Cape Town vs Chengdu - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Cape Town	Chengdu
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1071	$623
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2522	$1664
🏠 One person rent	$582	$240
🏘️ Family rent	$1083	$430
🍽️ Food expenses	$273	$229
🚐 Transport expenses	$124	$83.8
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1532	$863
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Bad
✈️ Airport proximity	7 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	56	94
😀 Quality of life	58	72
🏙️ Population	3.78M	20.9M

The cost of living in Cape Town is 72% more expensive than in Chengdu. Cities ranked 5016th and 7421st ($1071 vs $623) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd and 164th in South Africa and China, respectively. Check South Africa vs China comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.4 months in Cape Town compared to 1.4 months in Chengdu. Cape Town ranked 1st best city to live in South Africa vs Chengdu ranked 9th in China, while ranked 5491st and 1890th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Cape Town vs Chengdu infographic

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Prices in Cape Town vs Chengdu

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

	Cape Town	Chengdu
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$8.4	$2.78
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$32.1	$21.9
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.87	$4.74
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.58	$2.32
☕ Cappuccino	$2.03	$3.32
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.03	$0.45
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$677	$304
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$435	$170
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1304	$595
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$863	$313
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$59.9	$31.5
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$93.1	$47.7
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$38.9	$12.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.89%	4.34%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1804	$3812
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1180	$2020
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.09	$0.41
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$39	$26.2
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$8.47	$3.51
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.23	$1.14
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.08	$1.95
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.03	$1.4
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.48	$1.04
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.58	$1.83
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.33	$14.4
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.42	$3.72
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.24	$11.6
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.53	$1.78
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.45	$1.15
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.47	$1.41
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.57	$1.03
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.33	$0.66
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.13	$0.72
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.62	$0.4
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.43	$1.21
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$5.48	$9.97
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.39	$0.89
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.02	$3.18
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.02	$4.03
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.17	$4.9
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.11	$1.39
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.49	$1.57
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$34.4	$27.4
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$6.22	$6.02
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$35.7	$22.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$8.05	$6.41
👖 Brand Jeans	$51	$45.7
👟 Brand Sneakers	$104	$72.9
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$204	$305
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$4806	$11550

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	$1147
99 km or 62 mi	Worcester	$619
371 km or 231 mi	George	$743
644 km or 400 mi	Uitenhage	$840
662 km or 411 mi	Port Elizabeth	$901
664 km or 413 mi	Upington	$699
754 km or 468 mi	Makhanda	$763
821 km or 510 mi	Komani	$915
833 km or 518 mi	Kimberley	$814
845 km or 525 mi	Bhisho	$1332
882 km or 548 mi	East London	$766
912 km or 567 mi	Bloemfontein	$657
950 km or 590 mi	Mafeteng	$567
999 km or 621 mi	Maseru	$621
1002 km or 622 mi	Mthatha	$852
1029 km or 639 mi	Teyateyaneng	$500
1030 km or 640 mi	Welkom	$748
1034 km or 643 mi	Mariental	$827
1092 km or 679 mi	Butha-Buthe	$535
1092 km or 679 mi	Kroonstad	$768
1113 km or 692 mi	Klerksdorp	$722
1135 km or 705 mi	Mmabatho	$780
1155 km or 718 mi	Potchefstroom	$695
1187 km or 737 mi	Rehoboth	$792
1194 km or 742 mi	Lobatse	$665
1198 km or 745 mi	Kanye	$664
1208 km or 751 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$773
1217 km or 756 mi	Vereeniging	$672
1231 km or 765 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$640
1244 km or 773 mi	Soweto	$923
1250 km or 777 mi	Rustenburg	$889
1260 km or 783 mi	Gaborone	$691
1261 km or 783 mi	Molepolole	$628
1261 km or 784 mi	Johannesburg	$993
1267 km or 788 mi	Randburg	$837
1269 km or 789 mi	Windhoek	$862
1270 km or 789 mi	Sandton	$953
1271 km or 790 mi	Durban	$809
1277 km or 794 mi	Gobabis	$813
1279 km or 795 mi	Walvis Bay	$740

Cities near Chengdu

Distance	City	Cost of living
38 km or 24 mi	Chongzhou	$581
38 km or 24 mi	Pengzhou	$572
41 km or 25 mi	Guanghan	$554
53 km or 33 mi	Shifang	$540
55 km or 34 mi	Jianyang	$580
56 km or 35 mi	Dujiangyan	$570
60 km or 38 mi	Deyang	$549
65 km or 40 mi	Qionglai	$572
71 km or 44 mi	Meishan	$590
77 km or 48 mi	Mianzhu	$529
81 km or 50 mi	Ziyang	$592
110 km or 68 mi	Mianyang	$527
124 km or 77 mi	Leshan	$554
127 km or 79 mi	Ya'an	$573
127 km or 79 mi	Shehong	$546
131 km or 81 mi	Emeishan	$540
139 km or 87 mi	Jiangyou	$532
145 km or 90 mi	Suining	$579
153 km or 95 mi	Neijiang	$652
161 km or 100 mi	Zigong	$584
188 km or 117 mi	Longchang	$593
193 km or 120 mi	Nanchong	$526
208 km or 129 mi	Langzhong	$530
219 km or 136 mi	Yibin	$590
237 km or 148 mi	Luzhou	$613
247 km or 153 mi	Guang'an	$584
259 km or 161 mi	Guangyuan	$599
261 km or 162 mi	Huaying	$553
265 km or 165 mi	Chongqing	$634
288 km or 179 mi	Bazhong	$610
333 km or 207 mi	Dazhou	$591
341 km or 212 mi	Longnan	$608
353 km or 220 mi	Xichang	$580
372 km or 231 mi	Zhaotong	$601
388 km or 241 mi	Hanzhong	$696
390 km or 243 mi	Renhuai	$540
392 km or 244 mi	Bijie	$584
408 km or 253 mi	Wanyuan	$585
431 km or 268 mi	Zunyi	$554
459 km or 285 mi	Liupanshui	$574