Johannesburg vs Windhoek - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Johannesburg	Windhoek
🚶 Cost of living one person	$993	$862
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2403	$2459
🏠 One person rent	$441	$430
🏘️ Family rent	$809	$1176
🍽️ Food expenses	$288	$297
🚐 Transport expenses	$181	$57.6
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1383	$894
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	5 km
🎓 Higher education	72	29
😀 Quality of life	57	51
🏙️ Population	4.43M	431K

The cost of living in Johannesburg is 15% more expensive than in Windhoek. Cities ranked 5539th and 6224th ($993 vs $862) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 4th and 1st in South Africa and Namibia, respectively. Check South Africa vs Namibia comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.4 months in Johannesburg compared to 1 months in Windhoek. Johannesburg ranked 2nd best city to live in South Africa vs Windhoek ranked 1st in Namibia, while ranked 5667th and 6198th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Johannesburg vs Windhoek infographic

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Prices in Johannesburg vs Windhoek

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

	Johannesburg	Windhoek
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$9.65	$9.03
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$37.9	$38.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.9	$5.14
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.37	$1.62
☕ Cappuccino	$2.01	$1.99
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.99	$0.95
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$377	$380
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$318	$300
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$790	$1094
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$627	$1008
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$71.9	$67.8
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$110	$104
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$39.5	$46.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.55%	11.83%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1031	$1274
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$684	$786
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.62	$0.72
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$72	$43.2
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$9.35	$6.36
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.28	$1.18
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.18	$1.4
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.95	$0.8
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.36	$1.79
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.58	$2.93
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10	$6.2
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.04	$4.84
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.12	$5.92
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.6	$1.71
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.49	$1.79
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.41	$1.57
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.59	$1.65
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.35	$2.03
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.44	$1.82
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.58	$0.73
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.44	$1.28
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$5.96	$5.98
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.25	$1.2
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.97	$2.69
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.59	$6.98
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.94	$2.48
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.88	$2.56
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.42	$1.38
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$33.2	$37.2
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$7.2	$5.2
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$27.8	$29.9
💇 Haircut, simple	$5.55	$7.95
👖 Brand Jeans	$48.5	$43.9
👟 Brand Sneakers	$88.8	$78.8
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$214	$201
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$5271	$4344

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

$349

$907

$6.64K

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 Windhoek

Distance	City	Cost of living
83 km or 52 mi	Rehoboth	$792
173 km or 108 mi	Omaruru	$811
194 km or 120 mi	Gobabis	$813
238 km or 148 mi	Otjiwarongo	$777
246 km or 153 mi	Mariental	$827
262 km or 163 mi	Swakopmund	$768
268 km or 166 mi	Walvis Bay	$740
375 km or 233 mi	Tsumeb	$742
589 km or 366 mi	Oshikango	$731
776 km or 482 mi	Upington	$699
882 km or 548 mi	Molepolole	$628
883 km or 548 mi	Kanye	$664
921 km or 572 mi	Lobatse	$665
928 km or 577 mi	Gaborone	$691
940 km or 584 mi	Mmabatho	$780
990 km or 615 mi	Serowe	$583
999 km or 621 mi	Mahalapye	$631
1030 km or 640 mi	Kimberley	$814
1032 km or 641 mi	Palapye	$540
1056 km or 656 mi	Livingstone	$688
1079 km or 670 mi	Klerksdorp	$722
1086 km or 675 mi	Rustenburg	$889
1087 km or 675 mi	Francistown	$624
1099 km or 683 mi	Huambo	$577
1112 km or 691 mi	Potchefstroom	$695
1136 km or 706 mi	Brits	$820
1140 km or 708 mi	Welkom	$748
1166 km or 724 mi	Soweto	$923
1167 km or 725 mi	Bloemfontein	$657
1167 km or 725 mi	Kroonstad	$768
1173 km or 729 mi	Randburg	$837
1178 km or 732 mi	Sandton	$953
1179 km or 733 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$773
1180 km or 733 mi	Benguela	$671
1180 km or 733 mi	Pretoria	$906
1180 km or 734 mi	Johannesburg	$993
1184 km or 735 mi	Centurion	$807
1187 km or 738 mi	Vereeniging	$672
1196 km or 743 mi	Lobito	$645
1207 km or 750 mi	Benoni	$785