Johannesburg vs Sydney - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 10, 2024

	Johannesburg	Sydney
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1079	$2801
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2553	$6767
🏠 One person rent	$487	$1663
🏘️ Family rent	$837	$3057
🍽️ Food expenses	$302	$569
🚐 Transport expenses	$204	$410
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1695	$4399
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	9 km
🎓 Higher education	72	99
😀 Quality of life	58	99
🏙️ Population	4.43M	4.84M

The cost of living in Johannesburg is 61% less expensive than in Sydney. Cities ranked 5069th and 312th ($1079 vs $2801) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd 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 1.6 months in Johannesburg compared to 1.6 months in Sydney. Johannesburg ranked 2nd best city to live in South Africa vs Sydney ranked 2nd in Australia, while ranked 5446th and 4th 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	$9.91	$15.3
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$40.5	$70.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.08	$10.3
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.31	$7.41
☕ Cappuccino	$2.04	$3.54
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.01	$2.66
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$405	$1992
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$361	$1372
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$781	$4038
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$657	$2523
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$72.2	$114
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$111	$177
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$44.3	$53.8
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.54%	6.38%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1096	$16279
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$753	$9905
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.89	$3.46
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$81.8	$143
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$10.6	$29.6
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.37	$1.4
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.21	$1.71
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1	$2.86
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.44	$2.52
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.66	$4.82
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.3	$12.5
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.16	$8.94
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.49	$15
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.7	$3.42
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.62	$2.92
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.48	$3.22
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.66	$4.5
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.4	$2.54
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.53	$2.32
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.62	$0.98
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.51	$2.43
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.14	$14.1
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.36	$5.08
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.19	$29.8
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$6.05	$6.92
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.18	$5.48
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2	$2.83
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.53	$2.9
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$33.1	$58.7
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$7.67	$16.9
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$29.8	$67.7
💇 Haircut, simple	$6.42	$20.8
👖 Brand Jeans	$51.5	$78.9
👟 Brand Sneakers	$91.2	$117
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$241	$2054
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$5865	$18951

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	$997
13 km or 8 mi	Randburg	$874
19 km or 12 mi	Soweto	$971
28 km or 17 mi	Benoni	$822
40 km or 25 mi	Springs	$696
41 km or 25 mi	Centurion	$838
53 km or 33 mi	Pretoria	$909
53 km or 33 mi	Vereeniging	$717
59 km or 36 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$768
71 km or 44 mi	Brits	$848
101 km or 62 mi	Rustenburg	$943
109 km or 68 mi	Potchefstroom	$717
143 km or 89 mi	Bethal	$819
152 km or 94 mi	Middelburg	$841
155 km or 97 mi	Klerksdorp	$689
179 km or 111 mi	Kroonstad	$788
237 km or 147 mi	Welkom	$774
244 km or 152 mi	Mmabatho	$809
262 km or 163 mi	Lobatse	$692
275 km or 171 mi	Gaborone	$718
287 km or 179 mi	Butha-Buthe	$559
302 km or 188 mi	Kanye	$690
311 km or 193 mi	Mbabane	$623
323 km or 201 mi	Vryheid	$791
325 km or 202 mi	Molepolole	$654
329 km or 204 mi	Teyateyaneng	$533
333 km or 207 mi	Manzini	$459
350 km or 217 mi	Maseru	$627
366 km or 228 mi	Mahalapye	$663
369 km or 229 mi	Bloemfontein	$696
409 km or 254 mi	Mafeteng	$581
417 km or 259 mi	Palapye	$554
429 km or 267 mi	Kimberley	$859
442 km or 275 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$674
443 km or 275 mi	Matola	$1003
446 km or 277 mi	Serowe	$600
454 km or 282 mi	Maputo	$1116
501 km or 311 mi	Durban	$834
562 km or 349 mi	Francistown	$585
577 km or 358 mi	Xai-Xai	$1045

Cities near Sydney

Distance	City	Cost of living
15 km or 9.2 mi	Dee Why	$2286
19 km or 12 mi	Parramatta	$2472
29 km or 18 mi	Kellyville	$1997
29 km or 18 mi	Blacktown	$1732
69 km or 43 mi	Wollongong	$1532
117 km or 73 mi	Newcastle	$1833
158 km or 98 mi	Bathurst	$1674
168 km or 104 mi	Goulburn	$1748
205 km or 127 mi	Orange	$1500
247 km or 154 mi	Canberra	$2393
301 km or 187 mi	Dubbo	$1815
314 km or 195 mi	Port Macquarie	$1661
377 km or 234 mi	Armidale	$1289
378 km or 235 mi	Wagga Wagga	$1628
436 km or 271 mi	Coffs Harbour	$1913
478 km or 297 mi	Griffith	$1746
597 km or 371 mi	Shepparton	$1717
624 km or 388 mi	Byron Bay	$1958
638 km or 396 mi	Traralgon	$1829
683 km or 425 mi	Gold Coast	$2300
689 km or 428 mi	Southport	$2141
695 km or 432 mi	Pakenham	$1805
701 km or 436 mi	Berwick	$1800
706 km or 439 mi	Bendigo	$1397
706 km or 439 mi	Toowoomba	$1635
707 km or 439 mi	Dandenong	$1876
711 km or 442 mi	Ipswich	$1877
711 km or 442 mi	Cranbourne	$1738
713 km or 443 mi	South Yarra	$1758
713 km or 443 mi	Melbourne	$2397
716 km or 445 mi	Sunbury	$1822
724 km or 450 mi	Frankston	$1799
732 km or 455 mi	Melton	$1795
733 km or 455 mi	Brisbane	$2491
735 km or 457 mi	Tarneit	$1757
736 km or 457 mi	Hoppers Crossing	$1767
775 km or 481 mi	Caboolture	$1925
778 km or 484 mi	Geelong	$1892
779 km or 484 mi	Ballarat	$1357
807 km or 502 mi	Caloundra	$1754