Cape Town vs Johannesburg - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 01, 2024

	Cape Town	Johannesburg
🚶 Cost of living one person	$881	$908
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2144	$2207
🏠 One person rent	$484	$403
🏘️ Family rent	$966	$738
🍽️ Food expenses	$259	$254
🚐 Transport expenses	$56.2	$173
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1518	$1428
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	7 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	55	72
😀 Quality of life	60	61
🏙️ Population	434K	4.43M

The cost of living in Cape Town is 3% less expensive than in Johannesburg. Cities ranked 6078th and 5921st ($881 vs $908) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd and 1st in South Africa.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.7 months in Cape Town compared to 1.6 months in Johannesburg. Ranked 3rd vs 1st best cities to live in South Africa, and 5406th vs 5184th 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	$7.47	$7.41
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$31.2	$35.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.87	$4.44
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.04	$2.09
☕ Cappuccino	$1.94	$1.82
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.86	$0.98
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$536	$350
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$353	$277
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1202	$667
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$749	$564
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$56.2	$71.1
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$87	$114
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$39.2	$39.6
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.61%	11.12%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1890	$840
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1307	$689
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.04	$1.78
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$34.8	$66
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$7.17	$9.26
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.22	$1.23
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1	$1.09
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.92	$0.9
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.38	$1.35
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.39	$2.11
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.96	$7.94
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.26	$4.54
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.2	$5.88
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.4	$1.5
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.46	$1.47
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.39	$1.27
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.39	$1.52
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.36	$1.31
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.31	$1.43
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.58	$0.54
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.3	$1.36
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$4.51	$5.33
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.14	$1.16
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.62	$2.88
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.8	$3.76
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$2.76	$3.7
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.22	$1.91
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.36	$1.11
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$31.3	$31.4
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$5.42	$6.28
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$32.9	$27.3
💇 Haircut, simple	$10.3	$6.37
👖 Brand Jeans	$42.7	$45
👟 Brand Sneakers	$81.4	$83.7
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$172	$232
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$4013	$4829

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	$773
99 km or 62 mi	Worcester	$632
371 km or 231 mi	George	$684
644 km or 400 mi	Uitenhage	$805
662 km or 411 mi	Port Elizabeth	$866
664 km or 413 mi	Upington	$643
754 km or 468 mi	Makhanda	$704
821 km or 510 mi	Komani	$703
833 km or 518 mi	Kimberley	$753
845 km or 525 mi	Bhisho	$710
882 km or 548 mi	East London	$683
912 km or 567 mi	Bloemfontein	$601
950 km or 590 mi	Mafeteng	$511
999 km or 621 mi	Maseru	$535
1002 km or 622 mi	Mthatha	$689
1029 km or 639 mi	Teyateyaneng	$511
1030 km or 640 mi	Welkom	$682
1034 km or 643 mi	Mariental	$765
1092 km or 679 mi	Butha-Buthe	$511
1092 km or 679 mi	Kroonstad	$701
1113 km or 692 mi	Klerksdorp	$621
1135 km or 705 mi	Mmabatho	$719
1155 km or 718 mi	Potchefstroom	$625
1187 km or 737 mi	Rehoboth	$738
1194 km or 742 mi	Lobatse	$631
1198 km or 745 mi	Kanye	$633
1208 km or 751 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$698
1217 km or 756 mi	Vereeniging	$637
1231 km or 765 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$609
1244 km or 773 mi	Soweto	$875
1250 km or 777 mi	Rustenburg	$845
1260 km or 783 mi	Gaborone	$656
1261 km or 783 mi	Molepolole	$603
1261 km or 784 mi	Johannesburg	$908
1267 km or 788 mi	Randburg	$776
1269 km or 789 mi	Windhoek	$807
1270 km or 789 mi	Sandton	$889
1271 km or 790 mi	Durban	$780
1277 km or 794 mi	Gobabis	$751
1279 km or 795 mi	Walvis Bay	$718

Cities near Johannesburg

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 6.8 mi	Sandton	$889
13 km or 8 mi	Randburg	$776
19 km or 12 mi	Soweto	$875
28 km or 17 mi	Benoni	$741
40 km or 25 mi	Springs	$631
41 km or 25 mi	Centurion	$755
53 km or 33 mi	Pretoria	$783
53 km or 33 mi	Vereeniging	$637
59 km or 36 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$698
71 km or 44 mi	Brits	$751
101 km or 62 mi	Rustenburg	$845
109 km or 68 mi	Potchefstroom	$625
143 km or 89 mi	Bethal	$746
152 km or 94 mi	Middelburg	$866
155 km or 97 mi	Klerksdorp	$621
179 km or 111 mi	Kroonstad	$701
237 km or 147 mi	Welkom	$682
244 km or 152 mi	Mmabatho	$719
262 km or 163 mi	Lobatse	$631
275 km or 171 mi	Gaborone	$656
287 km or 179 mi	Butha-Buthe	$511
302 km or 188 mi	Kanye	$633
311 km or 193 mi	Mbabane	$558
323 km or 201 mi	Vryheid	$739
325 km or 202 mi	Molepolole	$603
329 km or 204 mi	Teyateyaneng	$511
333 km or 207 mi	Manzini	$447
350 km or 217 mi	Maseru	$535
366 km or 228 mi	Mahalapye	$605
369 km or 229 mi	Bloemfontein	$601
409 km or 254 mi	Mafeteng	$511
417 km or 259 mi	Palapye	$511
429 km or 267 mi	Kimberley	$753
442 km or 275 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$609
443 km or 275 mi	Matola	$978
446 km or 277 mi	Serowe	$554
454 km or 282 mi	Maputo	$1084
501 km or 311 mi	Durban	$780
562 km or 349 mi	Francistown	$550
577 km or 358 mi	Xai-Xai	$952