Cape Town vs Changsha - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Cape Town	Changsha
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1386	$622
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$3160	$1669
🏠 One person rent	$775	$211
🏘️ Family rent	$1348	$365
🍽️ Food expenses	$359	$252
🚐 Transport expenses	$139	$70.9
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$405	$1086
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Bad
✈️ Airport proximity	7 km	15 km
🎓 Higher education	55	90
😀 Quality of life	58	72
🏙️ Population	3.78M	10M

The cost of living in Cape Town is 123% more expensive than in Changsha. Cities ranked 4336th and 7795th ($1386 vs $622) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd and 196th in South Africa and China, respectively. Check South Africa vs China comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.3 months in Cape Town compared to 1.7 months in Changsha. Cape Town ranked 2nd best city to live in South Africa vs Changsha ranked 18th in China, while ranked 6134th and 2894th among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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Prices in Cape Town vs Changsha

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

	Cape Town	Changsha
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$12.2	$2.93
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$48.7	$22
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$6.19	$4.91
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.03	$1.26
☕ Cappuccino	$2.47	$3.38
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.39	$0.49
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$942	$234
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$591	$149
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1671	$422
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1075	$273
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$72.4	$31.6
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$112	$48.9
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$41.7	$13.4
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.35%	3.48%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2325	$2530
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1508	$2779
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.33	$0.37
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$37.4	$14.8
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$11	$3.89
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.33	$1.19
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.36	$1.96
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.2	$2.32
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.25	$0.95
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.97	$1.69
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.53	$12.7
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.77	$3.97
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.45	$11.6
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.94	$2.54
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.88	$1.4
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.82	$1.86
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.09	$1.95
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.6	$0.96
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.56	$1.58
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.78	$0.31
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.77	$0.99
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.22	$12.4
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.47	$1.05
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.38	$2.98
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$6.05	$4.39
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.91	$5.85
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.41	$0.93
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.62	$1.33
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$49.1	$54.6
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$9.14	$6.23
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$37.2	$22
💇 Haircut, simple	$11.1	$3.25
👖 Brand Jeans	$58.7	$82
👟 Brand Sneakers	$124	$87.1
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$272	$322
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$6197	$9728

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

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

Cities near Changsha

Distance	City	Cost of living
40 km or 25 mi	Xiangtan	$518
43 km or 27 mi	Ningxiang	$586
43 km or 27 mi	Zhuzhou	$564
76 km or 47 mi	Yiyang	$589
79 km or 49 mi	Liling	$571
107 km or 66 mi	Pingxiang	$609
108 km or 67 mi	Loudi	$589
131 km or 81 mi	Yueyang	$608
140 km or 87 mi	Lianyuan	$569
145 km or 90 mi	Yichun	$610
149 km or 93 mi	Linxiang	$583
150 km or 93 mi	Hengyang	$602
157 km or 97 mi	Changde	$518
162 km or 101 mi	Lengshuijiang	$556
178 km or 111 mi	Shishou	$565
182 km or 113 mi	Shaoyang	$605
186 km or 116 mi	Honghu	$600
192 km or 119 mi	Jinshi	$535
197 km or 122 mi	Xinyu	$592
198 km or 123 mi	Chibi	$600
225 km or 140 mi	Xianning	$638
231 km or 144 mi	Ji'an	$632
237 km or 147 mi	Yongzhou	$648
246 km or 153 mi	Xiantao	$619
247 km or 153 mi	Jingzhou	$623
249 km or 155 mi	Songzi	$570
264 km or 164 mi	Zhangjiajie	$571
267 km or 166 mi	Chenzhou	$739
285 km or 177 mi	Yidu	$556
285 km or 177 mi	Hanchuan	$624
287 km or 178 mi	Daye	$658
290 km or 180 mi	Nanchang	$542
295 km or 183 mi	Wuhan	$657
299 km or 186 mi	Huangshi	$691
305 km or 189 mi	Huaihua	$593
307 km or 191 mi	Ezhou	$649
311 km or 193 mi	Yingcheng	$600
311 km or 193 mi	Huanggang	$664
311 km or 193 mi	Wuxue	$618
314 km or 195 mi	Dangyang	$554