Johannesburg vs Surabaya - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Johannesburg	Surabaya
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1204	$520
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2788	$1324
🏠 One person rent	$547	$218
🏘️ Family rent	$919	$373
🍽️ Food expenses	$351	$200
🚐 Transport expenses	$210	$45.1
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$420	$273
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	16 km
🎓 Higher education	73	76
😀 Quality of life	60	51
🏙️ Population	4.8M	3.01M

The cost of living in Johannesburg is 132% more expensive than in Surabaya. Cities ranked 4745th and 8568th ($1204 vs $520) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 4th and 12th in South Africa and Indonesia, respectively. Check South Africa vs Indonesia comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.3 months in Johannesburg compared to 0.5 months in Surabaya. Johannesburg ranked 1st best city to live in South Africa vs Surabaya ranked 12th in Indonesia, while ranked 5850th and 6634th among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/johannesburg/surabaya.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Johannesburg vs Surabaya infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/johannesburg/surabaya" target="_blank">Johannesburg vs Surabaya - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Johannesburg vs Surabaya

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

	Johannesburg	Surabaya
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$12.2	$1.56
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$46	$12.5
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$6.16	$2.87
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.44	$2.53
☕ Cappuccino	$2.41	$1.89
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.2	$0.57
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$473	$243
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$385	$131
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$862	$450
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$679	$241
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$106	$47.4
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$164	$72.7
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$38.8	$17
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	10.88%	7.57%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1060	$2204
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$777	$1082
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.85	$0.35
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$92.2	$10.2
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$8.38	$3.83
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.42	$0.67
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.36	$1.22
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.24	$1.23
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.81	$0.92
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.48	$1.37
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.99	$7.57
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.77	$3.25
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.11	$7.72
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.12	$2.12
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.89	$1.29
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.93	$1.99
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.07	$1.54
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.64	$1.39
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.75	$1.95
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.86	$0.28
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.58	$1.04
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.1	$22.4
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.89	$2.03
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.4	$1.81
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.66	$2.35
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.33	$1.86
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.25	$0.71
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.36	$0.63
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$37.8	$19.2
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$8.59	$2.59
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$31	$10.9
💇 Haircut, simple	$7.27	$3
👖 Brand Jeans	$57.1	$58.9
👟 Brand Sneakers	$107	$73.1
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$244	$243
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$5103	$8118

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 Surabaya

Distance	City	Cost of living
42 km or 26 mi	Mojokerto	$402
48 km or 30 mi	Pasuruan	$437
73 km or 45 mi	Batu	$386
77 km or 48 mi	Probolinggo	$450
83 km or 51 mi	Malang	$358
102 km or 63 mi	Kediri	$428
115 km or 71 mi	Blitar	$416
141 km or 87 mi	Madiun	$419
215 km or 133 mi	Surakarta	$381
247 km or 153 mi	Salatiga	$400
258 km or 160 mi	Semarang	$490
269 km or 167 mi	Yogyakarta	$436
286 km or 177 mi	Bali	$1115
311 km or 194 mi	Ubud	$780
315 km or 196 mi	Denpasar	$493
340 km or 211 mi	Pekalongan	$452
400 km or 249 mi	Tegal	$457
401 km or 249 mi	Mataram	$387
414 km or 257 mi	Cilacap	$446
464 km or 288 mi	Banjar	$458
464 km or 288 mi	Cirebon	$494
476 km or 296 mi	Banjarbaru	$427
481 km or 299 mi	Banjarmasin	$436
501 km or 311 mi	Tasikmalaya	$337
572 km or 355 mi	Bandung	$502
575 km or 357 mi	Palangka Raya	$439
576 km or 358 mi	Cimahi	$468
642 km or 399 mi	Sukabumi	$551
644 km or 400 mi	Bekasi	$515
659 km or 410 mi	Bogor	$466
660 km or 410 mi	Depok	$376
661 km or 411 mi	Jakarta	$627
672 km or 418 mi	Bima	$566
673 km or 418 mi	South Tangerang	$516
685 km or 425 mi	Tangerang	$552
738 km or 459 mi	Serang	$472
756 km or 470 mi	Cilegon	$469
774 km or 481 mi	Makassar	$486
820 km or 510 mi	Balikpapan	$556
842 km or 523 mi	Parepare	$470