Johannesburg vs Zurich - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Johannesburg	Zurich
🚶 Cost of living one person	$993	$3296
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2403	$8076
🏠 One person rent	$441	$1966
🏘️ Family rent	$809	$3466
🍽️ Food expenses	$288	$863
🚐 Transport expenses	$181	$211
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1383	$7242
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	8 km
🎓 Higher education	72	81
😀 Quality of life	57	98
🏙️ Population	4.43M	449K

The cost of living in Johannesburg is 70% less expensive than in Zurich. Cities ranked 5539th and 59th ($993 vs $3296) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 4th and 2nd in South Africa and Switzerland, respectively. Check South Africa vs Switzerland comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.4 months in Johannesburg compared to 2.2 months in Zurich. Johannesburg ranked 2nd best city to live in South Africa vs Zurich ranked 1st in Switzerland, while ranked 5667th and 5th 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 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	$9.65	$26
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$37.9	$111
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.9	$17.8
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.37	$8.89
☕ Cappuccino	$2.01	$6.48
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.99	$5.47
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$377	$2155
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$318	$1671
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$790	$4080
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$627	$2967
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$71.9	$148
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$110	$226
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$39.5	$50.4
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.55%	2.17%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1031	$24070
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$684	$5867
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.62	$4.88
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$72	$94.2
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$9.35	$41.4
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.28	$2.08
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.18	$1.99
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.95	$2.98
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.36	$3.45
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.58	$7.49
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10	$22
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.04	$22.1
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.12	$45.4
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.6	$3.52
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.49	$2.34
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.41	$2.81
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.59	$5.08
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.35	$2.6
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.44	$2.32
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.58	$0.79
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.44	$3.38
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$5.96	$14.8
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.25	$2.32
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.97	$10
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.59	$21.1
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.94	$5.47
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.88	$3.9
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.42	$4.01
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$33.2	$72.4
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$7.2	$21.8
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$27.8	$138
💇 Haircut, simple	$5.55	$54.9
👖 Brand Jeans	$48.5	$120
👟 Brand Sneakers	$88.8	$124
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$214	$2498
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$5271	$29610

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 Zurich

Distance	City	Cost of living
4.2 km or 2.6 mi	Altstetten	$3037
6.4 km or 4 mi	Dubendorf	$2988
11 km or 6.6 mi	Dietikon	$2934
14 km or 8.6 mi	Horgen	$2976
14 km or 8.6 mi	Uster	$2974
16 km or 9.7 mi	Bulach	$2873
19 km or 12 mi	Wettingen	$2970
19 km or 12 mi	Wadenswil	$2960
19 km or 12 mi	Winterthur	$3032
20 km or 13 mi	Wetzikon	$2893
20 km or 13 mi	Baden	$3059
20 km or 13 mi	Baar	$3099
23 km or 15 mi	Zug	$3426
28 km or 17 mi	Rapperswil-Jona	$2861
33 km or 21 mi	Frauenfeld	$2379
36 km or 22 mi	Schaffhausen	$2419
37 km or 23 mi	Waldshut-Tiengen	$1472
37 km or 23 mi	Aarau	$2252
38 km or 24 mi	Emmen	$2897
40 km or 25 mi	Wil	$2262
40 km or 25 mi	Lucerne	$2931
43 km or 27 mi	Kriens	$2891
48 km or 30 mi	Singen	$1555
51 km or 32 mi	Radolfzell	$1609
56 km or 35 mi	Kreuzlingen	$2614
57 km or 36 mi	Konstanz	$1731
60 km or 37 mi	Rheinfelden	$1447
63 km or 39 mi	St. Gallen	$2464
63 km or 39 mi	Uberlingen	$1641
64 km or 40 mi	Donaueschingen	$1382
70 km or 44 mi	Riehen	$3234
71 km or 44 mi	Tuttlingen	$1453
71 km or 44 mi	Lorrach	$1434
74 km or 46 mi	Weil am Rhein	$1442
74 km or 46 mi	Basel	$2643
76 km or 47 mi	Villingen-Schwenningen	$1267
77 km or 48 mi	Saint-Louis	$1286
77 km or 48 mi	Friedrichshafen	$1656
77 km or 48 mi	Schaan	$2352
78 km or 48 mi	Allschwil	$2717