Johannesburg vs Seattle - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Johannesburg	Seattle
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1082	$3162
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2560	$7446
🏠 One person rent	$485	$1981
🏘️ Family rent	$833	$3407
🍽️ Food expenses	$306	$810
🚐 Transport expenses	$206	$169
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1614	$6556
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	9 km
🎓 Higher education	74	80
😀 Quality of life	62	93
🏙️ Population	4.43M	737K

The cost of living in Johannesburg is 66% less expensive than in Seattle. Cities ranked 5031st and 125th ($1082 vs $3162) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 4th and 92nd 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 1.5 months in Johannesburg compared to 2.1 months in Seattle. Johannesburg ranked 1st best city to live in South Africa vs Seattle ranked 27th in the United States, while ranked 5648th and 99th 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 Seattle infographic

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Prices in Johannesburg vs Seattle

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

	Johannesburg	Seattle
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$10.1	$22.6
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$38.1	$104
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.03	$14.3
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.51	$8.17
☕ Cappuccino	$2.18	$6
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.08	$3.04
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$462	$2119
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$342	$1641
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$824	$3861
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$632	$2873
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$78.5	$169
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$122	$260
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$40.5	$76
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.57%	6.52%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1106	$6864
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$741	$5184
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.21	$3
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$77.1	$107
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$11.7	$18
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.32	$1.19
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.28	$1.37
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.01	$4.82
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.44	$4.75
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.6	$7.26
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.5	$22.7
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.34	$16.4
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.4	$21.7
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.71	$6.07
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.63	$2.71
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.63	$5.36
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.77	$5.77
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.41	$3.16
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.6	$3.35
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.66	$1.75
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.53	$3.36
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.13	$18
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.46	$3.72
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.19	$12.1
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.86	$10.5
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.11	$8.04
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.98	$5.94
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.49	$2.31
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$33.6	$74.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$7.33	$15.6
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$29.7	$148
💇 Haircut, simple	$6.46	$28.1
👖 Brand Jeans	$52.2	$69.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$93.1	$112
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$227	$2178
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$5503	$29883

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 Seattle

Distance	City	Cost of living
9.1 km or 5.7 mi	Mercer Island	$2851
11 km or 6.5 mi	Bellevue	$3313
14 km or 8.5 mi	Kirkland	$2907
15 km or 9.2 mi	Tukwila	$2644
15 km or 9.5 mi	Burien	$2652
16 km or 10 mi	Bainbridge Island	$2814
17 km or 10 mi	Shoreline	$2723
17 km or 10 mi	Renton	$2552
17 km or 11 mi	Redmond	$3269
17 km or 11 mi	Kenmore	$2674
19 km or 12 mi	SeaTac	$2745
21 km or 13 mi	Bothell	$2730
22 km or 14 mi	Sammamish	$2812
22 km or 14 mi	Edmonds	$2669
23 km or 14 mi	Issaquah	$2741
24 km or 15 mi	Des Moines	$2641
24 km or 15 mi	Lynnwood	$2678
24 km or 15 mi	Bremerton	$2525
26 km or 16 mi	Kent	$2796
30 km or 19 mi	Mill Creek	$2655
33 km or 20 mi	Federal Way	$2523
34 km or 21 mi	Maple Valley	$2609
35 km or 21 mi	Mukilteo	$2632
35 km or 22 mi	Auburn	$2295
41 km or 25 mi	Everett	$2649
42 km or 26 mi	Tacoma	$2461
46 km or 28 mi	University Place	$2702
48 km or 30 mi	Puyallup	$2782
50 km or 31 mi	Lake Stevens	$2623
51 km or 32 mi	Lakewood	$2473
52 km or 33 mi	Marysville	$2603
57 km or 35 mi	Spanaway	$2384
74 km or 46 mi	Lacey	$2632
76 km or 47 mi	Olympia	$2551
78 km or 48 mi	Sequim	$2644
80 km or 50 mi	Oak Harbor	$2762
90 km or 56 mi	Mount Vernon	$2419
100 km or 62 mi	Port Angeles	$2480
109 km or 68 mi	Centralia	$2749
119 km or 74 mi	Victoria	$2114