Cape Town vs Chengdu - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Cape Town	Chengdu
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1386	$688
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$3160	$1806
🏠 One person rent	$775	$297
🏘️ Family rent	$1348	$512
🍽️ Food expenses	$359	$237
🚐 Transport expenses	$139	$83.8
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$405	$1237
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	7 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	55	89
😀 Quality of life	58	76
🏙️ Population	3.78M	20.9M

The cost of living in Cape Town is 102% more expensive than in Chengdu. Cities ranked 4336th and 7360th ($1386 vs $688) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd and 75th 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 1.8 months in Chengdu. Cape Town ranked 2nd best city to live in South Africa vs Chengdu ranked 6th in China, while ranked 6134th and 1238th 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 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	$12.2	$2.83
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$48.7	$22.7
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$6.19	$5.15
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.03	$2.81
☕ Cappuccino	$2.47	$3.49
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.39	$0.51
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$942	$390
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$591	$218
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1671	$707
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1075	$386
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$72.4	$31.8
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$112	$48.8
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$41.7	$12.7
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.35%	3.62%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2325	$3816
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1508	$1941
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.33	$0.5
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$37.4	$23.6
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$11	$3.82
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.33	$1.19
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.36	$1.88
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.2	$1.74
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.25	$1.18
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.97	$1.58
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.53	$15.4
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.77	$3.54
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.45	$11.1
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.94	$1.76
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.88	$1.27
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.82	$1.08
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.09	$1.17
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.6	$0.71
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.56	$0.71
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.78	$0.39
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.77	$1.35
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.22	$10.4
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.47	$0.83
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.38	$3.48
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$6.05	$4.33
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.91	$5.2
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.41	$1.51
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.62	$1.69
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$49.1	$26.9
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$9.14	$5.96
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$37.2	$23.2
💇 Haircut, simple	$11.1	$7.25
👖 Brand Jeans	$58.7	$42.4
👟 Brand Sneakers	$124	$70.8
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$272	$325
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$6197	$14789

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 Chengdu

Distance	City	Cost of living
38 km or 24 mi	Chongzhou	$641
38 km or 24 mi	Pengzhou	$635
41 km or 25 mi	Guanghan	$615
53 km or 33 mi	Shifang	$600
55 km or 34 mi	Jianyang	$640
56 km or 35 mi	Dujiangyan	$629
60 km or 38 mi	Deyang	$600
65 km or 40 mi	Qionglai	$631
71 km or 44 mi	Meishan	$647
77 km or 48 mi	Mianzhu	$579
81 km or 50 mi	Ziyang	$643
110 km or 68 mi	Mianyang	$549
124 km or 77 mi	Leshan	$612
127 km or 79 mi	Ya'an	$614
127 km or 79 mi	Shehong	$587
131 km or 81 mi	Emeishan	$598
139 km or 87 mi	Jiangyou	$563
145 km or 90 mi	Suining	$608
153 km or 95 mi	Neijiang	$701
161 km or 100 mi	Zigong	$625
188 km or 117 mi	Longchang	$629
193 km or 120 mi	Nanchong	$588
208 km or 129 mi	Langzhong	$575
219 km or 136 mi	Yibin	$615
237 km or 148 mi	Luzhou	$618
247 km or 153 mi	Guang'an	$625
259 km or 161 mi	Guangyuan	$616
261 km or 162 mi	Huaying	$595
265 km or 165 mi	Chongqing	$631
288 km or 179 mi	Bazhong	$640
333 km or 207 mi	Dazhou	$630
341 km or 212 mi	Longnan	$629
353 km or 220 mi	Xichang	$605
372 km or 231 mi	Zhaotong	$618
388 km or 241 mi	Hanzhong	$697
390 km or 243 mi	Renhuai	$577
392 km or 244 mi	Bijie	$606
408 km or 253 mi	Wanyuan	$602
431 km or 268 mi	Zunyi	$594
459 km or 285 mi	Liupanshui	$594