Johannesburg vs Sydney - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Johannesburg	Sydney
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1204	$2844
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2788	$6812
🏠 One person rent	$547	$1756
🏘️ Family rent	$919	$3107
🍽️ Food expenses	$351	$592
🚐 Transport expenses	$210	$335
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$420	$4188
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	9 km
🎓 Higher education	73	99
😀 Quality of life	60	100
🏙️ Population	4.8M	5.45M

The cost of living in Johannesburg is 58% less expensive than in Sydney. Cities ranked 4745th and 370th ($1204 vs $2844) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 4th and 1st in South Africa and Australia, respectively. Check South Africa vs Australia comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.3 months in Johannesburg compared to 1.5 months in Sydney. Johannesburg ranked 1st best city to live in South Africa vs Sydney ranked 2nd in Australia, while ranked 5850th and 2nd among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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

Prices in Johannesburg vs Sydney

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

	Johannesburg	Sydney
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$12.2	$15.4
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$46	$81.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$6.16	$11.6
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.44	$7.3
☕ Cappuccino	$2.41	$3.97
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.2	$2.71
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$473	$2215
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$385	$1420
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$862	$3992
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$679	$2582
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$106	$126
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$164	$193
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$38.8	$50.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	10.88%	5.83%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1060	$12962
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$777	$7403
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.85	$3.96
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$92.2	$117
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$8.38	$20.2
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.42	$1.39
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.36	$1.74
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.24	$2.28
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.81	$2.09
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.48	$5.78
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.99	$13.6
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.77	$9.72
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.11	$15.5
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.12	$3.62
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.89	$3.08
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.93	$3.19
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.07	$4.73
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.64	$2.9
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.75	$2.27
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.86	$0.72
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.58	$2.95
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.1	$16.4
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.89	$4.08
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.4	$28.3
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.66	$8.18
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.33	$4.65
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.25	$3.58
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.36	$3.34
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$37.8	$66
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$8.59	$17.6
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$31	$70
💇 Haircut, simple	$7.27	$21.4
👖 Brand Jeans	$57.1	$77.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$107	$111
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$244	$2275
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$5103	$25164

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 Sydney

Distance	City	Cost of living
15 km or 9.2 mi	Dee Why	$2354
19 km or 12 mi	Parramatta	$2481
29 km or 18 mi	Kellyville	$2040
29 km or 18 mi	Blacktown	$1709
69 km or 43 mi	Wollongong	$1695
117 km or 73 mi	Newcastle	$1995
158 km or 98 mi	Bathurst	$1701
168 km or 104 mi	Goulburn	$1795
205 km or 127 mi	Orange	$1460
247 km or 154 mi	Canberra	$2258
301 km or 187 mi	Dubbo	$1855
314 km or 195 mi	Port Macquarie	$1786
377 km or 234 mi	Armidale	$1273
378 km or 235 mi	Wagga Wagga	$1608
436 km or 271 mi	Coffs Harbour	$2132
478 km or 297 mi	Griffith	$1825
597 km or 371 mi	Shepparton	$1816
624 km or 388 mi	Byron Bay	$2672
638 km or 396 mi	Traralgon	$2000
683 km or 425 mi	Gold Coast	$2530
689 km or 428 mi	Southport	$2341
695 km or 432 mi	Pakenham	$1936
701 km or 436 mi	Berwick	$1915
706 km or 439 mi	Bendigo	$1493
706 km or 439 mi	Toowoomba	$1720
707 km or 439 mi	Dandenong	$1913
711 km or 442 mi	Ipswich	$1825
711 km or 442 mi	Cranbourne	$1810
713 km or 443 mi	South Yarra	$1834
713 km or 443 mi	Melbourne	$2543
716 km or 445 mi	Sunbury	$1933
724 km or 450 mi	Frankston	$1889
732 km or 455 mi	Melton	$1896
733 km or 455 mi	Brisbane	$2323
735 km or 457 mi	Tarneit	$1813
736 km or 457 mi	Hoppers Crossing	$1847
775 km or 481 mi	Caboolture	$1992
778 km or 484 mi	Geelong	$2179
779 km or 484 mi	Ballarat	$1606
807 km or 502 mi	Caloundra	$1863