Cost of living comparison

compared to

Johannesburg vs. Mexico City Cost of Living Summary

Johannesburg is 0.4% more expensive than Mexico City.

Restaurants: pay 28.2% less in Johannesburg
Groceries: pay 27.3% less in Johannesburg
Transportation: pay 2.3 times more in Johannesburg
Housing: pay 20.8% more in Johannesburg
Childcare: pay 49.1% less in Johannesburg
Entertainment and Sports: pay 23.4% less in Johannesburg
Clothing: pay 15.8% less in Johannesburg

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

Johannesburg vs. Mexico City Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Johannesburg instead of Mexico City, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 28.2% less for restaurants

	Mexico City	Johannesburg
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$10.86 MX$197.31	$11.47 ZAR194.18	+5.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.82 MX$160.32	$4.93 ZAR83.50	-44.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.73 MX$31.47	$1.06 ZAR17.97	-38.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.30 MX$23.70	$0.84 ZAR14.15	-35.9%
Average			-28.2%

Mexico City vs. Johannesburg - Cost of restaurants

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pay 27.3% less for groceries

	Mexico City	Johannesburg
Bread 1 loaf	$2.63 MX$47.71	$1.11 ZAR18.74	-57.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.04 MX$91.60	$4.31 ZAR73.04	-14.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.54 MX$118.83	$4.73 ZAR80.15	-27.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.61 MX$47.38	$2.37 ZAR40.15	-9.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.80 MX$69.15	$2.30 ZAR39.00	-39.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.37 MX$24.88	$0.78 ZAR13.27	-42.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.80 MX$14.54	$0.72 ZAR12.12	-10.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.97 MX$17.69	$0.72 ZAR12.15	-26.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.91 MX$16.47	$0.80 ZAR13.51	-11.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.96 MX$17.42	$0.66 ZAR11.14	-31.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.99 MX$18.07	$0.70 ZAR11.91	-29.2%
Average			-27.3%

Mexico City vs. Johannesburg - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.3 times more for transportation

	Mexico City	Johannesburg
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.14 MX$93.37	$4.84 ZAR81.88	-5.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$19.54 MX$355.17	$86.04 ZAR1,456.32	+340.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$20,030.45 MX$364,045.47	$22,943.68 ZAR388,351.61	+14.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$4.42 MX$80.42	$11.24 ZAR190.29	+154.1%
Average			+125.8%

Mexico City vs. Johannesburg - Cost of transportation

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pay 20.8% more for housing

	Mexico City	Johannesburg
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$30.93 MX$562.20	$41.63 ZAR704.68	+34.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,079.15 MX$19,613.07	$434.32 ZAR7,351.50	-59.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$677.25 MX$12,308.67	$380.92 ZAR6,447.52	-43.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$37.36 MX$679.03	$94.21 ZAR1,594.62	+152.2%
Average			+20.8%

Mexico City vs. Johannesburg - Cost of housing

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pay 49.1% less for childcare

	Mexico City	Johannesburg
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$430.39 MX$7,822.12	$218.24 ZAR3,693.96	-49.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$10,897.53 MX$198,058.25	$5,560.97 ZAR94,126.72	-49.0%
Average			-49.1%

Mexico City vs. Johannesburg - Cost of childcare

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pay 23.4% less for entertainment and sports

	Mexico City	Johannesburg
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.26 MX$59.19	$2.58 ZAR43.69	-20.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.81 MX$69.31	$2.24 ZAR37.95	-41.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.34 MX$78.93	$3.15 ZAR53.40	-27.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$58.44 MX$1,062.21	$35.07 ZAR593.56	-40.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.51 MX$118.39	$7.31 ZAR123.79	+12.3%
Average			-23.4%

Mexico City vs. Johannesburg - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 15.8% less for clothing

	Mexico City	Johannesburg
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$60.95 MX$1,107.65	$53.86 ZAR911.70	-11.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$48.08 MX$873.77	$41.32 ZAR699.47	-14.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$105.72 MX$1,921.42	$92.73 ZAR1,569.59	-12.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$110.91 MX$2,015.75	$82.91 ZAR1,403.29	-25.2%
Average			-15.8%

Mexico City vs. Johannesburg - 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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