Climate
Bloemfontein logs 85 hot days a year to Johannesburg's 14 — Johannesburg wins by 71. Johannesburg also leads on frost days by 24.
Bloemfontein
Feels-like °C
Dinner outside
Johannesburg
Feels-like °C
Dinner outside
Cost of Living
Johannesburg averages $1,363/mo for balanced living; Bloemfontein has no cost baseline yet.
Johannesburg
$1,363monthly · balanced
Mobility
Johannesburg scores 2.2 on mobility (0–5 scale); Bloemfontein has no mobility baseline.
Culture
Johannesburg's culture score of 3.6 sits well above Bloemfontein's 0.0.
Nature & Outdoors
Johannesburg scores 3.5 on nature & outdoors (0–5 scale); Bloemfontein has no nature & outdoors baseline.
Safety
Johannesburg scores 1.2 on safety (0–5 scale); Bloemfontein has no safety baseline.
Career
Johannesburg scores 4.1 on career (0–5 scale); Bloemfontein has no career baseline.
Social & Community
Johannesburg scores 3.4 on social & community (0–5 scale); Bloemfontein has no social & community baseline.
Food & Dining
Johannesburg scores 3.8 on food & dining (0–5 scale); Bloemfontein has no food & dining baseline.
Family
Johannesburg scores 3.7 on family (0–5 scale); Bloemfontein has no family baseline.
Healthcare
Johannesburg scores 3.4 on healthcare (0–5 scale); Bloemfontein has no healthcare baseline.
Air Quality
Bloemfontein averages 25.6 µg/m³ (unhealthy) PM2.5 annually versus Johannesburg's 37.0 µg/m³ (very unhealthy) — Bloemfontein breathes ~31% cleaner air (11.4 µg/m³ lower).
Bloemfontein
Johannesburg
PM2.5 annual average
WHO classification
City Scale
Both maps at the same real-world scale — 1 cm on either map is the same distance.
Bloemfontein (483K) and Johannesburg (8.6M) are 18x in population — Johannesburg is the larger metro, Bloemfontein the smaller; on land area Johannesburg spans roughly 13x more ground.
Johannesburg is roughly 15x the scale of Bloemfontein
Combined population & area comparison
JohannesburgBloemfonteinCity Scale Rankings
Johannesburg8.6M18xBloemfontein483K1xJohannesburg1,756 km²13xBloemfontein132 km²1xBloemfontein
Johannesburg
Who Thrives Here
Johannesburg is the stronger fit for the big city energy. Both cities work well for the sunshine lover.
Also compared
LondonFrequently asked about Bloemfontein vs Johannesburg
▶Which is cheaper, Bloemfontein or Johannesburg?
▶How does the climate compare between Bloemfontein and Johannesburg?
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▶Should I move to Bloemfontein or Johannesburg?
The best city depends on what matters to you
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