Cape Town vs Madrid - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Cape Town	Madrid
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1386	$2109
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$3160	$4833
🏠 One person rent	$775	$1251
🏘️ Family rent	$1348	$2104
🍽️ Food expenses	$359	$517
🚐 Transport expenses	$139	$191
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$405	$2569
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	7 km	10 km
🎓 Higher education	55	98
😀 Quality of life	58	91
🏙️ Population	3.78M	3.51M

The cost of living in Cape Town is 34% less expensive than in Madrid. Cities ranked 4336th and 1723rd ($1386 vs $2109) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd and 4th in South Africa and Spain, respectively. Check South Africa vs Spain comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.3 months in Cape Town compared to 1.2 months in Madrid. Cape Town ranked 2nd best city to live in South Africa vs Madrid ranked 1st in Spain, while ranked 6134th and 160th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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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	$12.2	$17.6
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$48.7	$60.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$6.19	$13.1
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.03	$4.64
☕ Cappuccino	$2.47	$3.76
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.39	$3.27
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$942	$1411
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$591	$1035
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1671	$2589
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1075	$1735
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$72.4	$108
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$112	$165
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$41.7	$33.4
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.35%	3.1%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2325	$9054
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1508	$4487
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.33	$1.75
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$37.4	$42.5
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$11	$18.1
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.33	$1.8
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.36	$1.28
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.2	$1.34
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.25	$1.51
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.97	$3.97
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.53	$17.3
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.77	$8.98
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.45	$17.7
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.94	$3.06
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.88	$2.39
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.82	$2.64
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.09	$2.88
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.6	$2.22
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.56	$2.27
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.78	$0.67
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.77	$2.95
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.22	$8.81
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.47	$1.32
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.38	$7.01
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$6.05	$11.7
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.91	$4.43
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.41	$2.43
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.62	$2.55
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$49.1	$53.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$9.14	$11.8
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$37.2	$68.9
💇 Haircut, simple	$11.1	$17.4
👖 Brand Jeans	$58.7	$99.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$124	$114
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$272	$729
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$6197	$16324

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 Madrid

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 6.6 mi	Pozuelo de Alarcon	$1899
11 km or 6.7 mi	Coslada	$1721
14 km or 8.5 mi	Alcobendas	$1708
18 km or 11 mi	Mostoles	$1716
18 km or 11 mi	Fuenlabrada	$1603
18 km or 11 mi	Torrejon de Ardoz	$1643
21 km or 13 mi	Tres Cantos	$1667
29 km or 18 mi	Alcala de Henares	$1678
50 km or 31 mi	Guadalajara	$1200
68 km or 42 mi	Toledo	$1320
69 km or 43 mi	Segovia	$1360
138 km or 86 mi	Cuenca	$1246
155 km or 97 mi	Laguna de Duero	$1396
158 km or 98 mi	Villarrobledo	$1397
162 km or 101 mi	Valladolid	$1415
177 km or 110 mi	Salamanca	$1191
196 km or 122 mi	Puertollano	$896
208 km or 129 mi	Plasencia	$1267
211 km or 131 mi	Zamora	$1373
215 km or 133 mi	Burgos	$1242
223 km or 139 mi	Albacete	$1303
242 km or 150 mi	Villanueva de la Serena	$1325
244 km or 151 mi	Requena	$1421
250 km or 156 mi	Logrono	$1115
251 km or 156 mi	Caceres	$1187
253 km or 157 mi	Tudela	$1424
258 km or 160 mi	Linares	$1395
269 km or 167 mi	Ubeda	$1499
272 km or 169 mi	Zaragoza	$1436
281 km or 175 mi	Merida	$1276
283 km or 176 mi	Vitoria-Gasteiz	$1697
288 km or 179 mi	Leon	$1265
295 km or 183 mi	Jaen	$1125
296 km or 184 mi	Jumilla	$1316
297 km or 184 mi	Cordoba	$1291
298 km or 185 mi	Yecla	$1203
299 km or 186 mi	Braganca	$935
301 km or 187 mi	Martos	$1390
302 km or 187 mi	Caravaca de la Cruz	$1351
302 km or 188 mi	Valencia	$1812