Amsterdam vs Cape Town - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 10, 2024

	Amsterdam	Cape Town
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2859	$1120
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$6482	$2628
🏠 One person rent	$1887	$603
🏘️ Family rent	$3118	$1117
🍽️ Food expenses	$599	$284
🚐 Transport expenses	$216	$137
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4389	$1545
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	7 km
🎓 Higher education	95	55
😀 Quality of life	95	59
🏙️ Population	921K	3.78M

The cost of living in Amsterdam is 155% more expensive than in Cape Town. Cities ranked 252nd and 4849th ($2859 vs $1120) 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 1.5 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 25th and 5407th 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	$20	$7.8
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$85.7	$34
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$14.3	$5.15
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$6.72	$2.53
☕ Cappuccino	$4.45	$2.32
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.44	$1.04
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1928	$705
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1599	$452
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3529	$1367
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2619	$889
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$172	$59
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$267	$91.3
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$49.6	$41.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	4.24%	11.61%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$10663	$1902
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7824	$1292
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$3.81	$1.14
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$91.7	$45.3
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$26.1	$8.91
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$2.28	$1.36
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.41	$1.1
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.22	$1.07
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.66	$1.53
🥚 Eggs, x12	$5.01	$2.67
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.4	$8.88
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.7	$5.96
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16.6	$7.13
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.32	$1.58
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.38	$1.61
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.04	$1.51
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.98	$1.64
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.98	$1.53
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.18	$1.35
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.62	$0.66
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.76	$1.44
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$7.41	$5.57
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.62	$1.42
🚬 Cigarette pack	$12.6	$2.99
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$6.16	$4.24
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.66	$3.42
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.24	$2.24
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.44	$1.59
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$62.8	$36.2
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$15.8	$6.5
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$42.3	$38.2
💇 Haircut, simple	$28.8	$10.4
👖 Brand Jeans	$99.1	$52.1
👟 Brand Sneakers	$113	$103
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$2462	$201
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$13828	$4270

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	$2064
18 km or 11 mi	Haarlem	$2373
21 km or 13 mi	IJmuiden	$2170
22 km or 14 mi	Almere	$2076
25 km or 16 mi	Zandvoort	$2246
26 km or 16 mi	Hilversum	$2180
26 km or 16 mi	Huizen	$2072
35 km or 22 mi	Langedijk	$2088
36 km or 22 mi	Utrecht	$2184
38 km or 23 mi	Leiden	$2228
38 km or 24 mi	Oegstgeest	$2039
40 km or 25 mi	Zeist	$2375
42 km or 26 mi	Lelystad	$1412
48 km or 30 mi	Leidschendam	$2053
49 km or 30 mi	Harderwijk	$1916
52 km or 32 mi	The Hague	$2094
53 km or 33 mi	Scheveningen	$2010
55 km or 34 mi	Delft	$1991
57 km or 36 mi	Dronten	$1821
59 km or 36 mi	Rotterdam	$2219
60 km or 37 mi	Veenendaal	$1916
61 km or 38 mi	Ridderkerk	$2034
64 km or 40 mi	Sliedrecht	$1987
64 km or 40 mi	Ede	$1782
65 km or 40 mi	Elburg	$1897
66 km or 41 mi	Tiel	$1968
67 km or 42 mi	Zaltbommel	$1985
70 km or 43 mi	Wageningen	$1831
72 km or 45 mi	Kampen	$1891
75 km or 47 mi	Apeldoorn	$2027
76 km or 47 mi	Texel	$1994
81 km or 50 mi	's-Hertogenbosch	$1953
82 km or 51 mi	Arnhem	$1661
83 km or 51 mi	Zwolle	$1841
83 km or 52 mi	Zwartewaterland	$1886
86 km or 54 mi	Deventer	$2006
89 km or 55 mi	Nijmegen	$1827
89 km or 55 mi	Sneek	$1845
89 km or 55 mi	Breda	$1750
91 km or 57 mi	Tilburg	$1865

Cities near Cape Town

Distance	City	Cost of living
54 km or 33 mi	Paarl	$850
99 km or 62 mi	Worcester	$649
371 km or 231 mi	George	$790
644 km or 400 mi	Uitenhage	$901
662 km or 411 mi	Port Elizabeth	$970
664 km or 413 mi	Upington	$741
754 km or 468 mi	Makhanda	$792
821 km or 510 mi	Komani	$953
833 km or 518 mi	Kimberley	$859
845 km or 525 mi	Bhisho	$1286
882 km or 548 mi	East London	$703
912 km or 567 mi	Bloemfontein	$696
950 km or 590 mi	Mafeteng	$581
999 km or 621 mi	Maseru	$627
1002 km or 622 mi	Mthatha	$862
1029 km or 639 mi	Teyateyaneng	$533
1030 km or 640 mi	Welkom	$774
1034 km or 643 mi	Mariental	$832
1092 km or 679 mi	Butha-Buthe	$559
1092 km or 679 mi	Kroonstad	$788
1113 km or 692 mi	Klerksdorp	$689
1135 km or 705 mi	Mmabatho	$809
1155 km or 718 mi	Potchefstroom	$717
1187 km or 737 mi	Rehoboth	$779
1194 km or 742 mi	Lobatse	$692
1198 km or 745 mi	Kanye	$690
1208 km or 751 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$768
1217 km or 756 mi	Vereeniging	$717
1231 km or 765 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$674
1244 km or 773 mi	Soweto	$971
1250 km or 777 mi	Rustenburg	$943
1260 km or 783 mi	Gaborone	$718
1261 km or 783 mi	Molepolole	$654
1261 km or 784 mi	Johannesburg	$1079
1267 km or 788 mi	Randburg	$874
1269 km or 789 mi	Windhoek	$840
1270 km or 789 mi	Sandton	$997
1271 km or 790 mi	Durban	$834
1277 km or 794 mi	Gobabis	$818
1279 km or 795 mi	Walvis Bay	$790