Johannesburg vs Pretoria for couples
Johannesburg and Pretoria are both in South Africa, about 53 km apart. Every figure below comes from the data behind our city pages: an estimated monthly cost for a couple, tax tier, annual climate, safety, healthcare, internet speed, language and residency rules. Pretoria leads on cost.
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Side by side
Source: the datasets behind our city pages. Cost is our model estimate (a country-level cost index scaled for city size); tax tiers are assigned by hand from each country's top marginal income tax rate and overall tax reputation; temperature from the Open-Meteo archive (2019 to 2023 averages); rainfall from TerraClimate (1991 to 2020 normals); safety and healthcare are our own country-level estimates; internet from the Ookla Speedtest Global Index; English from the EF English Proficiency Index; residency from our hand-reviewed residency dataset (not legal advice); short-stay entry from the passport-index dataset.
Factor by factor
Cost of living
Pretoria is cheaper: we estimate about €2,461 a month for a couple living centrally, against €2,599 in Johannesburg. That is €138 a month, or 5%, less.
Taxes
Same country, same tax: South Africa is in our high tax tier.
Climate
Pretoria is 2°C warmer on average over the year: 18°C against 16°C in Johannesburg. Rainfall is similar: about 721 mm a year in Johannesburg and 665 mm in Pretoria.
Safety
Our safety score is country-level, so both cities get the same 30 out of 100.
Healthcare
Our healthcare score is country-level, so both cities get the same 55 out of 100.
Internet
Our broadband figure is country-level: about 50 Mbps median fixed download in both.
Language
Main languages in both: English, Afrikaans, Zulu. English proficiency is rated the same in both: some English.
Residency and visas
Same country, same rules: long-term residency in South Africa is rated possible, with conditions, with a self-funded route from about $2,271 a month in income.
Which one fits a couple
On the factors we measure, Pretoria leads on cost (€2,461 against €2,599 a month), and Johannesburg leads on none of them. What our data does not cover can still tip it toward Johannesburg: jobs, family nearby, or simply which one each of you prefers after a visit.
Climate can pull the two of you apart too: a partner who wants warmth leans toward Pretoria (18°C on average), while one who minds the heat leans toward Johannesburg (16°C).
Size differs too: Johannesburg is a major city (over 5 million people) and Pretoria a large one (1 to 5 million people).
OurNextCity has each partner answer 12 questions privately, then ranks Johannesburg, Pretoria and 913 other cities for both of you at once.