Cape Town vs Kigali - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Cape Town	Kigali
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1071	$771
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2522	$1896
🏠 One person rent	$582	$419
🏘️ Family rent	$1083	$803
🍽️ Food expenses	$273	$218
🚐 Transport expenses	$124	$98.3
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1532	$253
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Bad
✈️ Airport proximity	7 km	9 km
🎓 Higher education	56	28
😀 Quality of life	58	45
🏙️ Population	3.78M	1.16M

The cost of living in Cape Town is 39% more expensive than in Kigali. Cities ranked 5016th and 6562nd ($1071 vs $771) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd and 1st in South Africa and Rwanda, respectively. Check South Africa vs Rwanda comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.4 months in Cape Town compared to 0.3 months in Kigali. Cape Town ranked 1st best city to live in South Africa vs Kigali ranked 1st in Rwanda, while ranked 5491st and 6577th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Cape Town vs Kigali infographic

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Prices in Cape Town vs Kigali

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

	Cape Town	Kigali
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$8.4	$2.63
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$32.1	$28.5
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.87	$6.04
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.58	$1.07
☕ Cappuccino	$2.03	$2.27
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.03	$0.86
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$677	$461
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$435	$342
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1304	$1132
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$863	$634
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$59.9	$30.1
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$93.1	$46
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$38.9	$22.9
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.89%	16.17%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1804	$17658
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1180	$945
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.09	$0.35
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$39	$26.4
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$8.47	$14.9
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.23	$1.16
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.08	$0.7
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.03	$1.06
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.48	$1.3
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.58	$1.63
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.33	$4.12
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.42	$4.45
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.24	$3.41
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.53	$2.68
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.45	$1.24
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.47	$1.7
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.57	$1.04
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.33	$0.51
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.13	$0.74
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.62	$0.51
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.43	$1.5
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$5.48	$8.4
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.39	$0.87
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.02	$1.78
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.02	$4.58
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.17	$2.74
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.11	$0.67
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.49	$0.94
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$34.4	$31
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$6.22	$3.56
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$35.7	$16
💇 Haircut, simple	$8.05	$1.78
👖 Brand Jeans	$51	$16.8
👟 Brand Sneakers	$104	$26.1
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$204	$152
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$4806	$9282

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	$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 Kigali

Distance	City	Cost of living
42 km or 26 mi	Byumba	$613
56 km or 35 mi	Nyanza	$518
69 km or 43 mi	Ruhengeri	$492
80 km or 50 mi	Butare	$413
80 km or 50 mi	Kibuye	$479
95 km or 59 mi	Gisenyi	$381
104 km or 65 mi	Muyinga	$650
109 km or 68 mi	Ngozi	$648
142 km or 88 mi	Cyangugu	$496
145 km or 90 mi	Bubanza	$648
148 km or 92 mi	Bukavu	$759
164 km or 102 mi	Gitega	$651
170 km or 105 mi	Ruyigi	$648
177 km or 110 mi	Bujumbura	$719
191 km or 119 mi	Uvira	$803
219 km or 136 mi	Rutana	$648
243 km or 151 mi	Kasese	$573
244 km or 152 mi	Makamba	$647
246 km or 153 mi	Butembo	$768
281 km or 174 mi	Beni	$785
322 km or 200 mi	Mwanza	$625
348 km or 216 mi	Entebbe	$558
377 km or 234 mi	Kampala	$698
388 km or 241 mi	Kira Town	$646
392 km or 244 mi	Bunia	$801
438 km or 272 mi	Jinja	$562
451 km or 280 mi	Kalemie	$747
473 km or 294 mi	Kindu	$746
544 km or 338 mi	Tororo	$602
554 km or 344 mi	Mumias	$490
561 km or 348 mi	Kisumu	$522
562 km or 349 mi	Arua	$585
568 km or 353 mi	Mbale	$605
581 km or 361 mi	Gulu	$594
593 km or 368 mi	Isiro	$843
607 km or 377 mi	Kisangani	$910
642 km or 399 mi	Eldoret	$483
693 km or 431 mi	Nakuru	$500
748 km or 465 mi	Yambio	$495
752 km or 467 mi	Arusha	$638