Cape Town vs Johannesburg - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Cape Town	Johannesburg
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1231	$1082
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2814	$2560
🏠 One person rent	$681	$485
🏘️ Family rent	$1180	$833
🍽️ Food expenses	$322	$306
🚐 Transport expenses	$124	$206
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$352	$1614
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	7 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	56	74
😀 Quality of life	55	62
🏙️ Population	3.78M	4.43M

The cost of living in Cape Town is 14% more expensive than in Johannesburg. Cities ranked 4637th and 5031st ($1231 vs $1082) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd and 4th in South Africa.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.3 months in Cape Town compared to 1.5 months in Johannesburg. Ranked 5th vs 1st best cities to live in South Africa, and 6312th vs 5648th among the best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Cape Town vs Johannesburg infographic

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Prices in Cape Town vs Johannesburg

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

	Cape Town	Johannesburg
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$11.5	$10.1
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$46.4	$38.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.16	$5.03
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.9	$2.51
☕ Cappuccino	$2.15	$2.18
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.24	$1.08
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$761	$462
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$513	$342
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1355	$824
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$937	$632
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$75	$78.5
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$116	$122
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$43.4	$40.5
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.58%	11.57%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1957	$1106
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1290	$741
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.15	$2.21
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$28.5	$77.1
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$10.7	$11.7
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.26	$1.32
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.18	$1.28
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.14	$1.01
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2	$1.44
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.53	$2.6
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.62	$10.5
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.36	$5.34
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.75	$7.4
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.73	$1.71
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.73	$1.63
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.64	$1.63
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.75	$1.77
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.32	$1.41
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.39	$1.6
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.71	$0.66
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.67	$1.53
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$5.78	$6.13
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.35	$1.46
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.18	$3.19
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.15	$5.86
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.66	$4.11
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.2	$1.98
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.56	$1.49
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$43.3	$33.6
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$7.86	$7.33
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$37.1	$29.7
💇 Haircut, simple	$9.69	$6.46
👖 Brand Jeans	$56	$52.2
👟 Brand Sneakers	$120	$93.1
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$228	$227
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$4978	$5503

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 Johannesburg

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 6.8 mi	Sandton	$984
13 km or 8 mi	Randburg	$890
19 km or 12 mi	Soweto	$984
28 km or 17 mi	Benoni	$826
40 km or 25 mi	Springs	$740
41 km or 25 mi	Centurion	$892
53 km or 33 mi	Pretoria	$975
53 km or 33 mi	Vereeniging	$706
59 km or 36 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$799
71 km or 44 mi	Brits	$875
101 km or 62 mi	Rustenburg	$940
109 km or 68 mi	Potchefstroom	$731
143 km or 89 mi	Bethal	$838
152 km or 94 mi	Middelburg	$830
155 km or 97 mi	Klerksdorp	$762
179 km or 111 mi	Kroonstad	$808
237 km or 147 mi	Welkom	$762
244 km or 152 mi	Mmabatho	$833
262 km or 163 mi	Lobatse	$637
275 km or 171 mi	Gaborone	$668
287 km or 179 mi	Butha-Buthe	$570
302 km or 188 mi	Kanye	$637
311 km or 193 mi	Mbabane	$599
323 km or 201 mi	Vryheid	$827
325 km or 202 mi	Molepolole	$607
329 km or 204 mi	Teyateyaneng	$533
333 km or 207 mi	Manzini	$469
350 km or 217 mi	Maseru	$650
366 km or 228 mi	Mahalapye	$577
369 km or 229 mi	Bloemfontein	$698
409 km or 254 mi	Mafeteng	$598
417 km or 259 mi	Palapye	$514
429 km or 267 mi	Kimberley	$861
442 km or 275 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$705
443 km or 275 mi	Matola	$908
446 km or 277 mi	Serowe	$536
454 km or 282 mi	Maputo	$915
501 km or 311 mi	Durban	$892
562 km or 349 mi	Francistown	$587
577 km or 358 mi	Xai-Xai	$915