Cape Town vs New York City - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Cape Town	New York City
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1071	$4441
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2522	$10033
🏠 One person rent	$582	$2960
🏘️ Family rent	$1083	$5380
🍽️ Food expenses	$273	$886
🚐 Transport expenses	$124	$364
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1532	$5544
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Good
✈️ Airport proximity	7 km	13 km
🎓 Higher education	56	100
😀 Quality of life	58	95
🏙️ Population	3.78M	8.8M

The cost of living in Cape Town is 76% less expensive than in New York City. Cities ranked 5016th and 3rd ($1071 vs $4441) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd and 1st in South Africa and the United States, respectively. Check South Africa vs the United States comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.4 months in Cape Town compared to 1.2 months in New York City. Cape Town ranked 1st best city to live in South Africa vs New York City ranked 2nd in the United States, while ranked 5491st and 22nd among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Cape Town vs New York City infographic

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<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/cape-town/new-york.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Cape Town vs New York City infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/cape-town/new-york" target="_blank">Cape Town vs New York City - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Cape Town vs New York City

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

	Cape Town	New York City
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$8.4	$29.7
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$32.1	$133
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.87	$12
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.58	$8.94
☕ Cappuccino	$2.03	$5.95
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.03	$3.2
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$677	$3501
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$435	$2603
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1304	$4776
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$863	$5236
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$59.9	$112
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$93.1	$171
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$38.9	$65.5
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.89%	6.55%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1804	$17935
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1180	$12929
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.09	$2.91
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$39	$132
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$8.47	$22.5
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.23	$1
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.08	$1.53
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.03	$5.04
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.48	$7.95
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.58	$5.54
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.33	$17.6
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.42	$15.4
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.24	$20
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.53	$7.6
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.45	$2.37
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.47	$6.05
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.57	$6.2
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.33	$3.66
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.13	$3.84
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.62	$1.72
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.43	$3.41
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$5.48	$20
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.39	$2.89
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.02	$18.1
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.02	$9.89
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.17	$5.44
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.11	$6.94
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.49	$1.95
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$34.4	$71
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$6.22	$20.1
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$35.7	$173
💇 Haircut, simple	$8.05	$36.1
👖 Brand Jeans	$51	$67.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$104	$113
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$204	$1784
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$4806	$21465

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 New York City

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 6.6 mi	Astoria	$2534
11 km or 6.8 mi	Hoboken	$3271
11 km or 7.1 mi	Jersey	$3040
13 km or 8.3 mi	Union	$2886
14 km or 8.8 mi	West New York	$2703
14 km or 8.9 mi	Bayonne	$3302
15 km or 9.6 mi	North Bergen	$2701
17 km or 10 mi	Secaucus	$2756
17 km or 11 mi	Cliffside Park	$2698
18 km or 11 mi	Kearny	$2720
20 km or 12 mi	Valley Stream	$2730
20 km or 13 mi	Fort Lee	$2792
20 km or 13 mi	Lyndhurst	$2667
22 km or 14 mi	Newark	$2729
23 km or 14 mi	Elizabeth	$2740
23 km or 14 mi	Belleville	$2512
25 km or 15 mi	Hillside	$2693
25 km or 15 mi	Long Beach	$2732
25 km or 15 mi	Nutley	$2531
25 km or 16 mi	East Orange	$2587
25 km or 16 mi	Irvington	$2637
26 km or 16 mi	Rockville Centre	$2614
26 km or 16 mi	Linden	$2749
26 km or 16 mi	Hackensack	$2664
26 km or 16 mi	Bloomfield	$2480
26 km or 16 mi	Teaneck	$2715
26 km or 16 mi	Carteret	$2722
26 km or 16 mi	Passaic	$2676
27 km or 17 mi	Roselle	$2747
27 km or 17 mi	Hempstead	$2664
28 km or 17 mi	Union Township	$2716
28 km or 18 mi	Clifton	$2745
28 km or 18 mi	Maplewood	$2611
29 km or 18 mi	Montclair	$2456
29 km or 18 mi	Bergenfield	$2674
29 km or 18 mi	Mount Vernon	$2772
30 km or 18 mi	Rahway	$2730
30 km or 18 mi	Uniondale	$2610
30 km or 18 mi	West Orange	$2456
30 km or 18 mi	New Rochelle	$3111