Auckland vs Cape Town - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Auckland	Cape Town
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2100	$1386
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4687	$3160
🏠 One person rent	$1218	$775
🏘️ Family rent	$1887	$1348
🍽️ Food expenses	$524	$359
🚐 Transport expenses	$234	$139
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3173	$405
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	15 km	7 km
🎓 Higher education	32	55
😀 Quality of life	89	58
🏙️ Population	1.47M	3.78M

The cost of living in Auckland is 52% more expensive than in Cape Town. Cities ranked 1745th and 4336th ($2100 vs $1386) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 2nd and 3rd in New Zealand and South Africa, respectively. Check New Zealand vs South Africa comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.5 months in Auckland compared to 0.3 months in Cape Town. Auckland ranked 1st best city to live in New Zealand vs Cape Town ranked 2nd in South Africa, while ranked 242nd and 6134th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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Prices in Auckland vs Cape Town

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

	Auckland	Cape Town
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$13	$12.2
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$66.1	$48.7
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.62	$6.19
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$7	$3.03
☕ Cappuccino	$3.56	$2.47
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.14	$1.39
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1140	$942
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1054	$591
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1993	$1671
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1609	$1075
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$99	$72.4
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$153	$112
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$48	$41.7
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	5.45%	11.35%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7981	$2325
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5409	$1508
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.61	$1.33
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$124	$37.4
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$18.1	$11
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.74	$1.33
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.72	$1.36
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.91	$1.2
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.74	$2.25
🥚 Eggs, x12	$6.11	$2.97
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.74	$8.53
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.7	$6.77
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16.3	$8.45
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.88	$1.94
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.07	$1.88
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.18	$1.82
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.43	$2.09
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.93	$1.6
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.57	$1.56
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.67	$0.78
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.29	$1.77
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$10.9	$6.22
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.82	$1.47
🚬 Cigarette pack	$26.6	$3.38
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$11.5	$6.05
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.03	$3.91
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.47	$2.41
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.38	$1.62
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$34.4	$49.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$13.4	$9.14
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$39.7	$37.2
💇 Haircut, simple	$18.5	$11.1
👖 Brand Jeans	$76.4	$58.7
👟 Brand Sneakers	$95.8	$124
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1100	$272
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$17894	$6197

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Auckland

Distance	City	Cost of living
13 km or 8.4 mi	Waitakere	$1752
17 km or 11 mi	Manukau	$1553
28 km or 18 mi	Hibiscus Coast	$1745
40 km or 25 mi	Pukekohe	$1530
113 km or 70 mi	Hamilton	$1424
132 km or 82 mi	Whangarei	$1239
154 km or 96 mi	Tauranga	$1660
193 km or 120 mi	Rotorua	$1259
234 km or 146 mi	Taupo	$1475
253 km or 157 mi	New Plymouth	$1261
344 km or 214 mi	Whanganui	$1400
347 km or 216 mi	Napier	$1653
348 km or 217 mi	Gisborne	$1647
359 km or 223 mi	Hastings	$1503
396 km or 246 mi	Palmerston North	$1395
453 km or 281 mi	Paraparaumu	$1709
464 km or 288 mi	Masterton	$1440
476 km or 296 mi	Porirua	$1803
477 km or 296 mi	Upper Hutt	$1751
486 km or 302 mi	Lower Hutt	$1869
494 km or 307 mi	Wellington	$2003
512 km or 318 mi	Nelson	$1469
524 km or 326 mi	Blenheim	$1248
765 km or 475 mi	Christchurch	$1705
891 km or 553 mi	Timaru	$1800
995 km or 618 mi	Wanaka	$1567
1044 km or 649 mi	Queenstown	$2232
1064 km or 661 mi	Dunedin	$1507
1190 km or 740 mi	Invercargill	$1282
1809 km or 1124 mi	Noumea	$1911
1821 km or 1131 mi	Dumbea	$1844
1826 km or 1135 mi	Paita	$1851
1997 km or 1241 mi	Mua	$1033
1997 km or 1241 mi	Nukualofa	$1032
2097 km or 1303 mi	Port Macquarie	$1786
2112 km or 1312 mi	Suva	$891
2120 km or 1317 mi	Nasinu	$910
2129 km or 1323 mi	Coffs Harbour	$2132
2134 km or 1326 mi	Nadi	$1095
2140 km or 1330 mi	Newcastle	$1995

Cities near Cape Town

Distance	City	Cost of living
54 km or 33 mi	Paarl	$1421
99 km or 62 mi	Worcester	$763
371 km or 231 mi	George	$877
644 km or 400 mi	Uitenhage	$968
662 km or 411 mi	Port Elizabeth	$1020
664 km or 413 mi	Upington	$796
754 km or 468 mi	Makhanda	$863
821 km or 510 mi	Komani	$1033
833 km or 518 mi	Kimberley	$904
845 km or 525 mi	Bhisho	$1390
882 km or 548 mi	East London	$773
912 km or 567 mi	Bloemfontein	$742
950 km or 590 mi	Mafeteng	$611
999 km or 621 mi	Maseru	$660
1002 km or 622 mi	Mthatha	$953
1029 km or 639 mi	Teyateyaneng	$558
1030 km or 640 mi	Welkom	$811
1034 km or 643 mi	Mariental	$991
1092 km or 679 mi	Butha-Buthe	$589
1092 km or 679 mi	Kroonstad	$872
1113 km or 692 mi	Klerksdorp	$860
1135 km or 705 mi	Mmabatho	$903
1155 km or 718 mi	Potchefstroom	$789
1187 km or 737 mi	Rehoboth	$945
1194 km or 742 mi	Lobatse	$691
1198 km or 745 mi	Kanye	$691
1208 km or 751 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$867
1217 km or 756 mi	Vereeniging	$742
1231 km or 765 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$725
1244 km or 773 mi	Soweto	$1031
1250 km or 777 mi	Rustenburg	$994
1260 km or 783 mi	Gaborone	$723
1261 km or 783 mi	Molepolole	$663
1261 km or 784 mi	Johannesburg	$1204
1267 km or 788 mi	Randburg	$912
1269 km or 789 mi	Windhoek	$1040
1270 km or 789 mi	Sandton	$1104
1271 km or 790 mi	Durban	$938
1277 km or 794 mi	Gobabis	$998
1279 km or 795 mi	Walvis Bay	$893