Cape Town vs Ningbo - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Cape Town	Ningbo
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1366	$671
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$3099	$1938
🏠 One person rent	$773	$264
🏘️ Family rent	$1343	$462
🍽️ Food expenses	$355	$269
🚐 Transport expenses	$124	$71.2
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$404	$892
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	7 km	6 km
🎓 Higher education	55	53
😀 Quality of life	55	71
🏙️ Population	3.78M	9.4M

The cost of living in Cape Town is 103% more expensive than in Ningbo. Cities ranked 4432nd and 7431st ($1366 vs $671) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 2nd and 80th in South Africa and China, respectively. Check South Africa vs China 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 Ningbo. Cape Town ranked 4th best city to live in South Africa vs Ningbo ranked 26th in China, while ranked 6382nd and 3738th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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Prices in Cape Town vs Ningbo

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

	Cape Town	Ningbo
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$12.5	$3.57
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$49.7	$28.8
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.71	$4.34
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.13	$1.39
☕ Cappuccino	$2.42	$3.42
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.39	$0.44
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$874	$341
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$594	$196
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1556	$599
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1079	$357
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$84.1	$31.7
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$129	$48.7
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$39	$7.55
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.25%	3.43%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2160	$4479
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1500	$2802
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.16	$0.29
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$32.7	$14.4
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$9.46	$4.35
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.36	$1.13
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.35	$1.82
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.21	$1.84
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.24	$0.82
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.91	$1.59
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.29	$18
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.21	$3.61
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.46	$10.3
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.83	$1.37
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.81	$1.49
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.79	$1.49
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.94	$1.16
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.52	$0.63
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.47	$0.78
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.79	$0.33
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.84	$1.5
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.59	$9.5
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.49	$0.78
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.44	$4.32
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.94	$13.9
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.02	$4.16
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.49	$2.53
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.67	$2.16
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$49.6	$21.6
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$8.6	$7.6
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$39.1	$13.9
💇 Haircut, simple	$11.2	$4.73
👖 Brand Jeans	$59.9	$52.1
👟 Brand Sneakers	$127	$66.3
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$264	$693
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$5378	$15051

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	$1345
99 km or 62 mi	Worcester	$718
371 km or 231 mi	George	$927
644 km or 400 mi	Uitenhage	$980
662 km or 411 mi	Port Elizabeth	$1036
664 km or 413 mi	Upington	$811
754 km or 468 mi	Makhanda	$874
821 km or 510 mi	Komani	$1050
833 km or 518 mi	Kimberley	$927
845 km or 525 mi	Bhisho	$1419
882 km or 548 mi	East London	$795
912 km or 567 mi	Bloemfontein	$763
950 km or 590 mi	Mafeteng	$630
999 km or 621 mi	Maseru	$681
1002 km or 622 mi	Mthatha	$952
1029 km or 639 mi	Teyateyaneng	$573
1030 km or 640 mi	Welkom	$826
1034 km or 643 mi	Mariental	$986
1092 km or 679 mi	Butha-Buthe	$604
1092 km or 679 mi	Kroonstad	$875
1113 km or 692 mi	Klerksdorp	$826
1135 km or 705 mi	Mmabatho	$901
1155 km or 718 mi	Potchefstroom	$791
1187 km or 737 mi	Rehoboth	$934
1194 km or 742 mi	Lobatse	$697
1198 km or 745 mi	Kanye	$694
1208 km or 751 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$865
1217 km or 756 mi	Vereeniging	$765
1231 km or 765 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$716
1244 km or 773 mi	Soweto	$1057
1250 km or 777 mi	Rustenburg	$1017
1260 km or 783 mi	Gaborone	$731
1261 km or 783 mi	Molepolole	$662
1261 km or 784 mi	Johannesburg	$1171
1267 km or 788 mi	Randburg	$958
1269 km or 789 mi	Windhoek	$1023
1270 km or 789 mi	Sandton	$1089
1271 km or 790 mi	Durban	$948
1277 km or 794 mi	Gobabis	$968
1279 km or 795 mi	Walvis Bay	$905

Cities near Ningbo

Distance	City	Cost of living
55 km or 34 mi	Zhoushan	$584
94 km or 58 mi	Shaoxing	$680
120 km or 75 mi	Linhai	$661
124 km or 77 mi	Jiaxing	$594
139 km or 87 mi	Hangzhou	$860
144 km or 89 mi	Shanghai	$1126
150 km or 93 mi	Pudong	$1002
156 km or 97 mi	Yiwu	$667
167 km or 104 mi	Wenling	$677
177 km or 110 mi	Kunshan	$696
178 km or 111 mi	Huzhou	$643
180 km or 112 mi	Taicang	$669
182 km or 113 mi	Suzhou	$782
203 km or 126 mi	Jinhua	$598
212 km or 132 mi	Changshu	$644
216 km or 134 mi	Qidong	$701
224 km or 139 mi	Wuxi	$683
224 km or 139 mi	Lishui	$697
226 km or 140 mi	Wenzhou	$763
227 km or 141 mi	Haimen	$620
234 km or 146 mi	Yixing	$684
234 km or 146 mi	Guangde	$652
242 km or 150 mi	Zhangjiagang	$667
243 km or 151 mi	Nantong	$557
249 km or 155 mi	Rui'an	$705
257 km or 160 mi	Jiangyin	$650
260 km or 162 mi	Ningguo	$644
262 km or 163 mi	Liyang	$652
263 km or 163 mi	Changzhou	$623
267 km or 166 mi	Jingjiang	$636
278 km or 173 mi	Quzhou	$617
294 km or 182 mi	Xuancheng	$665
294 km or 183 mi	Taixing	$636
294 km or 183 mi	Rugao	$646
302 km or 187 mi	Danyang	$604
310 km or 193 mi	Yangzhong	$611
313 km or 194 mi	Huangshan	$628
313 km or 195 mi	Hai'an	$647
325 km or 202 mi	Jurong	$626
327 km or 203 mi	Zhenjiang	$525