Johannesburg vs Shanghai - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Johannesburg	Shanghai
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1082	$1128
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2560	$3104
🏠 One person rent	$485	$605
🏘️ Family rent	$833	$1067
🍽️ Food expenses	$306	$289
🚐 Transport expenses	$206	$110
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1614	$931
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	13 km
🎓 Higher education	74	100
😀 Quality of life	62	77
🏙️ Population	4.43M	24.9M

The cost of living in Johannesburg is 4% less expensive than in Shanghai. Cities ranked 5031st and 4879th ($1082 vs $1128) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 4th and 5th in South Africa and China, respectively. Check South Africa vs China comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.5 months in Johannesburg compared to 0.8 months in Shanghai. Johannesburg ranked 1st best city to live in South Africa vs Shanghai ranked 4th in China, while ranked 5648th and 1383rd among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Johannesburg vs Shanghai infographic

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Prices in Johannesburg vs Shanghai

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

	Johannesburg	Shanghai
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$10.1	$4.7
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$38.1	$40
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.03	$5.69
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.51	$1.47
☕ Cappuccino	$2.18	$3.79
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.08	$0.51
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$462	$848
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$342	$485
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$824	$1510
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$632	$875
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$78.5	$34.2
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$122	$52
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$40.5	$12.8
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.57%	3.36%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1106	$14877
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$741	$7318
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.21	$0.56
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$77.1	$31.8
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$11.7	$6.41
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.32	$1.13
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.28	$2.11
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.01	$1.88
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.44	$1.34
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.6	$1.88
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.5	$15.7
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.34	$3.52
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.4	$10.6
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.71	$2.26
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.63	$1.78
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.63	$1.8
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.77	$1.54
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.41	$0.81
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.6	$1.07
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.66	$0.44
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.53	$1.27
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.13	$11.9
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.46	$0.86
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.19	$3.02
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.86	$6.07
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.11	$6
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.98	$2.02
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.49	$2.12
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$33.6	$59.6
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$7.33	$8.24
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$29.7	$92.7
💇 Haircut, simple	$6.46	$12.1
👖 Brand Jeans	$52.2	$52.8
👟 Brand Sneakers	$93.1	$75.1
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$227	$1172
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$5503	$27624

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 Shanghai

Distance	City	Cost of living
9.4 km or 5.8 mi	Pudong	$1003
47 km or 29 mi	Taicang	$673
53 km or 33 mi	Kunshan	$696
74 km or 46 mi	Qidong	$696
82 km or 51 mi	Suzhou	$771
82 km or 51 mi	Jiaxing	$597
85 km or 53 mi	Haimen	$612
88 km or 55 mi	Changshu	$632
106 km or 66 mi	Nantong	$547
117 km or 73 mi	Zhangjiagang	$648
121 km or 75 mi	Wuxi	$679
135 km or 84 mi	Huzhou	$631
141 km or 87 mi	Jiangyin	$634
142 km or 88 mi	Zhoushan	$576
144 km or 89 mi	Ningbo	$713
148 km or 92 mi	Jingjiang	$621
155 km or 96 mi	Shaoxing	$740
158 km or 98 mi	Yixing	$674
159 km or 99 mi	Changzhou	$601
160 km or 100 mi	Rugao	$630
161 km or 100 mi	Hangzhou	$826
177 km or 110 mi	Taixing	$622
179 km or 111 mi	Hai'an	$634
191 km or 119 mi	Liyang	$639
197 km or 122 mi	Yangzhong	$597
198 km or 123 mi	Guangde	$642
201 km or 125 mi	Danyang	$597
208 km or 129 mi	Taizhou	$651
217 km or 135 mi	Dongtai	$664
223 km or 139 mi	Zhenjiang	$531
235 km or 146 mi	Yangzhou	$602
236 km or 146 mi	Jurong	$618
244 km or 152 mi	Ningguo	$637
246 km or 153 mi	Yiwu	$672
250 km or 155 mi	Xinghua	$663
250 km or 156 mi	Yizheng	$590
259 km or 161 mi	Linhai	$666
260 km or 161 mi	Xuancheng	$659
262 km or 163 mi	Gaoyou	$617
274 km or 170 mi	Nanjing	$753