 km or 454 mi	Bamenda	$699
772 km or 480 mi	Owo	$531
774 km or 481 mi	Lagos	$946
788 km or 490 mi	Akure	$488
806 km or 501 mi	Pointe-Noire	$578
822 km or 511 mi	Porto-Novo	$768
824 km or 512 mi	Cotonou	$830
827 km or 514 mi	Ado Ekiti	$597
829 km or 515 mi	Ife	$670
845 km or 525 mi	Ibadan	$658
846 km or 526 mi	Abeokuta	$995
861 km or 535 mi	Osogbo	$575
884 km or 549 mi	Kayes	$533
889 km or 552 mi	Lome	$759
890 km or 553 mi	Oyo	$639
892 km or 555 mi	Cabinda	$673
907 km or 564 mi	Madingou	$531
924 km or 574 mi	Gamboma	$531
926 km or 575 mi	Abomey	$596