Amsterdam vs Cape Town - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Amsterdam	Cape Town
🚶 Cost of living one person	$3203	$1366
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$7246	$3099
🏠 One person rent	$2108	$773
🏘️ Family rent	$3473	$1343
🍽️ Food expenses	$661	$355
🚐 Transport expenses	$259	$124
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$5294	$404
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	7 km
🎓 Higher education	95	55
😀 Quality of life	96	55
🏙️ Population	921K	3.78M

The cost of living in Amsterdam is 134% more expensive than in Cape Town. Cities ranked 126th and 4432nd ($3203 vs $1366) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 2nd 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 1.7 months in Amsterdam compared to 0.3 months in Cape Town. Amsterdam ranked 2nd best city to live in the Netherlands vs Cape Town ranked 4th in South Africa, while ranked 13th and 6382nd among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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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	$21.2	$12.5
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$95.4	$49.7
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$15.6	$5.71
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$7.09	$3.13
☕ Cappuccino	$4.91	$2.42
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$4.03	$1.39
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$2237	$874
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1767	$594
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3877	$1556
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2931	$1079
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$193	$84.1
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$298	$129
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$54.1	$39
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.62%	11.25%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$11192	$2160
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7947	$1500
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$3.78	$1.16
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$109	$32.7
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$33.8	$9.46
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$2.38	$1.36
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.68	$1.35
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.59	$1.21
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.69	$2.24
🥚 Eggs, x12	$5.54	$2.91
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15.4	$9.29
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.7	$6.21
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$23	$8.46
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.33	$1.83
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.91	$1.81
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.38	$1.79
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.16	$1.94
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.15	$1.52
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.66	$1.47
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.08	$0.79
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.68	$1.84
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$7.48	$6.59
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.9	$1.49
🚬 Cigarette pack	$15	$3.44
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$6.94	$5.94
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.81	$4.02
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.55	$2.49
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.99	$1.67
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$57.9	$49.6
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$17.8	$8.6
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$43.8	$39.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$38.4	$11.2
👖 Brand Jeans	$102	$59.9
👟 Brand Sneakers	$121	$127
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$2472	$264
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$21156	$5378

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	$2223
18 km or 11 mi	Haarlem	$2822
21 km or 13 mi	IJmuiden	$2383
22 km or 14 mi	Almere	$2440
25 km or 16 mi	Zandvoort	$1907
26 km or 16 mi	Hilversum	$2636
26 km or 16 mi	Huizen	$2383
35 km or 22 mi	Langedijk	$2338
36 km or 22 mi	Utrecht	$2669
38 km or 23 mi	Leiden	$2348
38 km or 24 mi	Oegstgeest	$2258
40 km or 25 mi	Zeist	$2457
42 km or 26 mi	Lelystad	$1512
48 km or 30 mi	Leidschendam	$2481
49 km or 30 mi	Harderwijk	$2172
52 km or 32 mi	The Hague	$2701
53 km or 33 mi	Scheveningen	$2471
55 km or 34 mi	Delft	$2389
57 km or 36 mi	Dronten	$2058
59 km or 36 mi	Rotterdam	$2637
60 km or 37 mi	Veenendaal	$1822
61 km or 38 mi	Ridderkerk	$2403
64 km or 40 mi	Sliedrecht	$2332
64 km or 40 mi	Ede	$1848
65 km or 40 mi	Elburg	$2136
66 km or 41 mi	Tiel	$2721
67 km or 42 mi	Zaltbommel	$2369
70 km or 43 mi	Wageningen	$2360
72 km or 45 mi	Kampen	$2106
75 km or 47 mi	Apeldoorn	$2119
76 km or 47 mi	Texel	$2260
81 km or 50 mi	's-Hertogenbosch	$2337
82 km or 51 mi	Arnhem	$2189
83 km or 51 mi	Zwolle	$2002
83 km or 52 mi	Zwartewaterland	$2094
86 km or 54 mi	Deventer	$2055
89 km or 55 mi	Nijmegen	$2200
89 km or 55 mi	Sneek	$2132
89 km or 55 mi	Breda	$2206
91 km or 57 mi	Tilburg	$2340

Cities near Cape Town

Distance	City	Cost of living
54 km or 33 mi	Paarl	$1345
99 km or 62 mi	Worcester	$718
371 km or 231 mi	George	$927
644 km or 400 mi	Uitenhage	$980
662 km or 411 mi	Port Elizabeth	$1036
664 km or 413 mi	Upington	$811
754 km or 468 mi	Makhanda	$874
821 km or 510 mi	Komani	$1050
833 km or 518 mi	Kimberley	$927
845 km or 525 mi	Bhisho	$1419
882 km or 548 mi	East London	$795
912 km or 567 mi	Bloemfontein	$763
950 km or 590 mi	Mafeteng	$630
999 km or 621 mi	Maseru	$681
1002 km or 622 mi	Mthatha	$952
1029 km or 639 mi	Teyateyaneng	$573
1030 km or 640 mi	Welkom	$826
1034 km or 643 mi	Mariental	$986
1092 km or 679 mi	Butha-Buthe	$604
1092 km or 679 mi	Kroonstad	$875
1113 km or 692 mi	Klerksdorp	$826
1135 km or 705 mi	Mmabatho	$901
1155 km or 718 mi	Potchefstroom	$791
1187 km or 737 mi	Rehoboth	$934
1194 km or 742 mi	Lobatse	$697
1198 km or 745 mi	Kanye	$694
1208 km or 751 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$865
1217 km or 756 mi	Vereeniging	$765
1231 km or 765 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$716
1244 km or 773 mi	Soweto	$1057
1250 km or 777 mi	Rustenburg	$1017
1260 km or 783 mi	Gaborone	$731
1261 km or 783 mi	Molepolole	$662
1261 km or 784 mi	Johannesburg	$1171
1267 km or 788 mi	Randburg	$958
1269 km or 789 mi	Windhoek	$1023
1270 km or 789 mi	Sandton	$1089
1271 km or 790 mi	Durban	$948
1277 km or 794 mi	Gobabis	$968
1279 km or 795 mi	Walvis Bay	$905