Johannesburg vs Washington - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Johannesburg	Washington
🚶 Cost of living one person	$993	$3149
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2403	$7865
🏠 One person rent	$441	$2045
🏘️ Family rent	$809	$4037
🍽️ Food expenses	$288	$738
🚐 Transport expenses	$181	$167
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1383	$5859
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Good
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	5 km
🎓 Higher education	72	100
😀 Quality of life	57	94
🏙️ Population	4.43M	690K

The cost of living in Johannesburg is 68% less expensive than in Washington. Cities ranked 5539th and 96th ($993 vs $3149) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 4th and 86th 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 1.4 months in Johannesburg compared to 1.9 months in Washington. Johannesburg ranked 2nd best city to live in South Africa vs Washington ranked 5th in the United States, while ranked 5667th and 43rd among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Johannesburg vs Washington infographic

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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	$9.65	$22.3
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$37.9	$86.7
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.9	$11.9
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.37	$8.65
☕ Cappuccino	$2.01	$5.66
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.99	$2.99
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$377	$2298
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$318	$1750
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$790	$4716
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$627	$3555
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$71.9	$123
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$110	$187
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$39.5	$62.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.55%	6.6%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1031	$7543
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$684	$6152
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.62	$2.51
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$72	$94.2
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$9.35	$23.3
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.28	$0.91
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.18	$1.09
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.95	$3.54
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.36	$4.92
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.58	$4.44
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10	$18.2
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.04	$15.7
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.12	$19.3
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.6	$5.25
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.49	$2.02
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.41	$5.22
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.59	$6.03
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.35	$3.21
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.44	$3.8
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.58	$1.72
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.44	$2.99
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$5.96	$16.4
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.25	$3.25
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.97	$11.6
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.59	$9.31
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.94	$4.77
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.88	$4.98
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.42	$2.58
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$33.2	$105
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$7.2	$16.2
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$27.8	$114
💇 Haircut, simple	$5.55	$31.9
👖 Brand Jeans	$48.5	$76
👟 Brand Sneakers	$88.8	$113
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$214	$2464
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$5271	$24653

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	$953
13 km or 8 mi	Randburg	$837
19 km or 12 mi	Soweto	$923
28 km or 17 mi	Benoni	$785
40 km or 25 mi	Springs	$678
41 km or 25 mi	Centurion	$807
53 km or 33 mi	Pretoria	$906
53 km or 33 mi	Vereeniging	$672
59 km or 36 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$773
71 km or 44 mi	Brits	$820
101 km or 62 mi	Rustenburg	$889
109 km or 68 mi	Potchefstroom	$695
143 km or 89 mi	Bethal	$784
152 km or 94 mi	Middelburg	$795
155 km or 97 mi	Klerksdorp	$722
179 km or 111 mi	Kroonstad	$768
237 km or 147 mi	Welkom	$748
244 km or 152 mi	Mmabatho	$780
262 km or 163 mi	Lobatse	$665
275 km or 171 mi	Gaborone	$691
287 km or 179 mi	Butha-Buthe	$535
302 km or 188 mi	Kanye	$664
311 km or 193 mi	Mbabane	$562
323 km or 201 mi	Vryheid	$763
325 km or 202 mi	Molepolole	$628
329 km or 204 mi	Teyateyaneng	$500
333 km or 207 mi	Manzini	$442
350 km or 217 mi	Maseru	$621
366 km or 228 mi	Mahalapye	$631
369 km or 229 mi	Bloemfontein	$657
409 km or 254 mi	Mafeteng	$567
417 km or 259 mi	Palapye	$540
429 km or 267 mi	Kimberley	$814
442 km or 275 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$640
443 km or 275 mi	Matola	$964
446 km or 277 mi	Serowe	$583
454 km or 282 mi	Maputo	$1068
501 km or 311 mi	Durban	$809
562 km or 349 mi	Francistown	$624
577 km or 358 mi	Xai-Xai	$1003

Cities near Washington

Distance	City	Cost of living
2.5 km or 1.5 mi	Georgetown	$2893
9.5 km or 5.9 mi	Bailey's Crossroads	$2543
10 km or 6.3 mi	Alexandria	$2856
11 km or 6.8 mi	Bethesda	$2777
12 km or 7.5 mi	Silver Spring	$2273
15 km or 9.2 mi	College Park	$2548
17 km or 11 mi	Springfield	$2309
17 km or 11 mi	Greenbelt	$2471
23 km or 14 mi	Rockville	$2596
24 km or 15 mi	Fairfax	$2786
26 km or 16 mi	Bowie	$2566
27 km or 17 mi	Laurel	$2299
28 km or 17 mi	Reston	$2617
30 km or 19 mi	Waldorf	$2498
31 km or 19 mi	Gaithersburg	$2425
32 km or 20 mi	Herndon	$2513
34 km or 21 mi	Woodbridge	$2601
34 km or 21 mi	Marumsco	$2539
36 km or 22 mi	Centreville	$3174
37 km or 23 mi	Germantown	$2791
38 km or 23 mi	Columbia	$2760
41 km or 26 mi	Manassas	$2640
42 km or 26 mi	Ashburn	$2696
47 km or 29 mi	Annapolis	$2961
49 km or 31 mi	Catonsville	$2500
51 km or 32 mi	Leesburg	$2197
57 km or 35 mi	Eldersburg	$2499
57 km or 35 mi	Baltimore	$2287
61 km or 38 mi	Owings Mills	$2584
68 km or 42 mi	Frederick	$2389
76 km or 47 mi	Fredericksburg	$2206
83 km or 52 mi	Charles Town	$1728
87 km or 54 mi	Edgewood	$2909
92 km or 57 mi	Bel Air South	$2727
93 km or 58 mi	Bel Air North	$2640
102 km or 63 mi	Hanover	$2210
102 km or 63 mi	Hagerstown	$2149
103 km or 64 mi	Winchester	$2280
106 km or 66 mi	Waynesboro	$2217
122 km or 76 mi	York	$1979