Amsterdam vs Cape Town - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Amsterdam	Cape Town
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2791	$1071
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$6603	$2522
🏠 One person rent	$1828	$582
🏘️ Family rent	$3238	$1083
🍽️ Food expenses	$586	$273
🚐 Transport expenses	$226	$124
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4145	$1532
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	7 km
🎓 Higher education	95	56
😀 Quality of life	95	58
🏙️ Population	921K	3.78M

The cost of living in Amsterdam is 161% more expensive than in Cape Town. Cities ranked 331st and 5016th ($2791 vs $1071) 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 1.4 months in Cape Town. Amsterdam ranked 1st best city to live in the Netherlands vs Cape Town ranked 1st in South Africa, while ranked 29th and 5491st among best cities to live in the world.

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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	$8.4
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$93.8	$32.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$13.9	$4.87
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$6.3	$2.58
☕ Cappuccino	$4.22	$2.03
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.13	$1.03
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1920	$677
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1536	$435
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3785	$1304
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2716	$863
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$172	$59.9
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$264	$93.1
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$43.6	$38.9
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	4.17%	11.89%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$9911	$1804
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7140	$1180
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$3.59	$1.09
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$93.9	$39
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$29.2	$8.47
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$2.11	$1.23
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.31	$1.08
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.08	$1.03
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.64	$1.48
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.65	$2.58
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.3	$8.33
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.1	$5.42
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15.7	$7.24
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.17	$1.53
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.2	$1.45
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.9	$1.47
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.93	$1.57
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.89	$1.33
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.93	$1.13
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.65	$0.62
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.1	$1.43
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.64	$5.48
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.5	$1.39
🚬 Cigarette pack	$13	$3.02
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.93	$4.02
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.67	$3.17
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.02	$2.11
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.25	$1.49
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$59.3	$34.4
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$15.7	$6.22
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$38.9	$35.7
💇 Haircut, simple	$30.2	$8.05
👖 Brand Jeans	$88.7	$51
👟 Brand Sneakers	$105	$104
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$2405	$204
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$18104	$4806

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	$1944
18 km or 11 mi	Haarlem	$2291
21 km or 13 mi	IJmuiden	$2085
22 km or 14 mi	Almere	$1937
25 km or 16 mi	Zandvoort	$2090
26 km or 16 mi	Hilversum	$2049
26 km or 16 mi	Huizen	$1957
35 km or 22 mi	Langedijk	$1995
36 km or 22 mi	Utrecht	$2251
38 km or 23 mi	Leiden	$2081
38 km or 24 mi	Oegstgeest	$1934
40 km or 25 mi	Zeist	$2180
42 km or 26 mi	Lelystad	$1357
48 km or 30 mi	Leidschendam	$2042
49 km or 30 mi	Harderwijk	$1844
52 km or 32 mi	The Hague	$2199
53 km or 33 mi	Scheveningen	$2049
55 km or 34 mi	Delft	$1861
57 km or 36 mi	Dronten	$1760
59 km or 36 mi	Rotterdam	$2359
60 km or 37 mi	Veenendaal	$1631
61 km or 38 mi	Ridderkerk	$2062
64 km or 40 mi	Sliedrecht	$1969
64 km or 40 mi	Ede	$1651
65 km or 40 mi	Elburg	$1829
66 km or 41 mi	Tiel	$2432
67 km or 42 mi	Zaltbommel	$2026
70 km or 43 mi	Wageningen	$2105
72 km or 45 mi	Kampen	$1823
75 km or 47 mi	Apeldoorn	$1893
76 km or 47 mi	Texel	$1941
81 km or 50 mi	's-Hertogenbosch	$1975
82 km or 51 mi	Arnhem	$1613
83 km or 51 mi	Zwolle	$1764
83 km or 52 mi	Zwartewaterland	$1813
86 km or 54 mi	Deventer	$1851
89 km or 55 mi	Nijmegen	$1999
89 km or 55 mi	Sneek	$1890
89 km or 55 mi	Breda	$1739
91 km or 57 mi	Tilburg	$1862

Cities near Cape Town

Distance	City	Cost of living
54 km or 33 mi	Paarl	$1147
99 km or 62 mi	Worcester	$619
371 km or 231 mi	George	$743
644 km or 400 mi	Uitenhage	$840
662 km or 411 mi	Port Elizabeth	$901
664 km or 413 mi	Upington	$699
754 km or 468 mi	Makhanda	$763
821 km or 510 mi	Komani	$915
833 km or 518 mi	Kimberley	$814
845 km or 525 mi	Bhisho	$1332
882 km or 548 mi	East London	$766
912 km or 567 mi	Bloemfontein	$657
950 km or 590 mi	Mafeteng	$567
999 km or 621 mi	Maseru	$621
1002 km or 622 mi	Mthatha	$852
1029 km or 639 mi	Teyateyaneng	$500
1030 km or 640 mi	Welkom	$748
1034 km or 643 mi	Mariental	$827
1092 km or 679 mi	Butha-Buthe	$535
1092 km or 679 mi	Kroonstad	$768
1113 km or 692 mi	Klerksdorp	$722
1135 km or 705 mi	Mmabatho	$780
1155 km or 718 mi	Potchefstroom	$695
1187 km or 737 mi	Rehoboth	$792
1194 km or 742 mi	Lobatse	$665
1198 km or 745 mi	Kanye	$664
1208 km or 751 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$773
1217 km or 756 mi	Vereeniging	$672
1231 km or 765 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$640
1244 km or 773 mi	Soweto	$923
1250 km or 777 mi	Rustenburg	$889
1260 km or 783 mi	Gaborone	$691
1261 km or 783 mi	Molepolole	$628
1261 km or 784 mi	Johannesburg	$993
1267 km or 788 mi	Randburg	$837
1269 km or 789 mi	Windhoek	$862
1270 km or 789 mi	Sandton	$953
1271 km or 790 mi	Durban	$809
1277 km or 794 mi	Gobabis	$813
1279 km or 795 mi	Walvis Bay	$740