Cape Town vs Cologne - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Cape Town	Cologne
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1386	$1941
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$3160	$4759
🏠 One person rent	$775	$1049
🏘️ Family rent	$1348	$1816
🍽️ Food expenses	$359	$538
🚐 Transport expenses	$139	$208
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$405	$3341
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	7 km	15 km
🎓 Higher education	55	92
😀 Quality of life	58	95
🏙️ Population	3.78M	1.09M

The cost of living in Cape Town is 29% less expensive than in Cologne. Cities ranked 4336th and 2200th ($1386 vs $1941) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd and 19th in South Africa and Germany, respectively. Check South Africa vs Germany 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 Cologne. Cape Town ranked 2nd best city to live in South Africa vs Cologne ranked 2nd in Germany, while ranked 6134th and 21st 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 Cologne

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

	Cape Town	Cologne
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$12.2	$16.2
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$48.7	$74.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$6.19	$11.7
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.03	$5.56
☕ Cappuccino	$2.47	$4.07
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.39	$3.76
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$942	$1071
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$591	$805
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1671	$1941
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1075	$1445
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$72.4	$150
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$112	$231
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$41.7	$40.5
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.35%	3.88%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2325	$8050
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1508	$5385
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.33	$4.12
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$37.4	$69
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$11	$26.4
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.33	$2.08
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.36	$1.43
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.2	$2.16
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.25	$3.11
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.97	$4.14
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.53	$13.6
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.77	$11.1
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.45	$27.6
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.94	$2.97
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.88	$2.12
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.82	$2.34
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.09	$3.98
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.6	$1.65
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.56	$1.17
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.78	$0.75
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.77	$2.38
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.22	$7.48
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.47	$1.24
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.38	$9.3
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$6.05	$8.17
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.91	$2.61
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.41	$1.75
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.62	$1.95
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$49.1	$42.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$9.14	$15.1
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$37.2	$55.4
💇 Haircut, simple	$11.1	$19.1
👖 Brand Jeans	$58.7	$95.1
👟 Brand Sneakers	$124	$105
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$272	$1042
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$6197	$23900

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 Cologne

Distance	City	Cost of living
9.2 km or 5.7 mi	Hurth	$1728
10 km or 6.4 mi	Leverkusen	$1972
10 km or 6.4 mi	Frechen	$1715
13 km or 7.9 mi	Bruhl	$1713
13 km or 7.9 mi	Pulheim	$1726
14 km or 8.4 mi	Wesseling	$1722
14 km or 8.5 mi	Bergisch Gladbach	$1689
15 km or 9.3 mi	Niederkassel	$1732
16 km or 10 mi	Rosrath	$1693
18 km or 11 mi	Monheim am Rhein	$1713
19 km or 12 mi	Dormagen	$1699
19 km or 12 mi	Erftstadt	$1689
19 km or 12 mi	Langenfeld	$1716
20 km or 12 mi	Troisdorf	$1721
20 km or 12 mi	Leichlingen	$1696
20 km or 12 mi	Kerpen	$1674
21 km or 13 mi	Bornheim	$1764
21 km or 13 mi	Lohmar	$1686
22 km or 14 mi	Bergheim	$1667
23 km or 15 mi	Siegburg	$1711
24 km or 15 mi	Overath	$1657
25 km or 16 mi	Sankt Augustin	$1738
25 km or 16 mi	Bonn	$1948
26 km or 16 mi	Hilden	$1673
26 km or 16 mi	Solingen	$1698
27 km or 17 mi	Elsdorf	$1658
28 km or 17 mi	Wermelskirchen	$1631
28 km or 17 mi	Haan	$1662
28 km or 18 mi	Bedburg	$1653
29 km or 18 mi	Hennef	$1668
31 km or 19 mi	Grevenbroich	$1652
31 km or 19 mi	Remscheid	$1617
31 km or 20 mi	Erkrath	$1653
33 km or 20 mi	Konigswinter	$1597
34 km or 21 mi	Euskirchen	$1665
34 km or 21 mi	Neuss	$1685
34 km or 21 mi	Mettmann	$1629
35 km or 21 mi	Zulpich	$1650
35 km or 21 mi	Meckenheim	$1686
35 km or 22 mi	Dusseldorf	$1913