Cost of living comparison

Wellington, New Zealand

compared to

Johannesburg, South Africa

Johannesburg vs. Wellington Cost of Living Summary

Johannesburg is 45.5% cheaper than Wellington.

Restaurants: pay 48.4% less in Johannesburg
Groceries: pay 42.1% less in Johannesburg
Transportation: pay 34.5% less in Johannesburg
Housing: pay 49.4% less in Johannesburg
Childcare: pay 64.1% less in Johannesburg
Entertainment and Sports: pay 49.9% less in Johannesburg
Clothing: pay 30.4% less in Johannesburg

Expenses including childcare, entertainment and sports, housing, restaurants, groceries, and transportation are lower in Johannesburg.

Johannesburg vs. Wellington Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 48.4% less for restaurants

	Wellington	Johannesburg
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$14.93 NZ$25.00	$11.36 ZAR204.47	-23.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.96 NZ$15.00	$4.88 ZAR87.92	-45.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.57 NZ$4.31	$1.04 ZAR18.69	-59.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.15 NZ$3.61	$0.77 ZAR13.79	-64.4%
Average			-48.4%

Wellington vs. Johannesburg - Cost of restaurants

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pay 42.1% less for groceries

	Wellington	Johannesburg
Bread 1 loaf	$1.96 NZ$3.29	$1.07 ZAR19.26	-45.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.15 NZ$6.95	$4.23 ZAR76.07	+1.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.98 NZ$11.69	$4.27 ZAR76.80	-38.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$6.84 NZ$11.45	$2.43 ZAR43.66	-64.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$5.06 NZ$8.47	$2.11 ZAR37.94	-58.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.40 NZ$2.34	$0.75 ZAR13.50	-46.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.09 NZ$1.83	$0.73 ZAR13.18	-32.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.48 NZ$2.47	$0.68 ZAR12.32	-53.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.61 NZ$4.37	$0.75 ZAR13.43	-71.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.01 NZ$1.70	$0.64 ZAR11.48	-37.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.84 NZ$1.40	$0.70 ZAR12.68	-16.0%
Average			-42.1%

Wellington vs. Johannesburg - Cost of groceries

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pay 34.5% less for transportation

	Wellington	Johannesburg
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.42 NZ$10.75	$5.00 ZAR90.02	-22.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$127.57 NZ$213.59	$78.77 ZAR1,417.89	-38.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$34,339.84 NZ$57,496.60	$22,663.17 ZAR407,921.27	-34.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$18.22 NZ$30.50	$10.22 ZAR184.02	-43.9%
Average			-34.5%

Wellington vs. Johannesburg - Cost of transportation

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pay 49.4% less for housing

	Wellington	Johannesburg
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$54.27 NZ$90.86	$46.17 ZAR831.05	-14.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,487.35 NZ$2,490.32	$422.94 ZAR7,612.64	-71.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,335.17 NZ$2,235.53	$366.97 ZAR6,605.17	-72.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$134.11 NZ$224.54	$82.06 ZAR1,476.98	-38.8%
Average			-49.4%

Wellington vs. Johannesburg - Cost of housing

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pay 64.1% less for childcare

	Wellington	Johannesburg
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$871.44 NZ$1,459.08	$233.11 ZAR4,195.76	-73.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$12,649.75 NZ$21,180.00	$5,705.81 ZAR102,700.62	-54.9%
Average			-64.1%

Wellington vs. Johannesburg - Cost of childcare

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pay 49.9% less for entertainment and sports

	Wellington	Johannesburg
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$7.17 NZ$12.00	$2.27 ZAR40.89	-68.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.41 NZ$5.72	$2.00 ZAR35.96	-41.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$24.46 NZ$40.95	$3.12 ZAR56.23	-87.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$39.85 NZ$66.72	$34.20 ZAR615.55	-14.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$12.24 NZ$20.50	$7.53 ZAR135.46	-38.5%
Average			-49.9%

Wellington vs. Johannesburg - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 30.4% less for clothing

	Wellington	Johannesburg
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$75.78 NZ$126.88	$49.89 ZAR897.96	-34.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$55.09 NZ$92.24	$38.01 ZAR684.08	-31.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$119.44 NZ$199.99	$91.71 ZAR1,650.68	-23.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$129.60 NZ$216.99	$86.75 ZAR1,561.42	-33.1%
Average			-30.4%

Wellington 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: June 2025

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