Cost of living comparison

Johannesburg, South Africa

compared to

Mexico City, Mexico

Mexico City vs. Johannesburg Cost of Living Summary

Mexico City is 14.4% more expensive than Johannesburg.

Restaurants: pay 11.2% more in Mexico City
Groceries: pay 33.2% more in Mexico City
Transportation: pay 42.1% less in Mexico City
Housing: pay 12.3% more in Mexico City
Childcare: pay 55.7% more in Mexico City
Entertainment and Sports: pay 23.8% more in Mexico City
Clothing: pay 6.8% more in Mexico City

The cost of childcare, groceries, entertainment and sports, housing, restaurants, and clothing in Mexico City are more expensive than in Johannesburg.

Mexico City vs. Johannesburg Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 11.2% more for restaurants

	Johannesburg	Mexico City
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$11.36 ZAR202.01	$9.93 MX$189.72	-12.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.88 ZAR86.86	$7.45 MX$142.29	+52.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.04 ZAR18.47	$1.08 MX$20.63	+3.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.77 ZAR13.62	$0.77 MX$14.77	+0.9%
Average			+11.2%

Johannesburg vs. Mexico City - Cost of restaurants

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pay 33.2% more for groceries

	Johannesburg	Mexico City
Bread 1 loaf	$1.07 ZAR19.03	$2.45 MX$46.85	+129.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.23 ZAR75.15	$4.87 MX$92.99	+15.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.27 ZAR75.87	$5.51 MX$105.24	+29.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.43 ZAR43.14	$2.18 MX$41.71	-10.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.11 ZAR37.48	$3.57 MX$68.23	+69.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.75 ZAR13.34	$1.22 MX$23.35	+62.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.73 ZAR13.02	$0.67 MX$12.79	-8.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.68 ZAR12.17	$0.80 MX$15.27	+16.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.75 ZAR13.26	$0.83 MX$15.81	+10.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.64 ZAR11.34	$0.85 MX$16.26	+33.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.70 ZAR12.53	$0.83 MX$15.81	+17.5%
Average			+33.2%

Johannesburg vs. Mexico City - Cost of groceries

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pay 42.1% less for transportation

	Johannesburg	Mexico City
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.00 ZAR88.94	$4.64 MX$88.61	-7.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$78.77 ZAR1,400.82	$17.87 MX$341.49	-77.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$22,663.17 ZAR403,010.14	$18,615.02 MX$355,719.96	-17.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$10.22 ZAR181.81	$3.47 MX$66.40	-66.0%
Average			-42.1%

Johannesburg vs. Mexico City - Cost of transportation

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pay 12.3% more for housing

	Johannesburg	Mexico City
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$46.17 ZAR821.04	$24.38 MX$465.87	-47.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$422.94 ZAR7,520.99	$893.52 MX$17,074.56	+111.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$366.97 ZAR6,525.65	$544.24 MX$10,399.96	+48.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$82.06 ZAR1,459.20	$30.31 MX$579.23	-63.1%
Average			+12.3%

Johannesburg vs. Mexico City - Cost of housing

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pay 55.7% more for childcare

	Johannesburg	Mexico City
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$233.11 ZAR4,145.25	$381.33 MX$7,286.87	+63.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$5,705.81 ZAR101,464.16	$8,426.99 MX$161,033.86	+47.7%
Average			+55.7%

Johannesburg vs. Mexico City - Cost of childcare

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pay 23.8% more for entertainment and sports

	Johannesburg	Mexico City
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.27 ZAR40.40	$2.73 MX$52.17	+20.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.00 ZAR35.53	$3.01 MX$57.45	+50.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.12 ZAR55.55	$3.92 MX$74.94	+25.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$34.20 ZAR608.14	$53.69 MX$1,025.93	+57.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.53 ZAR133.83	$4.96 MX$94.86	-34.0%
Average			+23.8%

Johannesburg vs. Mexico City - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 6.8% more for clothing

	Johannesburg	Mexico City
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$49.89 ZAR887.15	$56.36 MX$1,076.91	+13.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$38.01 ZAR675.84	$41.06 MX$784.61	+8.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$91.71 ZAR1,630.81	$91.99 MX$1,757.91	+0.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$86.75 ZAR1,542.62	$91.93 MX$1,756.71	+6.0%
Average			+6.8%

Johannesburg vs. Mexico City - 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: June 2025

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