Cost of living comparison

Johannesburg, South Africa

compared to

Nairobi, Kenya

Nairobi vs. Johannesburg Cost of Living Summary

Nairobi is 15.0% cheaper than Johannesburg.

Restaurants: pay 26.6% less in Nairobi
Groceries: pay 5.2% less in Nairobi
Transportation: pay 4.2% less in Nairobi
Housing: pay 35.2% less in Nairobi
Childcare: pay 5.9% more in Nairobi
Entertainment and Sports: pay 4.7% more in Nairobi
Clothing: pay 44.5% less in Nairobi

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

Nairobi vs. Johannesburg Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 26.6% less for restaurants

	Johannesburg	Nairobi
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$11.36 ZAR203.88	$3.85 KES499.01	-66.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.88 ZAR87.67	$6.17 KES798.42	+26.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.04 ZAR18.64	$0.66 KES85.82	-36.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.77 ZAR13.75	$0.53 KES68.95	-30.5%
Average			-26.6%

Johannesburg vs. Nairobi - Cost of restaurants

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pay 5.2% less for groceries

	Johannesburg	Nairobi
Bread 1 loaf	$1.07 ZAR19.21	$0.56 KES72.27	-47.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.23 ZAR75.85	$5.59 KES723.88	+32.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.27 ZAR76.57	$3.35 KES434.03	-21.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.43 ZAR43.54	$1.70 KES220.50	-29.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.11 ZAR37.83	$2.71 KES350.89	+28.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.75 ZAR13.46	$1.26 KES163.65	+68.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.73 ZAR13.14	$0.50 KES64.70	-31.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.68 ZAR12.28	$0.87 KES113.15	+27.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.75 ZAR13.39	$0.46 KES59.19	-38.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.64 ZAR11.44	$0.48 KES62.48	-24.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.70 ZAR12.64	$0.56 KES72.04	-21.0%
Average			-5.2%

Johannesburg vs. Nairobi - Cost of groceries

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pay 4.2% less for transportation

	Johannesburg	Nairobi
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.00 ZAR89.76	$6.17 KES799.59	+23.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$78.77 ZAR1,413.77	$30.83 KES3,992.08	-60.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$22,663.17 ZAR406,736.19	$19,266.80 KES2,495,050.69	-15.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$10.22 ZAR183.49	$13.87 KES1,796.44	+35.7%
Average			-4.2%

Johannesburg vs. Nairobi - Cost of transportation

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pay 35.2% less for housing

	Johannesburg	Nairobi
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$46.17 ZAR828.63	$39.39 KES5,101.35	-14.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$422.94 ZAR7,590.53	$428.53 KES55,494.39	+1.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$366.97 ZAR6,585.98	$166.44 KES21,553.40	-54.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$82.06 ZAR1,472.69	$22.39 KES2,899.83	-72.7%
Average			-35.2%

Johannesburg vs. Nairobi - Cost of housing

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pay 5.9% more for childcare

	Johannesburg	Nairobi
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$233.11 ZAR4,183.57	$166.67 KES21,584.38	-28.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$5,705.81 ZAR102,402.25	$8,008.06 KES1,037,043.35	+40.3%
Average			+5.9%

Johannesburg vs. Nairobi - Cost of childcare

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pay 4.7% more for entertainment and sports

	Johannesburg	Nairobi
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.27 ZAR40.78	$2.31 KES299.41	+1.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.00 ZAR35.86	$2.24 KES290.20	+12.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.12 ZAR56.07	$3.08 KES399.21	-1.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$34.20 ZAR613.76	$44.12 KES5,713.16	+29.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.53 ZAR135.07	$6.17 KES798.42	-18.1%
Average			+4.7%

Johannesburg vs. Nairobi - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 44.5% less for clothing

	Johannesburg	Nairobi
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$49.89 ZAR895.35	$16.84 KES2,181.15	-66.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$38.01 ZAR682.09	$22.95 KES2,971.88	-39.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$91.71 ZAR1,645.89	$61.84 KES8,007.92	-32.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$86.75 ZAR1,556.88	$52.50 KES6,798.97	-39.5%
Average			-44.5%

Johannesburg vs. Nairobi - 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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