Global CityIntelligence

South Africa / Africa

Johannesburg City Intelligence

Johannesburg is South Africa's largest urban region and a major economic and cultural hub with deep finance, mining, and creative industries. Johannesburg is a africa city of about 9.7M metro in South Africa. On the composite city-intelligence score, Johannesburg sits around the indexed median (70/100).

Last updated
2026-05-16
Data year
2025
Population
9.7M metro
View of Johannesburg, South Africa

Image credit: Image: Evan Bench / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0

Overall score

Johannesburg is most useful for users comparing affordability and economic depth in southern Africa against energy-transition and safety considerations.

Overall70/100
Affordability76/100
Air quality64/100
Energy64/100

Overall city intelligence

Good

70/100

Strong economic depth and affordability profile balanced against energy-transition needs.

Economic depth

Very high

Finance, mining, and creative industries shape opportunity.

Affordability profile

Favorable

Cost-of-living levels are comparatively favorable.

Johannesburg data table

The table is part of the initial server-rendered HTML and mirrors the key city score cards.

Johannesburg city intelligence data table
MetricValueContext
Overall score70/100Composite score across major city intelligence modules.
Cost of Living76/100Johannesburg offers favorable affordability for a major economic capital, with food and services costs supporting steady daily life.
Air Quality64/100Johannesburg's air-quality profile is shaped by traffic, industry, and seasonal heating, with active monitoring and policy attention.
Energy64/100Johannesburg's energy profile reflects an active national transition with rising renewable build-out and ongoing grid-resilience work.
Safety60/100Johannesburg has mid-tier safety with strong neighborhood variation; resident experience differs widely across districts.
Internet Speed80/100Johannesburg offers solid fiber broadband and reliable mobile coverage, supporting a deep finance, services, and digital-economy presence.
Climate Risk70/100Johannesburg carries moderate climate exposure from heat, water variability, and intense storms, balanced by active adaptation programs.
Resilience68/100Climate adaptation and infrastructure continuity context.

Safety

Deterministic safety estimates from our index — planning signals derived from country priors and city data, not official crime statistics.

Safety

Overall safety43/100
Low crime44/100
Personal safety45/100
Night safety36/100
Road safety48/100

Johannesburg scores below average for safety in our index (43/100); research neighborhoods and take standard precautions.

Quality of Life

A composite quality-of-life estimate and its component indicators.

Quality of Life

Quality of life58/100
Healthcare61/100
Education67/100
Green space43/100
Cleanliness50/100
Infrastructure65/100
Mobility63/100

Johannesburg has a moderate quality-of-life estimate (58/100) across our combined indicators.

Family Friendliness

How the city scores for raising a family, with the indicators that drive it.

Family Friendliness

Family friendliness54/100
Education67/100
Green space43/100
Overall safety43/100

Johannesburg scores modest for family living (54/100).

Digital Nomad Suitability

Suitability for remote workers, based on connectivity, mobility, and livability.

Digital Nomad Suitability

Digital nomad suitability65/100
Walkability81/100
Cycling59/100
Infrastructure65/100

Johannesburg is moderate for remote workers (65/100), based on connectivity, affordability and walkability and day-to-day amenities.

Retirement Suitability

Suitability for retirement, weighing healthcare, affordability, climate, and environment.

Retirement Suitability

Retirement suitability59/100
Healthcare61/100
Cleanliness50/100
Outdoor lifestyle28/100

Johannesburg is moderate for retirement (59/100), appealing for affordability and a comfortable climate.

Emergency and public safety in Johannesburg

Local public safety guidance for Johannesburg, with the country-level emergency contacts that apply when calling for police, fire, or ambulance.

Unverified

For the universal emergency contacts that apply in Johannesburg, including police, fire, and ambulance, see the South Africa emergency profile, which currently lists no verified national contacts.

Methodology and the wider source registry are documented on the scoring methodology and data sources pages.

Healthcare and hospitals in Johannesburg

Healthcare context for Johannesburg, with national-level information from South Africa where city-specific data is not yet verified. This is informational only and does not provide medical advice.

Unverified

For the national healthcare and public-health context that applies in Johannesburg, see the South Africa healthcare profile, which currently lists no verified national healthcare information.

Related sections: emergency and public safety, scoring methodology, and data sources.

Transport and mobility in Johannesburg

Local mobility context for Johannesburg, with national-level context from South Africa where city-specific data is not yet verified. This is informational only.

Unverified

For national transport authorities and operators that apply in Johannesburg, see the South Africa transport profile, which currently lists no verified national transport information.

Related sections: emergency and public safety, healthcare and hospitals, cities directory, countries directory, scoring methodology, data sources.

Air quality dataset

Source-attributed air-quality dataset for Johannesburg. Verified measurements are surfaced when published from accepted official datasets; transparent fallback is shown otherwise.

Air quality dataset for Johannesburg

Verified data unavailableLast updated 2026-05-16 / data year 2025

Verified air-quality measurements are not yet published for this location

Source-attributed values for Johannesburg will appear here after the platform integrates verified measurements from accepted official publishers. Until then, structured air-quality module context remains available on the dedicated module page.

