Cape Town vs Meru - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Cape Town	Meru
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1071	$541
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2522	$1478
🏠 One person rent	$582	$181
🏘️ Family rent	$1083	$382
🍽️ Food expenses	$273	$266
🚐 Transport expenses	$124	$37.9
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1532	$433
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	7 km	69 km
🎓 Higher education	56	29
😀 Quality of life	58	27
🏙️ Population	3.78M	42.7K

The cost of living in Cape Town is 98% more expensive than in Meru. Cities ranked 5016th and 8317th ($1071 vs $541) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd and 4th in South Africa and Kenya, respectively. Check South Africa vs Kenya comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.4 months in Cape Town compared to 0.8 months in Meru. Cape Town ranked 1st best city to live in South Africa vs Meru ranked 9th in Kenya, while ranked 5491st and 8421st among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Cape Town vs Meru infographic

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Prices in Cape Town vs Meru

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

	Cape Town	Meru
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$8.4	$5.38
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$32.1	$38.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.87	$6.67
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.58	$2.32
☕ Cappuccino	$2.03	$2.3
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.03	$0.72
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$677	$199
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$435	$104
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1304	$516
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$863	$263
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$59.9	$20.2
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$93.1	$30.9
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$38.9	$37.9
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.89%	14.83%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1804	$1127
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1180	$1251
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.09	$0.87
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$39	$28.3
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$8.47	$14
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.23	$1.07
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.08	$0.93
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.03	$0.27
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.48	$1.65
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.58	$1.54
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.33	$11.2
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.42	$6.35
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.24	$4.98
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.53	$2.97
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.45	$0.77
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.47	$0.76
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.57	$0.78
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.33	$1.09
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.13	$1.17
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.62	$0.26
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.43	$1.34
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$5.48	$12
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.39	$2.13
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.02	$3.07
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.02	$2.56
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.17	$3.57
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.11	$1.17
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.49	$1.14
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$34.4	$34.3
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$6.22	$6.2
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$35.7	$20.5
💇 Haircut, simple	$8.05	$3.52
👖 Brand Jeans	$51	$19
👟 Brand Sneakers	$104	$59.8
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$204	$189
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$4806	$8023

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 Meru

Distance	City	Cost of living
138 km or 85 mi	Thika	$589
175 km or 109 mi	Nairobi	$760
179 km or 111 mi	Machakos	$408
180 km or 112 mi	Nakuru	$500
268 km or 167 mi	Eldoret	$483
323 km or 201 mi	Kisumu	$522
354 km or 220 mi	Mumias	$490
378 km or 235 mi	Moshi	$561
392 km or 244 mi	Tororo	$602
395 km or 245 mi	Arusha	$638
403 km or 250 mi	Mbale	$605
455 km or 283 mi	Malindi	$498
496 km or 308 mi	Jinja	$562
508 km or 316 mi	Mombasa	$580
559 km or 347 mi	Kira Town	$646
564 km or 351 mi	Kampala	$698
577 km or 359 mi	Entebbe	$558
591 km or 367 mi	Tanga	$545
600 km or 373 mi	Mwanza	$625
666 km or 414 mi	Gulu	$594
712 km or 442 mi	Stone Town	$523
712 km or 443 mi	Zanzibar	$552
732 km or 455 mi	Dodoma	$502
749 km or 465 mi	Baidoa	$706
764 km or 475 mi	Morogoro	$486
783 km or 486 mi	Dar es Salaam	$811
784 km or 487 mi	Awasa	$886
819 km or 509 mi	Arua	$585
840 km or 522 mi	Bunia	$801
852 km or 529 mi	Jimma	$654
852 km or 530 mi	Kasese	$573
858 km or 533 mi	Juba	$513
862 km or 536 mi	Byumba	$613
873 km or 542 mi	Kigali	$771
875 km or 544 mi	Muyinga	$650
883 km or 549 mi	Mogadishu	$711
907 km or 563 mi	Ruhengeri	$492
911 km or 566 mi	Ruyigi	$648
911 km or 566 mi	Beni	$785
918 km or 570 mi	Nyanza	$518