Cape Town vs Melbourne - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Cape Town	Melbourne
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1386	$2543
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$3160	$6242
🏠 One person rent	$775	$1414
🏘️ Family rent	$1348	$2478
🍽️ Food expenses	$359	$607
🚐 Transport expenses	$139	$361
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$405	$4489
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	7 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	55	100
😀 Quality of life	58	100
🏙️ Population	3.78M	5.35M

The cost of living in Cape Town is 45% less expensive than in Melbourne. Cities ranked 4336th and 829th ($1386 vs $2543) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd and 4th in South Africa and Australia, respectively. Check South Africa vs Australia comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.3 months in Cape Town compared to 1.8 months in Melbourne. Cape Town ranked 2nd best city to live in South Africa vs Melbourne ranked 1st in Australia, while ranked 6134th and 1st 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 Melbourne

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

	Cape Town	Melbourne
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$12.2	$15.5
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$48.7	$67.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$6.19	$12
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.03	$9.51
☕ Cappuccino	$2.47	$4.02
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.39	$3.15
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$942	$1557
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$591	$1162
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1671	$2836
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1075	$2092
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$72.4	$122
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$112	$186
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$41.7	$51.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.35%	5.58%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2325	$6978
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1508	$6027
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.33	$3.85
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$37.4	$140
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$11	$19.7
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.33	$1.42
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.36	$1.67
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.2	$2.67
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.25	$2.28
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.97	$5.94
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.53	$13.1
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.77	$9.76
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.45	$15
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.94	$3.92
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.88	$3.2
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.82	$3.2
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.09	$5.07
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.6	$3.08
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.56	$2.76
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.78	$1.19
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.77	$2.68
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.22	$14.3
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.47	$5.54
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.38	$26
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$6.05	$8.16
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.91	$6.98
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.41	$3.14
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.62	$3.17
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$49.1	$55.5
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$9.14	$16.4
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$37.2	$56.8
💇 Haircut, simple	$11.1	$28
👖 Brand Jeans	$58.7	$80.1
👟 Brand Sneakers	$124	$123
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$272	$2326
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$6197	$22313

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 Melbourne

Distance	City	Cost of living
3.2 km or 2 mi	South Yarra	$1834
24 km or 15 mi	Hoppers Crossing	$1847
25 km or 16 mi	Tarneit	$1813
29 km or 18 mi	Dandenong	$1913
34 km or 21 mi	Sunbury	$1933
37 km or 23 mi	Melton	$1896
40 km or 25 mi	Frankston	$1889
41 km or 25 mi	Berwick	$1915
42 km or 26 mi	Cranbourne	$1810
54 km or 34 mi	Pakenham	$1936
65 km or 40 mi	Geelong	$2179
102 km or 64 mi	Ballarat	$1606
134 km or 83 mi	Bendigo	$1493
144 km or 90 mi	Traralgon	$2000
164 km or 102 mi	Shepparton	$1816
226 km or 140 mi	Warrnambool	$1876
367 km or 228 mi	Mount Gambier	$1880
369 km or 230 mi	Wagga Wagga	$1608
392 km or 244 mi	Devonport	$1868
404 km or 251 mi	Griffith	$1825
444 km or 276 mi	Launceston	$1728
466 km or 290 mi	Canberra	$2258
477 km or 296 mi	Mildura	$1905
546 km or 339 mi	Goulburn	$1795
597 km or 371 mi	Hobart	$2364
628 km or 390 mi	Orange	$1460
643 km or 399 mi	Bathurst	$1701
651 km or 405 mi	Wollongong	$1695
655 km or 407 mi	Adelaide	$2355
700 km or 435 mi	Blacktown	$1709
702 km or 436 mi	Dubbo	$1855
703 km or 437 mi	Parramatta	$2481
707 km or 440 mi	Kellyville	$2040
713 km or 443 mi	Sydney	$2844
728 km or 452 mi	Dee Why	$2354
822 km or 511 mi	Newcastle	$1995
891 km or 554 mi	Whyalla	$2133
1015 km or 631 mi	Port Macquarie	$1786
1021 km or 634 mi	Armidale	$1273
1123 km or 698 mi	Coffs Harbour	$2132