Cost of living comparison

compared to

Sandton vs. Beijing Cost of Living Summary

Sandton is 25.5% more expensive than Beijing.

Restaurants: pay 2.0 times more in Sandton
Groceries: pay 8.9% more in Sandton
Transportation: pay 62.2% more in Sandton
Housing: pay 78.8% more in Sandton
Childcare: pay 73.8% less in Sandton
Entertainment and Sports: pay 2.7% more in Sandton
Clothing: pay 1.3% less in Sandton

The cost of restaurants, housing, transportation, groceries, and entertainment and sports in Sandton are more expensive than in Beijing. Expenses including childcare and clothing are lower in Sandton. Notably, restaurants and housing are significantly more expensive in Sandton.

Sandton vs. Beijing Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Sandton instead of Beijing, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 2.0 times more for restaurants

	Beijing	Sandton
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.21 CN¥29.74	$8.60 ZAR145.58	+104.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.91 CN¥34.69	$5.02 ZAR84.92	+2.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.48 CN¥3.39	$1.08 ZAR18.21	+124.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.31 CN¥2.17	$0.84 ZAR14.14	+172.2%
Average			+100.8%

Beijing vs. Sandton - Cost of restaurants

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pay 8.9% more for groceries

	Beijing	Sandton
Bread 1 loaf	$1.71 CN¥12.07	$1.07 ZAR18.08	-37.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.47 CN¥52.80	$4.02 ZAR68.05	-46.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.64 CN¥46.96	$4.68 ZAR79.22	-29.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.78 CN¥12.56	$2.46 ZAR41.69	+38.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.53 CN¥10.83	$2.10 ZAR35.58	+37.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.98 CN¥6.95	$0.76 ZAR12.81	-23.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.77 CN¥5.44	$0.71 ZAR12.00	-7.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.80 CN¥5.66	$0.75 ZAR12.63	-6.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.60 CN¥4.26	$0.80 ZAR13.51	+32.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.35 CN¥2.46	$0.59 ZAR10.04	+70.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.41 CN¥2.92	$0.70 ZAR11.90	+70.5%
Average			+8.9%

Beijing vs. Sandton - Cost of groceries

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pay 62.2% more for transportation

	Beijing	Sandton
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.21 CN¥29.77	$4.97 ZAR84.15	+18.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$31.54 CN¥223.02	??
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$18,225.66 CN¥128,857.25	$22,935.00 ZAR388,204.67	+25.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$4.63 CN¥32.71	$11.24 ZAR190.22	+142.9%
Average			+62.2%

Beijing vs. Sandton - Cost of transportation

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pay 78.8% more for housing

	Beijing	Sandton
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$12.93 CN¥91.43	$41.62 ZAR704.42	+221.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$935.23 CN¥6,612.19	$515.85 ZAR8,731.37	-44.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$504.41 CN¥3,566.20	$458.70 ZAR7,764.09	-9.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$39.27 CN¥277.61	$97.15 ZAR1,644.34	+147.4%
Average			+78.8%

Beijing vs. Sandton - Cost of housing

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pay 73.8% less for childcare

	Beijing	Sandton
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$710.76 CN¥5,025.17	$201.83 ZAR3,416.20	-71.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$23,242.73 CN¥164,328.40	$5,558.87 ZAR94,091.11	-76.1%
Average			-73.8%

Beijing vs. Sandton - Cost of childcare

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pay 2.7% more for entertainment and sports

	Beijing	Sandton
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.12 CN¥7.93	$2.29 ZAR38.82	+104.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.90 CN¥20.52	$2.21 ZAR37.46	-23.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.21 CN¥29.74	$2.87 ZAR48.53	-31.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$57.84 CN¥408.91	$43.96 ZAR744.06	-24.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.41 CN¥59.47	$7.45 ZAR126.17	-11.4%
Average			+2.7%

Beijing vs. Sandton - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 1.3% less for clothing

	Beijing	Sandton
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$62.30 CN¥440.46	$53.84 ZAR911.35	-13.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$36.37 CN¥257.16	$41.31 ZAR699.21	+13.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$81.74 CN¥577.91	$92.70 ZAR1,568.99	+13.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$105.53 CN¥746.11	$86.01 ZAR1,455.77	-18.5%
Average			-1.3%

Beijing vs. Sandton - Cost of clothing

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The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: December 2025

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