Cost of living comparison
compared to
Johannesburg vs. Los Angeles Cost of Living Summary
Johannesburg is 60.9% cheaper than Los Angeles.
- Restaurants
-
pay 56.7% less in Johannesburg
- Groceries
-
pay 50.2% less in Johannesburg
- Transportation
-
pay 13.4% less in Johannesburg
- Housing
-
pay 75.8% less in Johannesburg
- Childcare
-
pay 84.3% less in Johannesburg
- Entertainment and Sports
-
pay 62.5% less in Johannesburg
- Clothing
-
pay 32.2% less in Johannesburg
Johannesburg vs. Los Angeles Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Johannesburg instead of Los Angeles, you would:
pay 56.7% less for restaurants
|
Los Angeles
|
Johannesburg
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$26.50
|
$12.02
ZAR198.53
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$15.00
|
$7.21
ZAR119.12
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$3.72
|
$1.20
ZAR19.78
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.72
|
$0.89
ZAR14.72
|
|
Los Angeles vs. Johannesburg - Cost of restaurants
pay 50.2% less for groceries
|
Los Angeles
|
Johannesburg
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$4.81
|
$1.25
ZAR20.60
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$5.75
|
$4.31
ZAR71.21
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$4.95
|
$5.00
ZAR82.66
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$5.99
|
$2.67
ZAR44.17
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$7.26
|
$2.50
ZAR41.31
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$2.32
|
$0.93
ZAR15.41
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$1.03
|
$0.83
ZAR13.73
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$2.16
|
$0.83
ZAR13.65
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$2.57
|
$0.94
ZAR15.52
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.46
|
$0.76
ZAR12.59
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.30
|
$0.84
ZAR13.83
|
|
Los Angeles vs. Johannesburg - Cost of groceries
pay 13.4% less for transportation
|
Los Angeles
|
Johannesburg
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$5.97
|
$5.77
ZAR95.33
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$105.00
|
$90.13
ZAR1,488.99
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$36,998.00
|
$35,391.94
ZAR585K
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$17.91
|
$8.05
ZAR133.02
|
|
Los Angeles vs. Johannesburg - Cost of transportation
pay 75.8% less for housing
|
Los Angeles
|
Johannesburg
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$80.07
|
$35.90
ZAR593.03
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$2,544.44
|
$498.84
ZAR8,240.91
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$2,413.33
|
$425.42
ZAR7,028.03
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$217.11
|
$174.98
ZAR2,890.63
|
|
Los Angeles vs. Johannesburg - Cost of housing
pay 84.3% less for childcare
|
Los Angeles
|
Johannesburg
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$1,676.09
|
$242.74
ZAR4,010.09
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$32,155.00
|
$5,468.16
ZAR90,334.24
|
|
Los Angeles vs. Johannesburg - Cost of childcare
pay 62.5% less for entertainment and sports
|
Los Angeles
|
Johannesburg
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$8.00
|
$2.25
ZAR37.22
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$5.95
|
$2.44
ZAR40.34
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$13.00
|
$3.30
ZAR54.60
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$75.47
|
$36.60
ZAR604.68
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$19.75
|
$7.81
ZAR129.05
|
|
Los Angeles vs. Johannesburg - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 32.2% less for clothing
|
Los Angeles
|
Johannesburg
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$89.92
|
$57.63
ZAR952.05
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$64.92
|
$45.77
ZAR756.18
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$119.25
|
$108.45
ZAR1,791.55
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$205.45
|
$105.86
ZAR1,748.89
|
|
Los Angeles vs. Johannesburg - Cost of clothing
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
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