Johannesburg vs Seattle - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Johannesburg	Seattle
🚶 Cost of living one person	$993	$3015
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2403	$7449
🏠 One person rent	$441	$1896
🏘️ Family rent	$809	$3549
🍽️ Food expenses	$288	$746
🚐 Transport expenses	$181	$160
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1383	$6742
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	9 km
🎓 Higher education	72	80
😀 Quality of life	57	91
🏙️ Population	4.43M	737K

The cost of living in Johannesburg is 67% less expensive than in Seattle. Cities ranked 5539th and 158th ($993 vs $3015) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 4th and 140th 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 2.2 months in Seattle. Johannesburg ranked 2nd best city to live in South Africa vs Seattle ranked 15th in the United States, while ranked 5667th and 98th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
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	$9.65	$21.9
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$37.9	$90.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.9	$13.6
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.37	$7.98
☕ Cappuccino	$2.01	$5.55
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.99	$2.97
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$377	$2086
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$318	$1567
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$790	$3947
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$627	$3067
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$71.9	$157
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$110	$237
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$39.5	$68.8
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.55%	6.44%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1031	$6966
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$684	$5351
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.62	$2.73
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$72	$96.7
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$9.35	$18
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.28	$1.16
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.18	$1.18
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.95	$4.03
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.36	$4.44
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.58	$4.89
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10	$20.3
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.04	$14.6
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.12	$20.4
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.6	$5.19
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.49	$2.38
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.41	$5.37
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.59	$5.76
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.35	$2.64
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.44	$3.47
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.58	$1.56
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.44	$2.91
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$5.96	$17.8
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.25	$3.15
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.97	$12
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.59	$10.4
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.94	$5.95
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.88	$6.98
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.42	$2.49
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$33.2	$65.6
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$7.2	$16
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$27.8	$183
💇 Haircut, simple	$5.55	$25.9
👖 Brand Jeans	$48.5	$68.9
👟 Brand Sneakers	$88.8	$101
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$214	$2185
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$5271	$29407

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 Seattle

Distance	City	Cost of living
9.1 km or 5.7 mi	Mercer Island	$2826
11 km or 6.5 mi	Bellevue	$3273
14 km or 8.5 mi	Kirkland	$2882
15 km or 9.2 mi	Tukwila	$2624
15 km or 9.5 mi	Burien	$2642
16 km or 10 mi	Bainbridge Island	$2810
17 km or 10 mi	Shoreline	$2973
17 km or 10 mi	Renton	$2595
17 km or 11 mi	Redmond	$3239
17 km or 11 mi	Kenmore	$2718
19 km or 12 mi	SeaTac	$2741
21 km or 13 mi	Bothell	$2625
22 km or 14 mi	Sammamish	$2759
22 km or 14 mi	Edmonds	$2785
23 km or 14 mi	Issaquah	$2606
24 km or 15 mi	Des Moines	$2623
24 km or 15 mi	Lynnwood	$2726
24 km or 15 mi	Bremerton	$2462
26 km or 16 mi	Kent	$2784
30 km or 19 mi	Mill Creek	$2642
33 km or 20 mi	Federal Way	$2532
34 km or 21 mi	Maple Valley	$2579
35 km or 21 mi	Mukilteo	$2637
35 km or 22 mi	Auburn	$2338
41 km or 25 mi	Everett	$2589
42 km or 26 mi	Tacoma	$2517
46 km or 28 mi	University Place	$2604
48 km or 30 mi	Puyallup	$2644
50 km or 31 mi	Lake Stevens	$2604
51 km or 32 mi	Lakewood	$2449
52 km or 33 mi	Marysville	$2598
57 km or 35 mi	Spanaway	$2460
74 km or 46 mi	Lacey	$2571
76 km or 47 mi	Olympia	$2406
78 km or 48 mi	Sequim	$2692
80 km or 50 mi	Oak Harbor	$2751
90 km or 56 mi	Mount Vernon	$2542
100 km or 62 mi	Port Angeles	$2527
109 km or 68 mi	Centralia	$2523
119 km or 74 mi	Victoria	$2093