Johannesburg vs Zurich - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Johannesburg	Zurich
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1082	$3691
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2560	$8778
🏠 One person rent	$485	$2299
🏘️ Family rent	$833	$4069
🍽️ Food expenses	$306	$919
🚐 Transport expenses	$206	$198
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1614	$8151
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	8 km
🎓 Higher education	74	81
😀 Quality of life	62	100
🏙️ Population	4.43M	449K

The cost of living in Johannesburg is 71% less expensive than in Zurich. Cities ranked 5031st and 23rd ($1082 vs $3691) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 4th and 3rd in South Africa and Switzerland, respectively. Check South Africa vs Switzerland comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.5 months in Johannesburg compared to 2.2 months in Zurich. Johannesburg ranked 1st best city to live in South Africa vs Zurich ranked 1st in Switzerland, while ranked 5648th and 2nd among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Johannesburg vs Zurich infographic

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Prices in Johannesburg vs Zurich

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

	Johannesburg	Zurich
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$10.1	$27.9
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$38.1	$90.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.03	$20.1
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.51	$9.69
☕ Cappuccino	$2.18	$7.32
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.08	$5.52
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$462	$2543
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$342	$1977
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$824	$4563
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$632	$3579
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$78.5	$157
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$122	$240
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$40.5	$52.4
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.57%	2.08%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1106	$24740
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$741	$9963
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.21	$4.35
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$77.1	$109
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$11.7	$33.5
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.32	$2.26
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.28	$2.29
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.01	$3.29
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.44	$3.54
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.6	$8.34
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.5	$24.8
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.34	$23.9
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.4	$53.7
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.71	$4.29
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.63	$2.89
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.63	$3.33
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.77	$5.27
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.41	$2.97
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.6	$2.27
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.66	$1.11
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.53	$3.93
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.13	$18.1
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.46	$2.74
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.19	$11.2
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.86	$20.8
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.11	$5.39
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.98	$4.88
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.49	$3.84
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$33.6	$83.2
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$7.33	$23.3
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$29.7	$138
💇 Haircut, simple	$6.46	$55.6
👖 Brand Jeans	$52.2	$138
👟 Brand Sneakers	$93.1	$150
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$227	$2616
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$5503	$22875

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	$984
13 km or 8 mi	Randburg	$890
19 km or 12 mi	Soweto	$984
28 km or 17 mi	Benoni	$826
40 km or 25 mi	Springs	$740
41 km or 25 mi	Centurion	$892
53 km or 33 mi	Pretoria	$975
53 km or 33 mi	Vereeniging	$706
59 km or 36 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$799
71 km or 44 mi	Brits	$875
101 km or 62 mi	Rustenburg	$940
109 km or 68 mi	Potchefstroom	$731
143 km or 89 mi	Bethal	$838
152 km or 94 mi	Middelburg	$830
155 km or 97 mi	Klerksdorp	$762
179 km or 111 mi	Kroonstad	$808
237 km or 147 mi	Welkom	$762
244 km or 152 mi	Mmabatho	$833
262 km or 163 mi	Lobatse	$637
275 km or 171 mi	Gaborone	$668
287 km or 179 mi	Butha-Buthe	$570
302 km or 188 mi	Kanye	$637
311 km or 193 mi	Mbabane	$599
323 km or 201 mi	Vryheid	$827
325 km or 202 mi	Molepolole	$607
329 km or 204 mi	Teyateyaneng	$533
333 km or 207 mi	Manzini	$469
350 km or 217 mi	Maseru	$650
366 km or 228 mi	Mahalapye	$577
369 km or 229 mi	Bloemfontein	$698
409 km or 254 mi	Mafeteng	$598
417 km or 259 mi	Palapye	$514
429 km or 267 mi	Kimberley	$861
442 km or 275 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$705
443 km or 275 mi	Matola	$908
446 km or 277 mi	Serowe	$536
454 km or 282 mi	Maputo	$915
501 km or 311 mi	Durban	$892
562 km or 349 mi	Francistown	$587
577 km or 358 mi	Xai-Xai	$915

Cities near Zurich

Distance	City	Cost of living
4.2 km or 2.6 mi	Altstetten	$3392
6.4 km or 4 mi	Dubendorf	$3276
11 km or 6.6 mi	Dietikon	$3239
14 km or 8.6 mi	Horgen	$3282
14 km or 8.6 mi	Uster	$3249
16 km or 9.7 mi	Bulach	$3153
19 km or 12 mi	Wettingen	$3207
19 km or 12 mi	Wadenswil	$3225
19 km or 12 mi	Winterthur	$3207
20 km or 13 mi	Wetzikon	$3180
20 km or 13 mi	Baden	$3240
20 km or 13 mi	Baar	$3381
23 km or 15 mi	Zug	$3836
28 km or 17 mi	Rapperswil-Jona	$3169
33 km or 21 mi	Frauenfeld	$2747
36 km or 22 mi	Schaffhausen	$2699
37 km or 23 mi	Waldshut-Tiengen	$1684
37 km or 23 mi	Aarau	$2489
38 km or 24 mi	Emmen	$3197
40 km or 25 mi	Wil	$2650
40 km or 25 mi	Lucerne	$3231
43 km or 27 mi	Kriens	$3175
48 km or 30 mi	Singen	$1705
51 km or 32 mi	Radolfzell	$1766
56 km or 35 mi	Kreuzlingen	$2924
57 km or 36 mi	Konstanz	$1887
60 km or 37 mi	Rheinfelden	$1690
63 km or 39 mi	St. Gallen	$2694
63 km or 39 mi	Uberlingen	$1810
64 km or 40 mi	Donaueschingen	$1537
70 km or 44 mi	Riehen	$3565
71 km or 44 mi	Tuttlingen	$1593
71 km or 44 mi	Lorrach	$1694
74 km or 46 mi	Weil am Rhein	$1698
74 km or 46 mi	Basel	$2964
76 km or 47 mi	Villingen-Schwenningen	$1397
77 km or 48 mi	Saint-Louis	$1447
77 km or 48 mi	Friedrichshafen	$1839
77 km or 48 mi	Schaan	$2443
78 km or 48 mi	Allschwil	$3041