Johannesburg vs Sydney - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Johannesburg	Sydney
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1082	$2640
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2560	$6276
🏠 One person rent	$485	$1578
🏘️ Family rent	$833	$2764
🍽️ Food expenses	$306	$549
🚐 Transport expenses	$206	$366
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1614	$4008
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	9 km
🎓 Higher education	74	99
😀 Quality of life	62	100
🏙️ Population	4.43M	5.45M

The cost of living in Johannesburg is 59% less expensive than in Sydney. Cities ranked 5031st and 649th ($1082 vs $2640) 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 5648th and 3rd among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Johannesburg vs Sydney infographic

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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	$10.1	$13.9
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$38.1	$77.7
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.03	$9.79
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.51	$7.2
☕ Cappuccino	$2.18	$3.47
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.08	$2.62
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$462	$1915
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$342	$1294
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$824	$3447
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$632	$2319
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$78.5	$112
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$122	$172
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$40.5	$47.9
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.57%	6.15%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1106	$12628
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$741	$7359
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.21	$3.27
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$77.1	$134
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$11.7	$23.2
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.32	$1.25
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.28	$1.59
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.01	$2.27
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.44	$1.99
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.6	$5.43
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.5	$12.3
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.34	$8.55
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.4	$13.9
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.71	$3.27
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.63	$2.8
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.63	$2.98
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.77	$4.04
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.41	$2.52
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.6	$2.36
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.66	$0.8
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.53	$2.45
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.13	$14.3
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.46	$4.45
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.19	$29.1
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.86	$8.2
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.11	$5.8
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.98	$2.68
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.49	$2.71
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$33.6	$58.2
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$7.33	$15.1
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$29.7	$63.6
💇 Haircut, simple	$6.46	$20
👖 Brand Jeans	$52.2	$75.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$93.1	$99.5
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$227	$2071
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$5503	$19140

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 Sydney

Distance	City	Cost of living
15 km or 9.2 mi	Dee Why	$2181
19 km or 12 mi	Parramatta	$2292
29 km or 18 mi	Kellyville	$1888
29 km or 18 mi	Blacktown	$1599
69 km or 43 mi	Wollongong	$1580
117 km or 73 mi	Newcastle	$1839
158 km or 98 mi	Bathurst	$1568
168 km or 104 mi	Goulburn	$1678
205 km or 127 mi	Orange	$1364
247 km or 154 mi	Canberra	$2019
301 km or 187 mi	Dubbo	$1747
314 km or 195 mi	Port Macquarie	$1633
377 km or 234 mi	Armidale	$1184
378 km or 235 mi	Wagga Wagga	$1458
436 km or 271 mi	Coffs Harbour	$1988
478 km or 297 mi	Griffith	$1667
597 km or 371 mi	Shepparton	$1662
624 km or 388 mi	Byron Bay	$2471
638 km or 396 mi	Traralgon	$1813
683 km or 425 mi	Gold Coast	$2297
689 km or 428 mi	Southport	$2140
695 km or 432 mi	Pakenham	$1725
701 km or 436 mi	Berwick	$1706
706 km or 439 mi	Bendigo	$1362
706 km or 439 mi	Toowoomba	$1639
707 km or 439 mi	Dandenong	$1736
711 km or 442 mi	Ipswich	$1662
711 km or 442 mi	Cranbourne	$1674
713 km or 443 mi	South Yarra	$1681
713 km or 443 mi	Melbourne	$2308
716 km or 445 mi	Sunbury	$1768
724 km or 450 mi	Frankston	$1728
732 km or 455 mi	Melton	$1738
733 km or 455 mi	Brisbane	$2065
735 km or 457 mi	Tarneit	$1673
736 km or 457 mi	Hoppers Crossing	$1697
775 km or 481 mi	Caboolture	$1798
778 km or 484 mi	Geelong	$2058
779 km or 484 mi	Ballarat	$1464
807 km or 502 mi	Caloundra	$1710