Johannesburg vs Surabaya - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Johannesburg	Surabaya
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1082	$551
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2560	$1391
🏠 One person rent	$485	$222
🏘️ Family rent	$833	$373
🍽️ Food expenses	$306	$219
🚐 Transport expenses	$206	$49.4
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1614	$360
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	16 km
🎓 Higher education	74	75
😀 Quality of life	62	68
🏙️ Population	4.43M	3.01M

The cost of living in Johannesburg is 96% more expensive than in Surabaya. Cities ranked 5031st and 8275th ($1082 vs $551) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 4th and 14th in South Africa and Indonesia, respectively. Check South Africa vs Indonesia comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.5 months in Johannesburg compared to 0.7 months in Surabaya. Johannesburg ranked 1st best city to live in South Africa vs Surabaya ranked 1st in Indonesia, while ranked 5648th and 4631st among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Johannesburg vs Surabaya infographic

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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	$10.1	$1.65
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$38.1	$13.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.03	$3
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.51	$2.41
☕ Cappuccino	$2.18	$1.74
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.08	$0.69
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$462	$230
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$342	$138
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$824	$410
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$632	$251
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$78.5	$46.3
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$122	$70.6
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$40.5	$19.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.57%	7.45%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1106	$2226
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$741	$1338
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.21	$0.48
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$77.1	$8.97
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$11.7	$4.26
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.32	$0.83
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.28	$1.37
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.01	$1.45
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.44	$0.95
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.6	$1.41
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.5	$9.51
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.34	$3.24
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.4	$8.17
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.71	$2.46
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.63	$1.54
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.63	$2.25
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.77	$1.63
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.41	$1.32
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.6	$1.9
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.66	$0.29
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.53	$1.2
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.13	$30
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.46	$1.79
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.19	$2.41
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.86	$2.58
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.11	$2.04
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.98	$0.77
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.49	$0.68
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$33.6	$21.6
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$7.33	$2.98
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$29.7	$12
💇 Haircut, simple	$6.46	$3.27
👖 Brand Jeans	$52.2	$61
👟 Brand Sneakers	$93.1	$76.2
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$227	$185
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$5503	$9160

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 Surabaya

Distance	City	Cost of living
42 km or 26 mi	Mojokerto	$413
48 km or 30 mi	Pasuruan	$457
73 km or 45 mi	Batu	$409
77 km or 48 mi	Probolinggo	$470
83 km or 51 mi	Malang	$384
102 km or 63 mi	Kediri	$447
115 km or 71 mi	Blitar	$440
141 km or 87 mi	Madiun	$456
215 km or 133 mi	Surakarta	$409
247 km or 153 mi	Salatiga	$422
258 km or 160 mi	Semarang	$488
269 km or 167 mi	Yogyakarta	$445
286 km or 177 mi	Bali	$1134
311 km or 194 mi	Ubud	$834
315 km or 196 mi	Denpasar	$489
340 km or 211 mi	Pekalongan	$471
400 km or 249 mi	Tegal	$482
401 km or 249 mi	Mataram	$402
414 km or 257 mi	Cilacap	$478
464 km or 288 mi	Banjar	$488
464 km or 288 mi	Cirebon	$523
476 km or 296 mi	Banjarbaru	$449
481 km or 299 mi	Banjarmasin	$459
501 km or 311 mi	Tasikmalaya	$367
572 km or 355 mi	Bandung	$534
575 km or 357 mi	Palangka Raya	$470
576 km or 358 mi	Cimahi	$490
642 km or 399 mi	Sukabumi	$561
644 km or 400 mi	Bekasi	$555
659 km or 410 mi	Bogor	$480
660 km or 410 mi	Depok	$400
661 km or 411 mi	Jakarta	$699
672 km or 418 mi	Bima	$588
673 km or 418 mi	South Tangerang	$567
685 km or 425 mi	Tangerang	$665
738 km or 459 mi	Serang	$517
756 km or 470 mi	Cilegon	$511
774 km or 481 mi	Makassar	$523
820 km or 510 mi	Balikpapan	$598
842 km or 523 mi	Parepare	$502