Amsterdam vs Cape Town - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Amsterdam	Cape Town
🚶 Cost of living one person	$3118	$1231
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$7329	$2814
🏠 One person rent	$2031	$681
🏘️ Family rent	$3485	$1180
🍽️ Food expenses	$654	$322
🚐 Transport expenses	$260	$124
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4702	$352
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	7 km
🎓 Higher education	95	56
😀 Quality of life	96	55
🏙️ Population	921K	3.78M

The cost of living in Amsterdam is 153% more expensive than in Cape Town. Cities ranked 143rd and 4637th ($3118 vs $1231) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 3rd in the Netherlands and South Africa, respectively. Check the Netherlands vs South Africa comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.5 months in Amsterdam compared to 0.3 months in Cape Town. Amsterdam ranked 1st best city to live in the Netherlands vs Cape Town ranked 5th in South Africa, while ranked 31st and 6312th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Amsterdam vs Cape Town infographic

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Prices in Amsterdam vs Cape Town

Prices for goods and services in Amsterdam and Cape Town are partly crowdsourced by our visitors, just like yourself. Please consider telling us about your city.

	Amsterdam	Cape Town
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$21.3	$11.5
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$103	$46.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$15.4	$5.16
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$7.2	$2.9
☕ Cappuccino	$4.94	$2.15
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.76	$1.24
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$2130	$761
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1705	$513
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3833	$1355
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2970	$937
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$191	$75
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$292	$116
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$51	$43.4
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.81%	11.58%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$10418	$1957
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7591	$1290
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$3.92	$1.15
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$113	$28.5
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$33.2	$10.7
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$2.31	$1.26
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.6	$1.18
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.56	$1.14
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.66	$2
🥚 Eggs, x12	$5.47	$2.53
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15.6	$8.62
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.8	$5.36
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$19.8	$7.75
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.9	$1.73
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.6	$1.73
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.18	$1.64
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.47	$1.75
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.04	$1.32
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.93	$1.39
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1	$0.71
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.85	$1.67
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$7.23	$5.78
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.82	$1.35
🚬 Cigarette pack	$14.2	$3.18
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$6.84	$5.15
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.62	$3.66
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.5	$2.2
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.96	$1.56
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$55.9	$43.3
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$17.3	$7.86
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$44.2	$37.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$37.4	$9.69
👖 Brand Jeans	$103	$56
👟 Brand Sneakers	$124	$120
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$2892	$228
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$19920	$4978

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Amsterdam

Distance	City	Cost of living
14 km or 8.8 mi	Purmerend	$2178
18 km or 11 mi	Haarlem	$2589
21 km or 13 mi	IJmuiden	$2252
22 km or 14 mi	Almere	$2230
25 km or 16 mi	Zandvoort	$1846
26 km or 16 mi	Hilversum	$2568
26 km or 16 mi	Huizen	$2256
35 km or 22 mi	Langedijk	$2235
36 km or 22 mi	Utrecht	$2718
38 km or 23 mi	Leiden	$2222
38 km or 24 mi	Oegstgeest	$2134
40 km or 25 mi	Zeist	$2414
42 km or 26 mi	Lelystad	$1514
48 km or 30 mi	Leidschendam	$2392
49 km or 30 mi	Harderwijk	$2111
52 km or 32 mi	The Hague	$2581
53 km or 33 mi	Scheveningen	$2374
55 km or 34 mi	Delft	$2228
57 km or 36 mi	Dronten	$2011
59 km or 36 mi	Rotterdam	$2615
60 km or 37 mi	Veenendaal	$1829
61 km or 38 mi	Ridderkerk	$2329
64 km or 40 mi	Sliedrecht	$2262
64 km or 40 mi	Ede	$1860
65 km or 40 mi	Elburg	$2082
66 km or 41 mi	Tiel	$2706
67 km or 42 mi	Zaltbommel	$2302
70 km or 43 mi	Wageningen	$2318
72 km or 45 mi	Kampen	$2070
75 km or 47 mi	Apeldoorn	$2154
76 km or 47 mi	Texel	$2187
81 km or 50 mi	's-Hertogenbosch	$2263
82 km or 51 mi	Arnhem	$1986
83 km or 51 mi	Zwolle	$1992
83 km or 52 mi	Zwartewaterland	$2058
86 km or 54 mi	Deventer	$2107
89 km or 55 mi	Nijmegen	$2164
89 km or 55 mi	Sneek	$2100
89 km or 55 mi	Breda	$2087
91 km or 57 mi	Tilburg	$2238

Cities near Cape Town

Distance	City	Cost of living
54 km or 33 mi	Paarl	$1243
99 km or 62 mi	Worcester	$666
371 km or 231 mi	George	$857
644 km or 400 mi	Uitenhage	$946
662 km or 411 mi	Port Elizabeth	$1005
664 km or 413 mi	Upington	$746
754 km or 468 mi	Makhanda	$814
821 km or 510 mi	Komani	$988
833 km or 518 mi	Kimberley	$861
845 km or 525 mi	Bhisho	$1304
882 km or 548 mi	East London	$784
912 km or 567 mi	Bloemfontein	$698
950 km or 590 mi	Mafeteng	$598
999 km or 621 mi	Maseru	$650
1002 km or 622 mi	Mthatha	$901
1029 km or 639 mi	Teyateyaneng	$533
1030 km or 640 mi	Welkom	$762
1034 km or 643 mi	Mariental	$948
1092 km or 679 mi	Butha-Buthe	$570
1092 km or 679 mi	Kroonstad	$808
1113 km or 692 mi	Klerksdorp	$762
1135 km or 705 mi	Mmabatho	$833
1155 km or 718 mi	Potchefstroom	$731
1187 km or 737 mi	Rehoboth	$904
1194 km or 742 mi	Lobatse	$637
1198 km or 745 mi	Kanye	$637
1208 km or 751 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$799
1217 km or 756 mi	Vereeniging	$706
1231 km or 765 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$705
1244 km or 773 mi	Soweto	$984
1250 km or 777 mi	Rustenburg	$940
1260 km or 783 mi	Gaborone	$668
1261 km or 783 mi	Molepolole	$607
1261 km or 784 mi	Johannesburg	$1082
1267 km or 788 mi	Randburg	$890
1269 km or 789 mi	Windhoek	$985
1270 km or 789 mi	Sandton	$984
1271 km or 790 mi	Durban	$892
1277 km or 794 mi	Gobabis	$927
1279 km or 795 mi	Walvis Bay	$857