Cape Town vs Madrid - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Cape Town	Madrid
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1071	$1781
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2522	$4027
🏠 One person rent	$582	$1048
🏘️ Family rent	$1083	$1736
🍽️ Food expenses	$273	$445
🚐 Transport expenses	$124	$163
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1532	$2294
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	7 km	10 km
🎓 Higher education	56	98
😀 Quality of life	58	90
🏙️ Population	3.78M	3.42M

The cost of living in Cape Town is 40% less expensive than in Madrid. Cities ranked 5016th and 2443rd ($1071 vs $1781) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd and 5th in South Africa and Spain, respectively. Check South Africa vs Spain comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.4 months in Cape Town compared to 1.3 months in Madrid. Cape Town ranked 1st best city to live in South Africa vs Madrid ranked 1st in Spain, while ranked 5491st and 151st among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Cape Town vs Madrid infographic

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Prices in Cape Town vs Madrid

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

	Cape Town	Madrid
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$8.4	$14.7
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$32.1	$57
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.87	$10.6
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.58	$4.36
☕ Cappuccino	$2.03	$2.92
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.03	$2.77
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$677	$1203
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$435	$853
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1304	$2092
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$863	$1428
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$59.9	$94
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$93.1	$145
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$38.9	$30.6
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.89%	3.59%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1804	$6884
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1180	$3988
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.09	$1.56
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$39	$32.4
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$8.47	$15.8
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.23	$1.74
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.08	$1.11
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.03	$1.31
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.48	$1.31
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.58	$3.12
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.33	$13.5
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.42	$8.12
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.24	$14.5
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.53	$2.31
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.45	$1.91
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.47	$2.13
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.57	$2.26
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.33	$1.78
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.13	$1.77
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.62	$0.59
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.43	$2.02
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$5.48	$6.89
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.39	$1.21
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.02	$6.25
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.02	$11.5
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.17	$3.96
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.11	$2.62
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.49	$2.99
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$34.4	$45
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$6.22	$10.2
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$35.7	$58.3
💇 Haircut, simple	$8.05	$15.1
👖 Brand Jeans	$51	$80.7
👟 Brand Sneakers	$104	$90.1
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$204	$576
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$4806	$10042

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 Madrid

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 6.6 mi	Pozuelo de Alarcon	$1565
11 km or 6.7 mi	Coslada	$1530
14 km or 8.5 mi	Alcobendas	$1433
18 km or 11 mi	Mostoles	$1573
18 km or 11 mi	Fuenlabrada	$1389
18 km or 11 mi	Torrejon de Ardoz	$1387
21 km or 13 mi	Tres Cantos	$1309
29 km or 18 mi	Alcala de Henares	$1293
50 km or 31 mi	Guadalajara	$1056
68 km or 42 mi	Toledo	$1204
69 km or 43 mi	Segovia	$1285
138 km or 86 mi	Cuenca	$1084
155 km or 97 mi	Laguna de Duero	$1201
158 km or 98 mi	Villarrobledo	$1235
162 km or 101 mi	Valladolid	$1212
177 km or 110 mi	Salamanca	$1086
196 km or 122 mi	Puertollano	$812
208 km or 129 mi	Plasencia	$1098
211 km or 131 mi	Zamora	$1286
215 km or 133 mi	Burgos	$1107
223 km or 139 mi	Albacete	$1209
242 km or 150 mi	Villanueva de la Serena	$1157
244 km or 151 mi	Requena	$1261
250 km or 156 mi	Logrono	$983
251 km or 156 mi	Caceres	$947
253 km or 157 mi	Tudela	$1241
258 km or 160 mi	Linares	$1220
269 km or 167 mi	Ubeda	$1316
272 km or 169 mi	Zaragoza	$1101
281 km or 175 mi	Merida	$1126
283 km or 176 mi	Vitoria-Gasteiz	$1532
288 km or 179 mi	Leon	$1241
295 km or 183 mi	Jaen	$930
296 km or 184 mi	Jumilla	$1241
297 km or 184 mi	Cordoba	$1100
298 km or 185 mi	Yecla	$1324
299 km or 186 mi	Braganca	$806
301 km or 187 mi	Martos	$1204
302 km or 187 mi	Caravaca de la Cruz	$1221
302 km or 188 mi	Valencia	$1522