Bamako vs Cape Town - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Bamako	Cape Town
🚶 Cost of living one person	$583	$1231
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1388	$2814
🏠 One person rent	$254	$681
🏘️ Family rent	$431	$1180
🍽️ Food expenses	$205	$322
🚐 Transport expenses	$70.1	$124
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$134	$352
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	13 km	7 km
🎓 Higher education	20	56
😀 Quality of life	23	55
🏙️ Population	4.23M	3.78M

The cost of living in Bamako is 53% less expensive than in Cape Town. Cities ranked 7964th and 4637th ($583 vs $1231) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 3rd in Mali and South Africa, respectively. Check Mali vs South Africa comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.2 months in Bamako compared to 0.3 months in Cape Town. Bamako ranked 1st best city to live in Mali vs Cape Town ranked 5th in South Africa, while ranked 9005th and 6312th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Bamako vs Cape Town infographic

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<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/bamako/cape-town.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Bamako vs Cape Town infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/bamako/cape-town" target="_blank">Bamako vs Cape Town - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Bamako vs Cape Town

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

	Bamako	Cape Town
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$3.11	$11.5
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$20.3	$46.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.61	$5.16
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.98	$2.9
☕ Cappuccino	$1.97	$2.15
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.49	$1.24
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$269	$761
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$171	$513
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$497	$1355
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$307	$937
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$39.1	$75
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$60.6	$116
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$25	$43.4
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	12.89%	11.58%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1744	$1957
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1038	$1290
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.34	$1.15
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$13.6	$28.5
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$5.76	$10.7
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.01	$1.26
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.16	$1.18
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.66	$1.14
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.14	$2
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.48	$2.53
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.04	$8.62
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.33	$5.36
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.85	$7.75
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.31	$1.73
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.12	$1.73
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.55	$1.64
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.95	$1.75
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.9	$1.32
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.98	$1.39
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.31	$0.71
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.09	$1.67
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$8.24	$5.78
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.53	$1.35
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.76	$3.18
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$2.82	$5.15
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$2.85	$3.66
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.47	$2.2
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.16	$1.56
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$25.5	$43.3
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.24	$7.86
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$17	$37.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$4.22	$9.69
👖 Brand Jeans	$27.2	$56
👟 Brand Sneakers	$63.8	$120
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$98.4	$228
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$3658	$4978

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Bamako

Distance	City	Cost of living
52 km or 32 mi	Koulikoro	$506
116 km or 72 mi	Banamba	$506
147 km or 92 mi	Bougouni	$508
207 km or 129 mi	Segou	$506
237 km or 147 mi	Markala	$508
289 km or 180 mi	Kankan	$1007
293 km or 182 mi	Sikasso	$514
435 km or 270 mi	Bobo-Dioulasso	$831
438 km or 272 mi	Korhogo	$1099
448 km or 278 mi	Nouna	$821
492 km or 305 mi	Dedougou	$822
510 km or 317 mi	Gueckedou	$1010
512 km or 318 mi	Mamou	$1021
552 km or 343 mi	Nzerekore	$1003
566 km or 352 mi	Yekepa	$503
593 km or 368 mi	Sanniquellie	$503
612 km or 381 mi	Koudougou	$820
613 km or 381 mi	Ouahigouya	$851
634 km or 394 mi	Kenema	$1281
640 km or 398 mi	Bouake	$1123
652 km or 405 mi	Forecariah	$999
663 km or 412 mi	Bo	$1283
664 km or 412 mi	Leo	$846
702 km or 436 mi	Ouagadougou	$961
713 km or 443 mi	Yamoussoukro	$1056
714 km or 444 mi	Boffa	$999
715 km or 444 mi	Conakry	$1067
726 km or 451 mi	Bafata	$872
728 km or 452 mi	Kakata	$502
736 km or 458 mi	Freetown	$1347
754 km or 469 mi	Kolda	$1044
759 km or 471 mi	Gagnoa	$1082
761 km or 473 mi	Manga	$877
769 km or 478 mi	Monrovia	$536
810 km or 504 mi	Divo	$1083
822 km or 511 mi	Abengourou	$1066
831 km or 516 mi	Bissau	$895
854 km or 530 mi	Agboville	$1057
856 km or 532 mi	Greenville	$502
858 km or 533 mi	Tamale	$576

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