Cape Town vs Chengdu - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Cape Town	Chengdu
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1231	$635
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2814	$1647
🏠 One person rent	$681	$252
🏘️ Family rent	$1180	$428
🍽️ Food expenses	$322	$230
🚐 Transport expenses	$124	$84.6
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$352	$917
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	7 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	56	94
😀 Quality of life	55	75
🏙️ Population	3.78M	20.9M

The cost of living in Cape Town is 94% more expensive than in Chengdu. Cities ranked 4637th and 7530th ($1231 vs $635) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd and 114th 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 1.4 months in Chengdu. Cape Town ranked 5th best city to live in South Africa vs Chengdu ranked 5th in China, while ranked 6312th and 1800th 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	$11.5	$2.87
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$46.4	$22.5
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.16	$4.87
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.9	$2.35
☕ Cappuccino	$2.15	$3.31
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.24	$0.46
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$761	$313
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$513	$183
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1355	$574
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$937	$318
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$75	$30.1
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$116	$46.2
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$43.4	$12.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.58%	3.96%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1957	$3973
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1290	$2045
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.15	$0.42
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$28.5	$25.7
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$10.7	$3.61
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.26	$1.18
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.18	$2.02
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.14	$1.55
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2	$1.07
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.53	$1.77
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.62	$13
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.36	$3.68
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.75	$10.1
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.73	$1.77
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.73	$1.09
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.64	$1.44
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.75	$1.05
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.32	$0.68
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.39	$0.71
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.71	$0.4
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.67	$1.22
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$5.78	$11.1
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.35	$0.95
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.18	$3.34
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.15	$4.11
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.66	$4.97
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.2	$1.41
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.56	$1.62
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$43.3	$35.2
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$7.86	$5.52
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$37.1	$22
💇 Haircut, simple	$9.69	$6.37
👖 Brand Jeans	$56	$42.5
👟 Brand Sneakers	$120	$66.6
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$228	$251
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$4978	$11647

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	$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

Cities near Chengdu

Distance	City	Cost of living
38 km or 24 mi	Chongzhou	$596
38 km or 24 mi	Pengzhou	$588
41 km or 25 mi	Guanghan	$571
53 km or 33 mi	Shifang	$557
55 km or 34 mi	Jianyang	$591
56 km or 35 mi	Dujiangyan	$583
60 km or 38 mi	Deyang	$563
65 km or 40 mi	Qionglai	$580
71 km or 44 mi	Meishan	$599
77 km or 48 mi	Mianzhu	$544
81 km or 50 mi	Ziyang	$598
110 km or 68 mi	Mianyang	$528
124 km or 77 mi	Leshan	$563
127 km or 79 mi	Ya'an	$571
127 km or 79 mi	Shehong	$551
131 km or 81 mi	Emeishan	$552
139 km or 87 mi	Jiangyou	$536
145 km or 90 mi	Suining	$565
153 km or 95 mi	Neijiang	$645
161 km or 100 mi	Zigong	$573
188 km or 117 mi	Longchang	$575
193 km or 120 mi	Nanchong	$541
208 km or 129 mi	Langzhong	$538
219 km or 136 mi	Yibin	$570
237 km or 148 mi	Luzhou	$562
247 km or 153 mi	Guang'an	$569
259 km or 161 mi	Guangyuan	$587
261 km or 162 mi	Huaying	$542
265 km or 165 mi	Chongqing	$561
288 km or 179 mi	Bazhong	$601
333 km or 207 mi	Dazhou	$583
341 km or 212 mi	Longnan	$593
353 km or 220 mi	Xichang	$570
372 km or 231 mi	Zhaotong	$579
388 km or 241 mi	Hanzhong	$663
390 km or 243 mi	Renhuai	$538
392 km or 244 mi	Bijie	$569
408 km or 253 mi	Wanyuan	$567
431 km or 268 mi	Zunyi	$551
459 km or 285 mi	Liupanshui	$560