Johannesburg air-quality dataset coverage
MetricValueData yearStatus
Air qualityVerified air-quality measurements are not yet published for this location.

Data provenance

Source attribution

  • Global City Intelligence — air-quality dataset

    Verified data unavailable
    Publisher
    Global City Intelligence
    Last verified
    2026-05-16

    The air-quality dataset begins empty by design. Verified city-level measurements appear here only after they are sourced from accepted publishers (WHO, EEA, US EPA, OpenAQ, OECD, or official national/city environmental agencies).

Related comparisons

Pairs that share a city, comparison intent, or region — useful for users planning a wider relocation, remote-work, or business decision.

Explore Johannesburg modules

City pages link to module and ranking pages so crawlers can move through the topic cluster naturally.

Cost of Living in Johannesburg

Johannesburg offers favorable affordability for a major economic capital, with food and services costs supporting steady daily life.

Air Quality in Johannesburg

Johannesburg's air-quality profile is shaped by traffic, industry, and seasonal heating, with active monitoring and policy attention.

Energy in Johannesburg

Johannesburg's energy profile reflects an active national transition with rising renewable build-out and ongoing grid-resilience work.

Safety in Johannesburg

Johannesburg has mid-tier safety with strong neighborhood variation; resident experience differs widely across districts.

Internet Speed in Johannesburg

Johannesburg offers solid fiber broadband and reliable mobile coverage, supporting a deep finance, services, and digital-economy presence.

Climate Risk in Johannesburg

Johannesburg carries moderate climate exposure from heat, water variability, and intense storms, balanced by active adaptation programs.

City rankings

Compare this city against other indexed cities in crawlable ranking tables.

Cost of living in Johannesburg

Cost of living estimates for Johannesburg — monthly budgets, rent, food, and transport in the local currency, plus an affordability score for comparison. Planning estimates derived from country baselines, not live prices.

Climate in Johannesburg

Climate profile for Johannesburg — Semi-Arid climate, annual average 23.9°C, comfort score 78/100. Month-by-month temperatures, rainfall, sunshine, and the best months to visit. Deterministic planning estimates, not a forecast.

Economy and jobs in Johannesburg

Economy and jobs profile for Johannesburg — tourism economy, economy score 58/100, key industries including tourism, manufacturing, mining. Employment, salary, startup, remote-work, and career indicators. Deterministic planning estimates.

Universities and education in Johannesburg

Education profile for Johannesburg — regional education center, education score 62/100, 6 representative universities, plus research, student life, and international-student indicators. Deterministic dataset, not institutional rankings.

Healthcare and retirement in Johannesburg

Healthcare and retirement profile for Johannesburg — mixed healthcare profile, healthcare score 58/100, retirement score 62/100. Medical access, specialist and emergency care, affordability, and retirement suitability. Deterministic planning estimates.

Arrival planning guide for Johannesburg

Practical arrival planning context for Johannesburg — links into transport, public-safety, healthcare, budgeting tools, and methodology. Not an official airport or travel instruction service.

Estimate a monthly budget for Johannesburg

Estimate a monthly budget for Johannesburg using your own housing, food, transport, healthcare, and lifestyle inputs. Planning estimator only — not an official cost-of-living measurement.

Plan a trip budget for Johannesburg

Plan a trip budget for Johannesburg using your own accommodation, food, local transport, activities, travel, healthcare buffer, and emergency buffer inputs. Planning estimator only — not an official travel cost estimate.

Nearby cities from Johannesburg

Where else nearby you could spend a day or a weekend from Johannesburg. Links are derived from geographic proximity, shared region, shared natural-recreation areas, transport corridors, and country borders — not popularity or tourism rankings.

Pretoria, South Africa

Same region · about 53 km from Johannesburg. Explore Pretoria's city intelligence profile.

Gaborone, Botswana

Cross-border · about 275 km from Johannesburg. Explore Gaborone's city intelligence profile.

Maputo, Mozambique

Cross-border · about 453 km from Johannesburg. Explore Maputo's city intelligence profile.

Durban, South Africa

Weekend trip · about 501 km from Johannesburg. Explore Durban's city intelligence profile.

Windhoek, Namibia

Cross-border · about 1180 km from Johannesburg. Explore Windhoek's city intelligence profile.

Interpretation

Johannesburg is most useful for users comparing affordability and economic depth in southern Africa against energy-transition and safety considerations. Its standout dimensions are internet speed (80/100) and cost of living (76/100). The area most worth watching is safety (60/100), where the model registers practical gaps. Data year 2025; last updated 2026-05-16. Drawn from 5 institutional references.

Country context is available on the South Africa country page. Related rankings include Overall Intelligence, Quality of Life, Remote Work. See where Johannesburg appears in global rankings or read the scoring methodology.

Structured indicators on this page are directional and intended for orientation. Verified datasets are being integrated; official sources should be used for critical decisions.

Sources

5 institutional references inform this view, listed below with reliability notes. Structured indicators on this page are directional and intended for orientation; verified datasets are being integrated and official sources should be used for critical decisions.