Johannesburg vs Washington - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Johannesburg	Washington
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1204	$3350
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2788	$7781
🏠 One person rent	$547	$2159
🏘️ Family rent	$919	$3818
🍽️ Food expenses	$351	$775
🚐 Transport expenses	$210	$171
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$420	$7152
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	5 km
🎓 Higher education	73	100
😀 Quality of life	60	94
🏙️ Population	4.8M	690K

The cost of living in Johannesburg is 64% less expensive than in Washington. Cities ranked 4745th and 74th ($1204 vs $3350) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 4th and 56th in South Africa and the United States, respectively. Check South Africa vs the United States comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.3 months in Johannesburg compared to 2.1 months in Washington. Johannesburg ranked 1st best city to live in South Africa vs Washington ranked 6th in the United States, while ranked 5850th and 31st among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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Prices in Johannesburg vs Washington

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

	Johannesburg	Washington
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$12.2	$22.9
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$46	$101
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$6.16	$12
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.44	$8.68
☕ Cappuccino	$2.41	$6.1
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.2	$3.39
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$473	$2374
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$385	$1850
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$862	$4205
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$679	$3379
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$106	$136
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$164	$206
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$38.8	$68.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	10.88%	6.12%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1060	$8429
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$777	$3565
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.85	$3.03
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$92.2	$115
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$8.38	$18.6
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.42	$0.99
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.36	$1.17
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.24	$3.61
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.81	$6.22
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.48	$5.43
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.99	$18.9
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.77	$15.9
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.11	$19.7
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.12	$5.8
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.89	$2.3
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.93	$5.02
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.07	$5.56
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.64	$2.74
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.75	$3.62
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.86	$1.66
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.58	$3.62
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.1	$17.5
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.89	$4.52
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.4	$13.6
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.66	$9.34
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.33	$4.75
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.25	$4.31
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.36	$2.57
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$37.8	$113
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$8.59	$16.5
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$31	$196
💇 Haircut, simple	$7.27	$35.5
👖 Brand Jeans	$57.1	$70
👟 Brand Sneakers	$107	$116
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$244	$1892
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$5103	$24903

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 Washington

Distance	City	Cost of living
2.5 km or 1.5 mi	Georgetown	$3031
9.5 km or 5.9 mi	Bailey's Crossroads	$2572
10 km or 6.3 mi	Alexandria	$2913
11 km or 6.8 mi	Bethesda	$2769
12 km or 7.5 mi	Silver Spring	$2223
15 km or 9.2 mi	College Park	$3016
17 km or 11 mi	Springfield	$2367
17 km or 11 mi	Greenbelt	$2774
23 km or 14 mi	Rockville	$2678
24 km or 15 mi	Fairfax	$2803
26 km or 16 mi	Bowie	$2596
27 km or 17 mi	Laurel	$2377
28 km or 17 mi	Reston	$2801
30 km or 19 mi	Waldorf	$2508
31 km or 19 mi	Gaithersburg	$2512
32 km or 20 mi	Herndon	$2799
34 km or 21 mi	Woodbridge	$2696
34 km or 21 mi	Marumsco	$2608
36 km or 22 mi	Centreville	$3338
37 km or 23 mi	Germantown	$2695
38 km or 23 mi	Columbia	$2856
41 km or 26 mi	Manassas	$2379
42 km or 26 mi	Ashburn	$2793
47 km or 29 mi	Annapolis	$2862
49 km or 31 mi	Catonsville	$2484
51 km or 32 mi	Leesburg	$2341
57 km or 35 mi	Eldersburg	$2554
57 km or 35 mi	Baltimore	$2224
61 km or 38 mi	Owings Mills	$2603
68 km or 42 mi	Frederick	$2318
76 km or 47 mi	Fredericksburg	$2363
83 km or 52 mi	Charles Town	$1977
87 km or 54 mi	Edgewood	$3012
92 km or 57 mi	Bel Air South	$2787
93 km or 58 mi	Bel Air North	$2694
102 km or 63 mi	Hanover	$2275
102 km or 63 mi	Hagerstown	$2037
103 km or 64 mi	Winchester	$2252
106 km or 66 mi	Waynesboro	$2109
122 km or 76 mi	York	$2088