Cape Town vs New York City - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Cape Town	New York City
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1386	$4202
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$3160	$9189
🏠 One person rent	$775	$2718
🏘️ Family rent	$1348	$4417
🍽️ Food expenses	$359	$842
🚐 Transport expenses	$139	$400
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$405	$5389
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	7 km	13 km
🎓 Higher education	55	100
😀 Quality of life	58	95
🏙️ Population	3.78M	8.8M

The cost of living in Cape Town is 67% less expensive than in New York City. Cities ranked 4336th and 4th ($1386 vs $4202) 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 0.3 months in Cape Town compared to 1.3 months in New York City. Cape Town ranked 2nd best city to live in South Africa vs New York City ranked 2nd in the United States, while ranked 6134th and 15th among best cities to live in the world.

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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	$12.2	$22.6
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$48.7	$90
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$6.19	$13.4
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.03	$8.3
☕ Cappuccino	$2.47	$6.22
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.39	$3.28
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$942	$3692
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$591	$2206
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1671	$5140
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1075	$3874
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$72.4	$144
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$112	$218
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$41.7	$70.6
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.35%	6.31%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2325	$18073
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1508	$7831
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.33	$3.01
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$37.4	$138
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$11	$27
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.33	$1.02
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.36	$1.44
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.2	$4.07
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.25	$5.67
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.97	$6.75
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.53	$16.6
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.77	$14.6
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.45	$18.5
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.94	$6.3
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.88	$2.24
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.82	$5.79
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.09	$6.72
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.6	$3.21
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.56	$3.96
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.78	$1.67
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.77	$3.57
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.22	$19.7
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.47	$4.61
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.38	$18.5
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$6.05	$23.4
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.91	$14
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.41	$8.02
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.62	$2.86
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$49.1	$132
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$9.14	$21.7
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$37.2	$159
💇 Haircut, simple	$11.1	$40.5
👖 Brand Jeans	$58.7	$61.1
👟 Brand Sneakers	$124	$115
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$272	$2095
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$6197	$21713

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 New York City

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 6.6 mi	Astoria	$2940
11 km or 6.8 mi	Hoboken	$3729
11 km or 7.1 mi	Jersey	$3110
13 km or 8.3 mi	Union	$3145
14 km or 8.8 mi	West New York	$2842
14 km or 8.9 mi	Bayonne	$3304
15 km or 9.6 mi	North Bergen	$2840
17 km or 10 mi	Secaucus	$2917
17 km or 11 mi	Cliffside Park	$2795
18 km or 11 mi	Kearny	$2791
20 km or 12 mi	Valley Stream	$2820
20 km or 13 mi	Fort Lee	$2821
20 km or 13 mi	Lyndhurst	$2707
22 km or 14 mi	Newark	$2797
23 km or 14 mi	Elizabeth	$2805
23 km or 14 mi	Belleville	$2545
25 km or 15 mi	Hillside	$2725
25 km or 15 mi	Long Beach	$2823
25 km or 15 mi	Nutley	$2540
25 km or 16 mi	East Orange	$2557
25 km or 16 mi	Irvington	$2665
26 km or 16 mi	Rockville Centre	$2700
26 km or 16 mi	Linden	$2791
26 km or 16 mi	Hackensack	$2692
26 km or 16 mi	Bloomfield	$2485
26 km or 16 mi	Teaneck	$2697
26 km or 16 mi	Carteret	$2775
26 km or 16 mi	Passaic	$2614
27 km or 17 mi	Roselle	$2779
27 km or 17 mi	Hempstead	$2710
28 km or 17 mi	Union Township	$2729
28 km or 18 mi	Clifton	$2669
28 km or 18 mi	Maplewood	$2634
29 km or 18 mi	Montclair	$2450
29 km or 18 mi	Bergenfield	$2713
29 km or 18 mi	Mount Vernon	$2863
30 km or 18 mi	Rahway	$2762
30 km or 18 mi	Uniondale	$2694
30 km or 18 mi	West Orange	$2488
30 km or 18 mi	New Rochelle	$3192