Cape Town vs Gaborone - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Cape Town	Gaborone
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1366	$731
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$3099	$1792
🏠 One person rent	$773	$272
🏘️ Family rent	$1343	$439
🍽️ Food expenses	$355	$320
🚐 Transport expenses	$124	$66.9
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$404	$437
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	7 km	11 km
🎓 Higher education	55	39
😀 Quality of life	55	60
🏙️ Population	3.78M	236K

The cost of living in Cape Town is 87% more expensive than in Gaborone. Cities ranked 4432nd and 7094th ($1366 vs $731) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 2nd and 1st in South Africa and Botswana, respectively. Check South Africa vs Botswana comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.3 months in Cape Town compared to 0.6 months in Gaborone. Cape Town ranked 4th best city to live in South Africa vs Gaborone ranked 1st in Botswana, while ranked 6382nd and 5910th 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 Gaborone

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

	Cape Town	Gaborone
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$12.5	$10.4
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$49.7	$30
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.71	$6.02
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.13	$2.26
☕ Cappuccino	$2.42	$2.36
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.39	$0.87
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$874	$257
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$594	$157
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1556	$462
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1079	$286
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$84.1	$42.8
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$129	$66.2
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$39	$52
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.25%	9.49%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2160	$1146
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1500	$1146
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.16	$0.53
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$32.7	$31.1
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$9.46	$20.7
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.36	$1.15
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.35	$1.51
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.21	$0.87
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.24	$2.01
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.91	$2.46
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.29	$7.05
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.21	$5.32
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.46	$5.57
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.83	$1.72
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.81	$1.49
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.79	$2.01
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.94	$1.72
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.52	$1.58
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.47	$1.24
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.79	$0.62
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.84	$1.41
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.59	$4.54
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.49	$1.48
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.44	$3.81
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.94	$12.8
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.02	$5.65
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.49	$0.54
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.67	$3.1
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$49.6	$35.2
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$8.6	$6.88
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$39.1	$18.9
💇 Haircut, simple	$11.2	$4.69
👖 Brand Jeans	$59.9	$47
👟 Brand Sneakers	$127	$77.2
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$264	$147
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$5378	$2881

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	$1345
99 km or 62 mi	Worcester	$718
371 km or 231 mi	George	$927
644 km or 400 mi	Uitenhage	$980
662 km or 411 mi	Port Elizabeth	$1036
664 km or 413 mi	Upington	$811
754 km or 468 mi	Makhanda	$874
821 km or 510 mi	Komani	$1050
833 km or 518 mi	Kimberley	$927
845 km or 525 mi	Bhisho	$1419
882 km or 548 mi	East London	$795
912 km or 567 mi	Bloemfontein	$763
950 km or 590 mi	Mafeteng	$630
999 km or 621 mi	Maseru	$681
1002 km or 622 mi	Mthatha	$952
1029 km or 639 mi	Teyateyaneng	$573
1030 km or 640 mi	Welkom	$826
1034 km or 643 mi	Mariental	$986
1092 km or 679 mi	Butha-Buthe	$604
1092 km or 679 mi	Kroonstad	$875
1113 km or 692 mi	Klerksdorp	$826
1135 km or 705 mi	Mmabatho	$901
1155 km or 718 mi	Potchefstroom	$791
1187 km or 737 mi	Rehoboth	$934
1194 km or 742 mi	Lobatse	$697
1198 km or 745 mi	Kanye	$694
1208 km or 751 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$865
1217 km or 756 mi	Vereeniging	$765
1231 km or 765 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$716
1244 km or 773 mi	Soweto	$1057
1250 km or 777 mi	Rustenburg	$1017
1260 km or 783 mi	Gaborone	$731
1261 km or 783 mi	Molepolole	$662
1261 km or 784 mi	Johannesburg	$1171
1267 km or 788 mi	Randburg	$958
1269 km or 789 mi	Windhoek	$1023
1270 km or 789 mi	Sandton	$1089
1271 km or 790 mi	Durban	$948
1277 km or 794 mi	Gobabis	$968
1279 km or 795 mi	Walvis Bay	$905

Cities near Gaborone

Distance	City	Cost of living
50 km or 31 mi	Molepolole	$662
67 km or 42 mi	Lobatse	$697
67 km or 42 mi	Kanye	$694
136 km or 84 mi	Mmabatho	$901
174 km or 108 mi	Rustenburg	$1017
196 km or 122 mi	Mahalapye	$628
215 km or 134 mi	Brits	$950
257 km or 160 mi	Klerksdorp	$826
258 km or 160 mi	Potchefstroom	$791
259 km or 161 mi	Pretoria	$1049
264 km or 164 mi	Randburg	$958
265 km or 165 mi	Palapye	$551
266 km or 165 mi	Centurion	$967
266 km or 165 mi	Soweto	$1057
266 km or 165 mi	Serowe	$583
269 km or 167 mi	Sandton	$1089
275 km or 171 mi	Johannesburg	$1171
296 km or 184 mi	Benoni	$892
298 km or 185 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$865
302 km or 188 mi	Vereeniging	$765
310 km or 193 mi	Springs	$792
358 km or 222 mi	Kroonstad	$875
379 km or 235 mi	Welkom	$826
380 km or 236 mi	Middelburg	$899
407 km or 253 mi	Bethal	$910
421 km or 261 mi	Francistown	$633
468 km or 291 mi	Kimberley	$927
495 km or 308 mi	Bloemfontein	$763
514 km or 319 mi	Butha-Buthe	$604
531 km or 330 mi	Teyateyaneng	$573
540 km or 336 mi	Maseru	$681
559 km or 347 mi	Mbabane	$652
569 km or 354 mi	Bulawayo	$630
584 km or 363 mi	Manzini	$511
589 km or 366 mi	Mafeteng	$630
597 km or 371 mi	Vryheid	$912
628 km or 390 mi	Upington	$811
675 km or 419 mi	Matola	$916
685 km or 425 mi	Maputo	$966
705 km or 438 mi	Gweru	$577