Cape Town vs Melbourne - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 01, 2024

	Cape Town	Melbourne
🚶 Cost of living one person	$881	$2356
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2144	$5563
🏠 One person rent	$484	$1336
🏘️ Family rent	$966	$2266
🍽️ Food expenses	$259	$528
🚐 Transport expenses	$56.2	$338
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1518	$3776
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	7 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	55	100
😀 Quality of life	60	98
🏙️ Population	434K	4.53M

The cost of living in Cape Town is 63% less expensive than in Melbourne. Cities ranked 6078th and 933rd ($881 vs $2356) 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 1.7 months in Cape Town compared to 1.6 months in Melbourne. Cape Town ranked 3rd best city to live in South Africa vs Melbourne ranked 1st in Australia, while ranked 5406th and 2nd 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 Melbourne infographic

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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	$7.47	$14.4
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$31.2	$67
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.87	$9.84
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.04	$7
☕ Cappuccino	$1.94	$3.35
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.86	$2.5
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$536	$1387
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$353	$1129
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1202	$2874
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$749	$1851
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$56.2	$103
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$87	$157
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$39.2	$53.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.61%	6.64%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1890	$8760
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1307	$7587
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.04	$3.22
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$34.8	$128
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$7.17	$22.1
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.22	$1.26
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1	$1.35
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.92	$2.45
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.38	$2.23
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.39	$3.91
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.96	$9.6
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.26	$8.55
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.2	$12.4
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.4	$3.08
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.46	$2.46
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.39	$2.65
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.39	$3.75
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.36	$2.31
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.31	$2.13
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.58	$0.93
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.3	$2.56
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$4.51	$11.1
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.14	$4.84
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.62	$28.4
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.8	$8.11
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$2.76	$5.01
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.22	$3.52
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.36	$3.06
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$31.3	$52.4
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$5.42	$14.3
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$32.9	$67.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$10.3	$20.2
👖 Brand Jeans	$42.7	$89.9
👟 Brand Sneakers	$81.4	$112
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$172	$1612
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$4013	$18868

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	$773
99 km or 62 mi	Worcester	$632
371 km or 231 mi	George	$684
644 km or 400 mi	Uitenhage	$805
662 km or 411 mi	Port Elizabeth	$866
664 km or 413 mi	Upington	$643
754 km or 468 mi	Makhanda	$704
821 km or 510 mi	Komani	$703
833 km or 518 mi	Kimberley	$753
845 km or 525 mi	Bhisho	$710
882 km or 548 mi	East London	$683
912 km or 567 mi	Bloemfontein	$601
950 km or 590 mi	Mafeteng	$511
999 km or 621 mi	Maseru	$535
1002 km or 622 mi	Mthatha	$689
1029 km or 639 mi	Teyateyaneng	$511
1030 km or 640 mi	Welkom	$682
1034 km or 643 mi	Mariental	$765
1092 km or 679 mi	Butha-Buthe	$511
1092 km or 679 mi	Kroonstad	$701
1113 km or 692 mi	Klerksdorp	$621
1135 km or 705 mi	Mmabatho	$719
1155 km or 718 mi	Potchefstroom	$625
1187 km or 737 mi	Rehoboth	$738
1194 km or 742 mi	Lobatse	$631
1198 km or 745 mi	Kanye	$633
1208 km or 751 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$698
1217 km or 756 mi	Vereeniging	$637
1231 km or 765 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$609
1244 km or 773 mi	Soweto	$875
1250 km or 777 mi	Rustenburg	$845
1260 km or 783 mi	Gaborone	$656
1261 km or 783 mi	Molepolole	$603
1261 km or 784 mi	Johannesburg	$908
1267 km or 788 mi	Randburg	$776
1269 km or 789 mi	Windhoek	$807
1270 km or 789 mi	Sandton	$889
1271 km or 790 mi	Durban	$780
1277 km or 794 mi	Gobabis	$751
1279 km or 795 mi	Walvis Bay	$718

Cities near Melbourne

Distance	City	Cost of living
3.2 km or 2 mi	South Yarra	$1702
24 km or 15 mi	Hoppers Crossing	$1673
25 km or 16 mi	Tarneit	$1658
29 km or 18 mi	Dandenong	$1693
34 km or 21 mi	Sunbury	$1746
37 km or 23 mi	Melton	$1708
40 km or 25 mi	Frankston	$1707
41 km or 25 mi	Berwick	$1716
42 km or 26 mi	Cranbourne	$1701
54 km or 34 mi	Pakenham	$1719
65 km or 40 mi	Geelong	$1688
102 km or 64 mi	Ballarat	$1327
134 km or 83 mi	Bendigo	$1317
144 km or 90 mi	Traralgon	$1707
164 km or 102 mi	Shepparton	$1672
226 km or 140 mi	Warrnambool	$1639
367 km or 228 mi	Mount Gambier	$1622
369 km or 230 mi	Wagga Wagga	$1528
392 km or 244 mi	Devonport	$1819
404 km or 251 mi	Griffith	$1669
444 km or 276 mi	Launceston	$1723
466 km or 290 mi	Canberra	$2604
477 km or 296 mi	Mildura	$1462
546 km or 339 mi	Goulburn	$1723
597 km or 371 mi	Hobart	$2203
628 km or 390 mi	Orange	$1463
643 km or 399 mi	Bathurst	$1610
651 km or 405 mi	Wollongong	$1430
655 km or 407 mi	Adelaide	$2180
700 km or 435 mi	Blacktown	$1691
702 km or 436 mi	Dubbo	$1404
703 km or 437 mi	Parramatta	$2348
707 km or 440 mi	Kellyville	$1903
713 km or 443 mi	Sydney	$2741
728 km or 452 mi	Dee Why	$1998
822 km or 511 mi	Newcastle	$1461
891 km or 554 mi	Whyalla	$1888
1015 km or 631 mi	Port Macquarie	$1688
1021 km or 634 mi	Armidale	$1354
1123 km or 698 mi	Coffs Harbour	$1481