Cost of living comparison

Chile

compared to

South Africa

Johannesburg vs. Santiago Cost of Living Summary

Johannesburg is 6.9% more expensive than Santiago.

Restaurants: pay 6.0% less in Johannesburg
Groceries: pay 1.1% less in Johannesburg
Transportation: pay 51.2% more in Johannesburg
Housing: pay 10.9% more in Johannesburg
Childcare: pay 47.1% less in Johannesburg
Entertainment and Sports: pay 17.6% less in Johannesburg
Clothing: pay 40.7% more in Johannesburg

The cost of transportation, clothing, and housing in Johannesburg are more expensive than in Santiago. Expenses including childcare, entertainment and sports, restaurants, and groceries are lower in Johannesburg.

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Johannesburg vs. Santiago Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Johannesburg instead of Santiago, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 6.0% less for restaurants

	Santiago	Johannesburg
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$10.23 CLF0.2500	$12.02 ZAR198.53	+17.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.70 CLF0.2200	$7.21 ZAR119.12	-17.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.71 CLF0.0400	$1.20 ZAR19.78	-29.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.25 CLF0.0300	$0.89 ZAR14.72	-28.6%
Average			-6.0%

Santiago vs. Johannesburg - Cost of restaurants

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pay 1.1% less for groceries

	Santiago	Johannesburg
Bread 1 loaf	$1.81 CLF0.0400	$1.25 ZAR20.60	-31.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.64 CLF0.1400	$4.31 ZAR71.21	-23.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.81 CLF0.1200	$5.00 ZAR82.66	+4.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.18 CLF0.1000	$2.67 ZAR44.17	-36.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.11 CLF0.0800	$2.50 ZAR41.31	-19.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.90 CLF0.0200	$0.93 ZAR15.41	+3.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.70 CLF0.0200	$0.83 ZAR13.73	+19.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.74 CLF0.0200	$0.83 ZAR13.65	+12.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.78 CLF0.0200	$0.94 ZAR15.52	+20.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.49 CLF0.0100	$0.76 ZAR12.59	+54.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.68 CLF0.0200	$0.84 ZAR13.83	+23.6%
Average			-1.1%

Santiago vs. Johannesburg - Cost of groceries

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pay 51.2% more for transportation

	Santiago	Johannesburg
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.77 CLF0.1400	$5.77 ZAR95.33
Monthly public transit pass	$40.93 CLF1.0100	$90.13 ZAR1,488.99	+120.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$17,743.12 CLF439.1400	$35,391.94 ZAR585K	+99.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$7.37 CLF0.1800	$8.05 ZAR133.02	+9.3%
Average			+51.2%

Santiago vs. Johannesburg - Cost of transportation

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pay 10.9% more for housing

	Santiago	Johannesburg
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$19.07 CLF0.4700	$35.90 ZAR593.03	+88.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$552.81 CLF13.6800	$498.84 ZAR8,240.91	-9.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$376.90 CLF9.3300	$425.42 ZAR7,028.03	+12.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$113.86 CLF2.8200	$174.98 ZAR2,890.63	+53.7%
Average			+10.9%

Santiago vs. Johannesburg - Cost of housing

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pay 47.1% less for childcare

	Santiago	Johannesburg
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$432.52 CLF10.7000	$242.74 ZAR4,010.09	-43.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$10,959.69 CLF271.2500	$5,468.16 ZAR90,334.24	-50.1%
Average			-47.1%

Santiago vs. Johannesburg - Cost of childcare

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pay 17.6% less for entertainment and sports

	Santiago	Johannesburg
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.09 CLF0.1000	$2.25 ZAR37.22	-44.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.25 CLF0.0800	$2.44 ZAR40.34	-24.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$5.22 CLF0.1300	$3.30 ZAR54.60	-36.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$33.92 CLF0.8400	$36.60 ZAR604.68	+7.9%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.52 CLF0.1900	$7.81 ZAR129.05	+3.9%
Average			-17.6%

Santiago vs. Johannesburg - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 40.7% more for clothing

	Santiago	Johannesburg
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$50.25 CLF1.2400	$57.63 ZAR952.05	+14.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$28.71 CLF0.7100	$45.77 ZAR756.18	+59.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$66.29 CLF1.6400	$108.45 ZAR1,791.55	+63.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$80.84 CLF2.0000	$105.86 ZAR1,748.89	+31.0%
Average			+40.7%

Santiago vs. Johannesburg - Cost of clothing

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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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Size Comparison · See true size

Santiago is about 1.2 times bigger than Johannesburg.

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