Johannesburg vs Seoul - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Johannesburg	Seoul
🚶 Cost of living one person	$993	$1334
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2403	$3862
🏠 One person rent	$441	$608
🏘️ Family rent	$809	$1634
🍽️ Food expenses	$288	$488
🚐 Transport expenses	$181	$144
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1383	$2911
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	18 km
🎓 Higher education	72	100
😀 Quality of life	57	95
🏙️ Population	4.43M	9.67M

The cost of living in Johannesburg is 26% less expensive than in Seoul. Cities ranked 5539th and 4104th ($993 vs $1334) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 4th and 3rd in South Africa and South Korea, respectively. Check South Africa vs South Korea comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.4 months in Johannesburg compared to 2.2 months in Seoul. Johannesburg ranked 2nd best city to live in South Africa vs Seoul ranked 1st in South Korea, while ranked 5667th and 30th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Johannesburg vs Seoul infographic

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Prices in Johannesburg vs Seoul

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

	Johannesburg	Seoul
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$9.65	$7.53
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$37.9	$40.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.9	$5.87
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.37	$3.5
☕ Cappuccino	$2.01	$3.57
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.99	$1.58
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$377	$754
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$318	$422
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$790	$2293
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$627	$1250
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$71.9	$99.6
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$110	$155
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$39.5	$20.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.55%	4.85%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1031	$19682
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$684	$11168
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.62	$1.05
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$72	$44.5
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$9.35	$8.29
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.28	$1.17
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.18	$2.06
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.95	$3.08
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.36	$3.06
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.58	$3.38
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10	$12.7
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.04	$8.56
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.12	$32
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.6	$7.25
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.49	$3.37
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.41	$5.31
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.59	$5.9
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.35	$3.54
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.44	$2.82
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.58	$0.81
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.44	$2.18
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$5.96	$20.3
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.25	$2.46
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.97	$3.17
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.59	$4.67
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.94	$5.75
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.88	$2.16
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.42	$2.86
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$33.2	$48.3
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$7.2	$10.5
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$27.8	$22.9
💇 Haircut, simple	$5.55	$9.53
👖 Brand Jeans	$48.5	$58.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$88.8	$82.4
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$214	$420
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$5271	$20197

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

$349

$907

$6.64K

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 Seoul

Distance	City	Cost of living
13 km or 7.9 mi	Guri	$1122
17 km or 10 mi	Goyang	$1171
17 km or 10 mi	Gwangmyeong	$1089
17 km or 11 mi	Gwacheon	$1070
19 km or 12 mi	Uijeongbu	$955
20 km or 12 mi	Hanam	$1161
20 km or 12 mi	Namyangju	$1129
20 km or 13 mi	Seongnam	$1400
21 km or 13 mi	Siheung	$1283
21 km or 13 mi	Bucheon	$1163
22 km or 14 mi	Anyang	$1022
23 km or 14 mi	Yangju	$974
24 km or 15 mi	Gunpo	$1098
26 km or 16 mi	Gimpo	$1099
27 km or 17 mi	Uiwang	$1063
30 km or 19 mi	Gwangju	$1165
32 km or 20 mi	Paju	$1075
33 km or 20 mi	Ansan	$1070
33 km or 21 mi	Suwon	$1022
34 km or 21 mi	Incheon	$1092
37 km or 23 mi	Dongducheon	$1055
39 km or 24 mi	Pocheon	$1040
42 km or 26 mi	Yongin	$1127
47 km or 29 mi	Hwaseong	$1089
49 km or 31 mi	Osan	$1042
52 km or 32 mi	Icheon	$1020
58 km or 36 mi	Kaesong	$1565
65 km or 40 mi	Yeoju	$1026
66 km or 41 mi	Pyeongtaek	$984
69 km or 43 mi	Anseong	$1026
72 km or 45 mi	Chuncheon	$865
83 km or 52 mi	Dangjin	$1033
86 km or 53 mi	Wonju	$1074
87 km or 54 mi	Cheonan	$1151
101 km or 63 mi	Seosan	$1036
107 km or 66 mi	Chungju	$900
114 km or 71 mi	Cheongju	$936
118 km or 73 mi	Jecheon	$1016
123 km or 77 mi	Haeju	$1550
124 km or 77 mi	Sejong	$1019