Cape Town vs Lima - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Cape Town	Lima
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1386	$1034
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$3160	$2503
🏠 One person rent	$775	$466
🏘️ Family rent	$1348	$771
🍽️ Food expenses	$359	$297
🚐 Transport expenses	$139	$183
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$405	$632
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	7 km	9 km
🎓 Higher education	55	77
😀 Quality of life	58	71
🏙️ Population	3.78M	9.94M

The cost of living in Cape Town is 34% more expensive than in Lima. Cities ranked 4336th and 5300th ($1386 vs $1034) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd and 1st in South Africa and Peru, respectively. Check South Africa vs Peru 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 Lima. Cape Town ranked 2nd best city to live in South Africa vs Lima ranked 1st in Peru, while ranked 6134th and 3484th 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 Lima

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

	Cape Town	Lima
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$12.2	$4.53
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$48.7	$28.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$6.19	$6.88
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.03	$2.86
☕ Cappuccino	$2.47	$3.36
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.39	$1.06
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$942	$660
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$591	$336
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1671	$1102
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1075	$580
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$72.4	$39.3
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$112	$60.6
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$41.7	$26.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.35%	8.87%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2325	$2328
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1508	$1422
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.33	$0.69
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$37.4	$34.9
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$11	$16.7
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.33	$1.44
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.36	$1.61
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.2	$2.04
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.25	$1.21
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.97	$2.92
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.53	$7.76
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.77	$6.62
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.45	$10
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.94	$1.96
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.88	$1.04
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.82	$1.36
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.09	$1.34
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.6	$0.93
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.56	$0.86
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.78	$0.6
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.77	$2.45
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.22	$11.3
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.47	$1.78
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.38	$5.44
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$6.05	$6.6
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.91	$6.04
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.41	$1.87
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.62	$1.67
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$49.1	$31.3
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$9.14	$6.46
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$37.2	$35.7
💇 Haircut, simple	$11.1	$11.1
👖 Brand Jeans	$58.7	$49.2
👟 Brand Sneakers	$124	$83.5
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$272	$184
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$6197	$11057

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	$1421
99 km or 62 mi	Worcester	$763
371 km or 231 mi	George	$877
644 km or 400 mi	Uitenhage	$968
662 km or 411 mi	Port Elizabeth	$1020
664 km or 413 mi	Upington	$796
754 km or 468 mi	Makhanda	$863
821 km or 510 mi	Komani	$1033
833 km or 518 mi	Kimberley	$904
845 km or 525 mi	Bhisho	$1390
882 km or 548 mi	East London	$773
912 km or 567 mi	Bloemfontein	$742
950 km or 590 mi	Mafeteng	$611
999 km or 621 mi	Maseru	$660
1002 km or 622 mi	Mthatha	$953
1029 km or 639 mi	Teyateyaneng	$558
1030 km or 640 mi	Welkom	$811
1034 km or 643 mi	Mariental	$991
1092 km or 679 mi	Butha-Buthe	$589
1092 km or 679 mi	Kroonstad	$872
1113 km or 692 mi	Klerksdorp	$860
1135 km or 705 mi	Mmabatho	$903
1155 km or 718 mi	Potchefstroom	$789
1187 km or 737 mi	Rehoboth	$945
1194 km or 742 mi	Lobatse	$691
1198 km or 745 mi	Kanye	$691
1208 km or 751 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$867
1217 km or 756 mi	Vereeniging	$742
1231 km or 765 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$725
1244 km or 773 mi	Soweto	$1031
1250 km or 777 mi	Rustenburg	$994
1260 km or 783 mi	Gaborone	$723
1261 km or 783 mi	Molepolole	$663
1261 km or 784 mi	Johannesburg	$1204
1267 km or 788 mi	Randburg	$912
1269 km or 789 mi	Windhoek	$1040
1270 km or 789 mi	Sandton	$1104
1271 km or 790 mi	Durban	$938
1277 km or 794 mi	Gobabis	$998
1279 km or 795 mi	Walvis Bay	$893

Cities near Lima

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 6.8 mi	Callao	$820
64 km or 40 mi	Huaral	$771
122 km or 76 mi	Huacho	$730
198 km or 123 mi	Huancayo	$598
205 km or 128 mi	Pisco	$571
251 km or 156 mi	Huanuco	$641
265 km or 165 mi	Ica	$725
285 km or 177 mi	Huaraz	$604
329 km or 204 mi	Ayacucho	$621
372 km or 231 mi	Chimbote	$527
483 km or 300 mi	Abancay	$612
489 km or 304 mi	Trujillo	$811
490 km or 304 mi	Pucallpa	$524
567 km or 352 mi	Cajamarca	$583
572 km or 355 mi	Cusco	$631
623 km or 387 mi	Tarapoto	$626
655 km or 407 mi	Chachapoyas	$611
663 km or 412 mi	Chiclayo	$667
685 km or 426 mi	Cruzeiro do Sul	$670
732 km or 455 mi	Jaen	$617
765 km or 475 mi	Arequipa	$670
838 km or 521 mi	Juliaca	$589
855 km or 531 mi	Puerto Maldonado	$589
858 km or 533 mi	Piura	$651
866 km or 538 mi	Puno	$558
891 km or 554 mi	Sullana	$593
896 km or 557 mi	Paita	$638
927 km or 576 mi	Loja	$559
952 km or 591 mi	Talara	$705
987 km or 614 mi	Mancora	$660
988 km or 614 mi	Tacna	$459
1014 km or 630 mi	Iquitos	$745
1014 km or 630 mi	Arica	$686
1015 km or 631 mi	Tumbes	$577
1029 km or 639 mi	Machala	$584
1032 km or 642 mi	Rio Branco	$815
1041 km or 647 mi	Cuenca	$829
1073 km or 666 mi	El Alto	$691
1077 km or 669 mi	La Paz	$694
1138 km or 707 mi	Milagro	$731