Johannesburg vs Wellington - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Johannesburg	Wellington
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1171	$2037
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2754	$4310
🏠 One person rent	$522	$1265
🏘️ Family rent	$894	$1894
🍽️ Food expenses	$337	$542
🚐 Transport expenses	$216	$105
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1761	$3197
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	5 km
🎓 Higher education	73	18
😀 Quality of life	65	85
🏙️ Population	4.8M	216K

The cost of living in Johannesburg is 42% less expensive than in Wellington. Cities ranked 4839th and 1932nd ($1171 vs $2037) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 4th and 3rd in South Africa and New Zealand, respectively. Check South Africa vs New Zealand comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.5 months in Johannesburg compared to 1.6 months in Wellington. Johannesburg ranked 1st best city to live in South Africa vs Wellington ranked 3rd in New Zealand, while ranked 5190th and 484th 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 Wellington

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

	Johannesburg	Wellington
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$11.5	$13.5
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$43.9	$62.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.73	$9.76
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.81	$7.35
☕ Cappuccino	$2.48	$3.64
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.16	$2.64
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$448	$1167
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$377	$1103
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$804	$2025
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$689	$1611
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$91	$96.1
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$142	$148
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$40	$53.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.13%	5.94%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1058	$6316
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$785	$4074
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.12	$3.04
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$88.7	$115
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$9.88	$17
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.4	$1.68
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.43	$1.95
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.16	$2.12
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.66	$1.98
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.52	$7.19
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.48	$10.9
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.59	$10.6
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.91	$14.7
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.97	$3.1
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.87	$2.37
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.87	$3.15
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.99	$5.28
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.64	$2.16
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.75	$1.4
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.75	$0.79
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.62	$2.18
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.21	$10.6
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.66	$3.69
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.47	$26
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.83	$10.4
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.49	$4.9
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.29	$2.14
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.41	$2.53
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$38.5	$37
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$8.38	$11.8
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$32.1	$38.3
💇 Haircut, simple	$7.19	$17.4
👖 Brand Jeans	$59	$76.8
👟 Brand Sneakers	$104	$113
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$229	$880
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$5808	$13419

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 Wellington

Distance	City	Cost of living
14 km or 8.8 mi	Lower Hutt	$1920
18 km or 11 mi	Porirua	$1788
29 km or 18 mi	Upper Hutt	$1803
46 km or 29 mi	Paraparaumu	$1741
73 km or 46 mi	Blenheim	$1325
81 km or 51 mi	Masterton	$1359
125 km or 78 mi	Palmerston North	$1458
129 km or 80 mi	Nelson	$1533
152 km or 95 mi	Whanganui	$1528
252 km or 157 mi	Hastings	$1518
255 km or 159 mi	New Plymouth	$1304
270 km or 168 mi	Napier	$1605
305 km or 190 mi	Christchurch	$1787
310 km or 192 mi	Taupo	$1523
372 km or 231 mi	Rotorua	$1393
392 km or 244 mi	Hamilton	$1474
402 km or 250 mi	Gisborne	$1696
418 km or 260 mi	Tauranga	$1740
450 km or 279 mi	Timaru	$1894
455 km or 283 mi	Pukekohe	$1527
479 km or 298 mi	Manukau	$1646
486 km or 302 mi	Waitakere	$1778
494 km or 307 mi	Auckland	$2156
521 km or 324 mi	Hibiscus Coast	$1782
596 km or 371 mi	Wanaka	$1623
614 km or 382 mi	Dunedin	$1579
620 km or 385 mi	Whangarei	$1261
647 km or 402 mi	Queenstown	$2303
768 km or 477 mi	Invercargill	$1318
2223 km or 1381 mi	Wollongong	$1695
2226 km or 1383 mi	Dee Why	$2379
2227 km or 1384 mi	Sydney	$2844
2235 km or 1389 mi	Newcastle	$1997
2235 km or 1389 mi	Port Macquarie	$1796
2246 km or 1395 mi	Parramatta	$2482
2254 km or 1401 mi	Noumea	$1928
2255 km or 1401 mi	Kellyville	$2050
2256 km or 1402 mi	Blacktown	$1710
2263 km or 1406 mi	Hobart	$2308
2266 km or 1408 mi	Dumbea	$1865