Cost of Living in Johannesburg, 🇿🇦 South Africa - For Locals, Nomads, and Tourists

Researched Updated Nov 12, 2026 Last changed Nov 14, 2026 About costs

Cost breakdown

Digital nomad: short-term stay (1-3 months). Furnished Airbnb or coliving near center, coworking, eating out ~3x/day, travel health insurance.

Expat: long-term resident (1+ years). Renting apartment in center, mix of cooking and dining out, local health insurance, settled lifestyle.

Family: middle-class 4-person family. 2-3 bedroom in suburbs, groceries for 4, international school, car/transport, family health plan.

Local: budget-conscious local resident. Renting outside center, cooking at home, public transport, local phone plan.

Tourist: short-stay visitor (1-14 days). Hotel/Airbnb nightly, all meals at restaurants, taxis, sightseeing.

CategoryCost

Internet & Mobile 6 8 $18 $64 $82 $39 $3

Housing 1 2 4 $790 $577 $948 $456 $82

Utilities 9 — $150 $261 $101 —

Groceries 2 10 12 $80 $230 $610 $150 $5

Transportation 2 5 20 $243 $210 $299 $55 $12

Dining Out 10 11 12 $338 $96 $369 $27 $10

Leisure Activities 13 14 19 $200 $123 $1,670 $43 $18

Health Insurance 15 16 $63 $246 $942 $77 $2

Visa & Legal Fees 17 — $15 $30 — —

Total $1,732 $1,711 $5,211 $948 $132

Itemized prices

Local prices converted to the selected currency.

Housing

Apartment (1 bedroom) 1 2 $456.00 $264 – $790 per month

Coworking Space 3 $150.89 per month

Airbnb (1 month) 1 2 4 $790.00 $401 – $881 per month

Coliving Space 21 $334.00 per month

Food & Dining

Coffee 11 $2.85 per cup

Beer 12 $4.74 per pint

Meal (Inexpensive) 10 $2.12 per meal

Fast Food Combo 10 12 $5.76 per meal

Apples $1.88 per kg

Bread $1.24 per loaf

Milk $1.38 per liter

Rice $2.00 per kg

Chicken Fillets $6.18 per kg

Beef $8.54 per kg

Wine (Mid-range) $7.07 per bottle

Meal (Mid-range, 2 people) 12 $35.54 per meal

Water (1.5L bottle) $1.06 per bottle

Transportation

Taxi Start $1.47 per trip

Taxi per km $0.94 per km

Monthly Transport Pass 5 $38.75 per month

Gasoline 2 $1.84 per liter

Ride-hailing (5km) 20 2 $6.07 per trip

Scooter Rental $20.61 per month

Services

Mobile Plan 6 $9.05 per month

Internet (60 Mbps+) 8 $54.49 per month

Gym Membership 14 $48.59 per month

Tennis Court (Weekend) $8.24 per hour

SIM Card (Tourist, prepaid) 7 $27.27 one-time

Entertainment

Cinema Ticket 13 $13.36 per ticket

Clothing

Jeans $55.93 per pair

Summer Dress $38.27 per dress

Running Shoes $108.92 per pair

Personal Care

Haircut 22 $16.70 per visit

Laundry $7.07 per kg

Healthcare

Doctor Visit (GP) 18 2 $32.06 per visit

Pharmacy (basic meds) $8.24 per purchase

About these costs

Method: Researched
Last updated: Nov 12, 2026
Last changed: Nov 14, 2026
Exchange rate: 1 USD = 16.4626 ZAR on Oct 19, 2026

Checked against the sources below and compared with similar cities. Numbers in the list point to these sources.

Compared with Cape Town, Hanoi, Lisbon

Change history

Nov 14, 2026
- Method Generated Researched
- Airbnb (1 month) 1089.24 790
- Apartment (1 bedroom) 500.46 456
- Beer 2.83 4.74
- Cinema Ticket 7.95 13.36
- Coffee 2.47 2.85
23 more changes
- Coliving Space 618.22 334
- Coworking Space 188.41 150.89
- Dining Out local 70.65, nomad 677.09, expat 282.61, family 382.71, tourist 55.93 local 27, nomad 338, expat 96, family 369, tourist 10
- Doctor Visit (GP) 38.27 32.06
- Fast Food Combo 6.77 5.76
- Gasoline 1.56 1.84
- Groceries local 223.74, nomad 88.32, expat 323.83, family 824.29, tourist 7.07 local 150, nomad 80, expat 230, family 610, tourist 5
- Gym Membership 44.16 48.59
- Haircut 17.66 16.7
- Health Insurance local 0, nomad 85.37, expat 164.86, family 423.92 local 77, nomad 63, expat 246, family 942, tourist 2.2
- Housing local 441.58, nomad 1089.24, expat 647.65, family 1295.31, tourist 97.15 local 456, nomad 790, expat 577, family 948, tourist 82
- Internet & Mobile local 38.27, nomad 105.98, expat 64.77, family 105.98, tourist 3.53 local 39, nomad 18, expat 64, family 82, tourist 2.98
- Internet (60 Mbps+) 50.05 54.49
- Leisure Activities local 47.1, nomad 247.29, expat 147.19, family 294.39, tourist 26.49 local 43, nomad 200, expat 123, family 1670, tourist 18
- Meal (Inexpensive) 9.71 2.12
- Meal (Mid-range, 2 people) 50.05 35.54
- Mobile Plan 26.49 9.05
- Monthly Transport Pass 55.93 38.75
- Ride-hailing (5km) 5 6.07
- SIM Card (Tourist, prepaid) 8.83 27.27
- Transportation local 82.43, nomad 264.95, expat 206.07, family 441.58, tourist 32.38 local 55, nomad 243, expat 210, family 299, tourist 12
- Utilities local 70.65, nomad 0, expat 129.53, family 264.95, tourist 0 local 101, nomad 0, expat 150, family 261, tourist 0
- Visa & Legal Fees local 0, nomad 35.33, expat 26.49, family 52.99 local 0, expat 15, family 30
Coffee, Coworking Space, Monthly Transport Pass, Meal (Mid-range, 2 people) and Health Insurance (family) re-rounded so each stored dollar figure is the exact conversion of its rand price at 16.4626 (media.suninternational.com, wework.com, reavaya.org.za, bonitas.co.za)

Johannesburg cost of living