Bamako vs Cape Town - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Bamako	Cape Town
🚶 Cost of living one person	$561	$1386
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1361	$3160
🏠 One person rent	$239	$775
🏘️ Family rent	$403	$1348
🍽️ Food expenses	$203	$359
🚐 Transport expenses	$67.6	$139
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$167	$405
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	13 km	7 km
🎓 Higher education	20	55
😀 Quality of life	25	58
🏙️ Population	4.23M	3.78M

The cost of living in Bamako is 60% less expensive than in Cape Town. Cities ranked 8310th and 4336th ($561 vs $1386) 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 0.3 months in Bamako compared to 0.3 months in Cape Town. Bamako ranked 1st best city to live in Mali vs Cape Town ranked 2nd in South Africa, while ranked 8953rd and 6134th among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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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	$3.06	$12.2
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$20.3	$48.7
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.65	$6.19
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.98	$3.03
☕ Cappuccino	$1.99	$2.47
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.5	$1.39
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$259	$942
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$158	$591
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$477	$1671
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$280	$1075
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$39.3	$72.4
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$61.3	$112
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$22	$41.7
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	12.73%	11.35%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1738	$2325
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$913	$1508
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.28	$1.33
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$12.2	$37.4
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$5.79	$11
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.98	$1.33
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.16	$1.36
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.64	$1.2
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.09	$2.25
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.48	$2.97
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.92	$8.53
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.23	$6.77
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.75	$8.45
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.31	$1.94
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.07	$1.88
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.51	$1.82
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.93	$2.09
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.87	$1.6
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.91	$1.56
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.3	$0.78
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.07	$1.77
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$8.06	$6.22
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.5	$1.47
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.15	$3.38
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$3.01	$6.05
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$2.85	$3.91
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.5	$2.41
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.17	$1.62
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$24.2	$49.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.01	$9.14
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$15.8	$37.2
💇 Haircut, simple	$3.98	$11.1
👖 Brand Jeans	$27.3	$58.7
👟 Brand Sneakers	$60.6	$124
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$129	$272
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$4776	$6197

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	$493
116 km or 72 mi	Banamba	$494
147 km or 92 mi	Bougouni	$494
207 km or 129 mi	Segou	$495
237 km or 147 mi	Markala	$495
289 km or 180 mi	Kankan	$993
293 km or 182 mi	Sikasso	$501
435 km or 270 mi	Bobo-Dioulasso	$846
438 km or 272 mi	Korhogo	$1076
448 km or 278 mi	Nouna	$835
492 km or 305 mi	Dedougou	$836
510 km or 317 mi	Gueckedou	$998
512 km or 318 mi	Mamou	$1005
552 km or 343 mi	Nzerekore	$993
566 km or 352 mi	Yekepa	$487
593 km or 368 mi	Sanniquellie	$486
612 km or 381 mi	Koudougou	$830
613 km or 381 mi	Ouahigouya	$868
634 km or 394 mi	Kenema	$1219
640 km or 398 mi	Bouake	$1100
652 km or 405 mi	Forecariah	$984
663 km or 412 mi	Bo	$1231
664 km or 412 mi	Leo	$863
702 km or 436 mi	Ouagadougou	$988
713 km or 443 mi	Yamoussoukro	$1044
714 km or 444 mi	Boffa	$983
715 km or 444 mi	Conakry	$1050
726 km or 451 mi	Bafata	$831
728 km or 452 mi	Kakata	$487
736 km or 458 mi	Freetown	$1272
754 km or 469 mi	Kolda	$1119
759 km or 471 mi	Gagnoa	$1062
761 km or 473 mi	Manga	$896
769 km or 478 mi	Monrovia	$518
810 km or 504 mi	Divo	$1067
822 km or 511 mi	Abengourou	$1049
831 km or 516 mi	Bissau	$857
854 km or 530 mi	Agboville	$1043
856 km or 532 mi	Greenville	$487
858 km or 533 mi	Tamale	$666

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