Cost of living comparison

Argentina

compared to

South Africa

Johannesburg vs. Buenos Aires Cost of Living Summary

Johannesburg is 17.0% cheaper than Buenos Aires.

Restaurants: pay 40.6% less in Johannesburg
Groceries: pay 9.8% less in Johannesburg
Transportation: pay 45.6% more in Johannesburg
Housing: pay 20.4% less in Johannesburg
Childcare: pay 43.3% less in Johannesburg
Entertainment and Sports: pay 31.4% less in Johannesburg
Clothing: pay 36.4% less in Johannesburg

Expenses including childcare, restaurants, clothing, entertainment and sports, housing, and groceries are lower in Johannesburg.

Planning a move to South Africa? Get up to 5 free, no-obligation quotes from vetted international movers. Get free quotes →

Johannesburg vs. Buenos Aires Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Johannesburg instead of Buenos Aires, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 40.6% less for restaurants

	Buenos Aires	Johannesburg
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$19.02 ARS28,866.32	$12.02 ZAR198.22	-36.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$12.96 ARS19,665.62	$7.21 ZAR118.93	-44.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.01 ARS3,045.90	$1.20 ZAR19.75	-40.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.59 ARS2,416.05	$0.89 ZAR14.70	-44.0%
Average			-40.6%

Buenos Aires vs. Johannesburg - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 9.8% less for groceries

	Buenos Aires	Johannesburg
Bread 1 loaf	$2.48 ARS3,759.89	$1.25 ZAR20.56	-49.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.25 ARS7,963.26	$4.31 ZAR71.09	-17.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.52 ARS8,376.92	$5.00 ZAR82.53	-9.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.81 ARS4,263.15	$2.67 ZAR44.10	-4.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.60 ARS6,980.53	$2.50 ZAR41.25	-45.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.28 ARS1,941.83	$0.93 ZAR15.38	-27.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.97 ARS1,476.48	$0.83 ZAR13.71	-14.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.65 ARS986.80	$0.83 ZAR13.63	+27.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.92 ARS1,393.13	$0.94 ZAR15.50	+2.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.56 ARS848.63	$0.76 ZAR12.57	+36.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.56 ARS844.64	$0.84 ZAR13.80	+50.4%
Average			-9.8%

Buenos Aires vs. Johannesburg - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 45.6% more for transportation

	Buenos Aires	Johannesburg
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.28 ARS8,007.28	$5.77 ZAR95.18	+9.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$27.50 ARS41,738.12	$90.13 ZAR1,486.64	+227.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$28,500.00 ARS43M	$35,391.94 ZAR584K	+24.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$9.60 ARS14,570.40	$8.05 ZAR132.81	-16.1%
Average			+45.6%

Buenos Aires vs. Johannesburg - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 20.4% less for housing

	Buenos Aires	Johannesburg
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$31.11 ARS47,219.03	$35.90 ZAR592.10	+15.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$770.79 ARS1M	$498.84 ZAR8,227.92	-35.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$509.75 ARS774K	$425.42 ZAR7,016.95	-16.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$162.43 ARS247K	$174.98 ZAR2,886.07	+7.7%
Average			-20.4%

Buenos Aires vs. Johannesburg - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 43.3% less for childcare

	Buenos Aires	Johannesburg
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$464.87 ARS706K	$242.74 ZAR4,003.77	-47.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$8,896.36 ARS14M	$5,468.16 ZAR90,191.79	-38.5%
Average			-43.3%

Buenos Aires vs. Johannesburg - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 31.4% less for entertainment and sports

	Buenos Aires	Johannesburg
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.95 ARS6,000.47	$2.25 ZAR37.17	-43.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.86 ARS5,864.06	$2.44 ZAR40.27	-36.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.21 ARS6,386.17	$3.30 ZAR54.51	-21.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$49.97 ARS75,848.75	$36.60 ZAR603.73	-26.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$10.38 ARS15,757.84	$7.81 ZAR128.84	-24.8%
Average			-31.4%

Buenos Aires vs. Johannesburg - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 36.4% less for clothing

	Buenos Aires	Johannesburg
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$120.49 ARS183K	$57.63 ZAR950.55	-52.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$95.69 ARS145K	$45.77 ZAR754.99	-52.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$115.94 ARS176K	$108.45 ZAR1,788.73	-6.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$138.37 ARS210K	$105.86 ZAR1,746.13	-23.5%
Average			-36.4%

Buenos Aires vs. Johannesburg - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated October 2026). How we calculate this

Compare further: Buenos Aires vs. Johannesburg

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Johannesburg?

Size Comparison · See true size

Buenos Aires is about 8 times smaller than Johannesburg.

More cost comparisons

Buenos Aires vs.

Toronto

Buenos Aires vs.

Quito

Buenos Aires vs.

Shanghai

Buenos Aires vs.

New York City

Buenos Aires vs.

Rome

Buenos Aires vs.

Bangkok

Buenos Aires vs.

Ho Chi Minh City

Buenos Aires vs.

Lima

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

See the cost of living in Argentina vs. South Africa. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Argentina and South Africa.

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Add prices for Buenos Aires

Add prices for Johannesburg

Ask the Elsewhere Community

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Johannesburg or Buenos Aires. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.