Johannesburg vs Sydney - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Johannesburg	Sydney
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1171	$2844
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2754	$6700
🏠 One person rent	$522	$1749
🏘️ Family rent	$894	$3002
🍽️ Food expenses	$337	$597
🚐 Transport expenses	$216	$337
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1761	$4145
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	9 km
🎓 Higher education	73	99
😀 Quality of life	65	98
🏙️ Population	4.8M	5.45M

The cost of living in Johannesburg is 59% less expensive than in Sydney. Cities ranked 4839th and 348th ($1171 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 1.5 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 5190th and 2nd among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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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	$11.5	$15.8
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$43.9	$79.7
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.73	$11.2
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.81	$7.36
☕ Cappuccino	$2.48	$3.85
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.16	$2.82
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$448	$2123
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$377	$1437
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$804	$3835
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$689	$2492
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$91	$123
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$142	$190
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$40	$51.6
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.13%	6.09%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1058	$13218
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$785	$7866
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.12	$3.77
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$88.7	$118
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$9.88	$20.6
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.4	$1.37
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.43	$1.84
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.16	$2.46
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.66	$2.13
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.52	$5.78
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.48	$13.9
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.59	$9.78
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.91	$15.8
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.97	$3.56
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.87	$3.1
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.87	$3.24
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.99	$4.66
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.64	$2.86
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.75	$2.53
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.75	$0.82
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.62	$2.8
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.21	$15.8
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.66	$4.69
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.47	$24.9
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.83	$9.5
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.49	$4.93
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.29	$3.1
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.41	$3.03
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$38.5	$63.4
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$8.38	$16.6
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$32.1	$70.3
💇 Haircut, simple	$7.19	$21.7
👖 Brand Jeans	$59	$80.9
👟 Brand Sneakers	$104	$111
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$229	$2281
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$5808	$21946

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	$1089
13 km or 8 mi	Randburg	$958
19 km or 12 mi	Soweto	$1057
28 km or 17 mi	Benoni	$892
40 km or 25 mi	Springs	$792
41 km or 25 mi	Centurion	$967
53 km or 33 mi	Pretoria	$1049
53 km or 33 mi	Vereeniging	$765
59 km or 36 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$865
71 km or 44 mi	Brits	$950
101 km or 62 mi	Rustenburg	$1017
109 km or 68 mi	Potchefstroom	$791
143 km or 89 mi	Bethal	$910
152 km or 94 mi	Middelburg	$899
155 km or 97 mi	Klerksdorp	$826
179 km or 111 mi	Kroonstad	$875
237 km or 147 mi	Welkom	$826
244 km or 152 mi	Mmabatho	$901
262 km or 163 mi	Lobatse	$697
275 km or 171 mi	Gaborone	$731
287 km or 179 mi	Butha-Buthe	$604
302 km or 188 mi	Kanye	$694
311 km or 193 mi	Mbabane	$652
323 km or 201 mi	Vryheid	$912
325 km or 202 mi	Molepolole	$662
329 km or 204 mi	Teyateyaneng	$573
333 km or 207 mi	Manzini	$511
350 km or 217 mi	Maseru	$681
366 km or 228 mi	Mahalapye	$628
369 km or 229 mi	Bloemfontein	$763
409 km or 254 mi	Mafeteng	$630
417 km or 259 mi	Palapye	$551
429 km or 267 mi	Kimberley	$927
442 km or 275 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$716
443 km or 275 mi	Matola	$916
446 km or 277 mi	Serowe	$583
454 km or 282 mi	Maputo	$966
501 km or 311 mi	Durban	$948
562 km or 349 mi	Francistown	$633
577 km or 358 mi	Xai-Xai	$950

Cities near Sydney

Distance	City	Cost of living
15 km or 9.2 mi	Dee Why	$2379
19 km or 12 mi	Parramatta	$2482
29 km or 18 mi	Kellyville	$2050
29 km or 18 mi	Blacktown	$1710
69 km or 43 mi	Wollongong	$1695
117 km or 73 mi	Newcastle	$1997
158 km or 98 mi	Bathurst	$1699
168 km or 104 mi	Goulburn	$1821
205 km or 127 mi	Orange	$1477
247 km or 154 mi	Canberra	$2223
301 km or 187 mi	Dubbo	$1867
314 km or 195 mi	Port Macquarie	$1796
377 km or 234 mi	Armidale	$1288
378 km or 235 mi	Wagga Wagga	$1583
436 km or 271 mi	Coffs Harbour	$2172
478 km or 297 mi	Griffith	$1824
597 km or 371 mi	Shepparton	$1815
624 km or 388 mi	Byron Bay	$2703
638 km or 396 mi	Traralgon	$1979
683 km or 425 mi	Gold Coast	$2528
689 km or 428 mi	Southport	$2352
695 km or 432 mi	Pakenham	$1896
701 km or 436 mi	Berwick	$1860
706 km or 439 mi	Bendigo	$1487
706 km or 439 mi	Toowoomba	$1766
707 km or 439 mi	Dandenong	$1894
711 km or 442 mi	Ipswich	$1813
711 km or 442 mi	Cranbourne	$1798
713 km or 443 mi	South Yarra	$1829
713 km or 443 mi	Melbourne	$2496
716 km or 445 mi	Sunbury	$1928
724 km or 450 mi	Frankston	$1889
732 km or 455 mi	Melton	$1906
733 km or 455 mi	Brisbane	$2269
735 km or 457 mi	Tarneit	$1822
736 km or 457 mi	Hoppers Crossing	$1854
775 km or 481 mi	Caboolture	$1988
778 km or 484 mi	Geelong	$2217
779 km or 484 mi	Ballarat	$1604
807 km or 502 mi	Caloundra	$1864