Cape Town vs Johannesburg - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Cape Town	Johannesburg
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1071	$993
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2522	$2403
🏠 One person rent	$582	$441
🏘️ Family rent	$1083	$809
🍽️ Food expenses	$273	$288
🚐 Transport expenses	$124	$181
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1532	$1383
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	7 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	56	72
😀 Quality of life	58	57
🏙️ Population	3.78M	4.43M

The cost of living in Cape Town is 8% more expensive than in Johannesburg. Cities ranked 5016th and 5539th ($1071 vs $993) 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 1.4 months in Cape Town compared to 1.4 months in Johannesburg. Ranked 1st vs 2nd best cities to live in South Africa, and 5491st vs 5667th 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	$8.4	$9.65
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$32.1	$37.9
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.87	$4.9
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.58	$2.37
☕ Cappuccino	$2.03	$2.01
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.03	$0.99
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$677	$377
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$435	$318
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1304	$790
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$863	$627
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$59.9	$71.9
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$93.1	$110
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$38.9	$39.5
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.89%	11.55%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1804	$1031
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1180	$684
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.09	$1.62
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$39	$72
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$8.47	$9.35
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.23	$1.28
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.08	$1.18
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.03	$0.95
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.48	$1.36
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.58	$2.58
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.33	$10
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.42	$5.04
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.24	$6.12
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.53	$1.6
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.45	$1.49
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.47	$1.41
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.57	$1.59
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.33	$1.35
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.13	$1.44
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.62	$0.58
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.43	$1.44
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$5.48	$5.96
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.39	$1.25
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.02	$2.97
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.02	$5.59
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.17	$3.94
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.11	$1.88
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.49	$1.42
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$34.4	$33.2
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$6.22	$7.2
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$35.7	$27.8
💇 Haircut, simple	$8.05	$5.55
👖 Brand Jeans	$51	$48.5
👟 Brand Sneakers	$104	$88.8
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$204	$214
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$4806	$5271

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

$349

$907

$6.64K

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Cape Town

Distance	City	Cost of living
54 km or 33 mi	Paarl	$1147
99 km or 62 mi	Worcester	$619
371 km or 231 mi	George	$743
644 km or 400 mi	Uitenhage	$840
662 km or 411 mi	Port Elizabeth	$901
664 km or 413 mi	Upington	$699
754 km or 468 mi	Makhanda	$763
821 km or 510 mi	Komani	$915
833 km or 518 mi	Kimberley	$814
845 km or 525 mi	Bhisho	$1332
882 km or 548 mi	East London	$766
912 km or 567 mi	Bloemfontein	$657
950 km or 590 mi	Mafeteng	$567
999 km or 621 mi	Maseru	$621
1002 km or 622 mi	Mthatha	$852
1029 km or 639 mi	Teyateyaneng	$500
1030 km or 640 mi	Welkom	$748
1034 km or 643 mi	Mariental	$827
1092 km or 679 mi	Butha-Buthe	$535
1092 km or 679 mi	Kroonstad	$768
1113 km or 692 mi	Klerksdorp	$722
1135 km or 705 mi	Mmabatho	$780
1155 km or 718 mi	Potchefstroom	$695
1187 km or 737 mi	Rehoboth	$792
1194 km or 742 mi	Lobatse	$665
1198 km or 745 mi	Kanye	$664
1208 km or 751 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$773
1217 km or 756 mi	Vereeniging	$672
1231 km or 765 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$640
1244 km or 773 mi	Soweto	$923
1250 km or 777 mi	Rustenburg	$889
1260 km or 783 mi	Gaborone	$691
1261 km or 783 mi	Molepolole	$628
1261 km or 784 mi	Johannesburg	$993
1267 km or 788 mi	Randburg	$837
1269 km or 789 mi	Windhoek	$862
1270 km or 789 mi	Sandton	$953
1271 km or 790 mi	Durban	$809
1277 km or 794 mi	Gobabis	$813
1279 km or 795 mi	Walvis Bay	$740

Cities near Johannesburg

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 6.8 mi	Sandton	$953
13 km or 8 mi	Randburg	$837
19 km or 12 mi	Soweto	$923
28 km or 17 mi	Benoni	$785
40 km or 25 mi	Springs	$678
41 km or 25 mi	Centurion	$807
53 km or 33 mi	Pretoria	$906
53 km or 33 mi	Vereeniging	$672
59 km or 36 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$773
71 km or 44 mi	Brits	$820
101 km or 62 mi	Rustenburg	$889
109 km or 68 mi	Potchefstroom	$695
143 km or 89 mi	Bethal	$784
152 km or 94 mi	Middelburg	$795
155 km or 97 mi	Klerksdorp	$722
179 km or 111 mi	Kroonstad	$768
237 km or 147 mi	Welkom	$748
244 km or 152 mi	Mmabatho	$780
262 km or 163 mi	Lobatse	$665
275 km or 171 mi	Gaborone	$691
287 km or 179 mi	Butha-Buthe	$535
302 km or 188 mi	Kanye	$664
311 km or 193 mi	Mbabane	$562
323 km or 201 mi	Vryheid	$763
325 km or 202 mi	Molepolole	$628
329 km or 204 mi	Teyateyaneng	$500
333 km or 207 mi	Manzini	$442
350 km or 217 mi	Maseru	$621
366 km or 228 mi	Mahalapye	$631
369 km or 229 mi	Bloemfontein	$657
409 km or 254 mi	Mafeteng	$567
417 km or 259 mi	Palapye	$540
429 km or 267 mi	Kimberley	$814
442 km or 275 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$640
443 km or 275 mi	Matola	$964
446 km or 277 mi	Serowe	$583
454 km or 282 mi	Maputo	$1068
501 km or 311 mi	Durban	$809
562 km or 349 mi	Francistown	$624
577 km or 358 mi	Xai-Xai	$1003