Cape Town vs Rome - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Cape Town	Rome
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1386	$1972
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$3160	$4629
🏠 One person rent	$775	$1099
🏘️ Family rent	$1348	$1926
🍽️ Food expenses	$359	$525
🚐 Transport expenses	$139	$185
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$405	$2041
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Good
✈️ Airport proximity	7 km	7 km
🎓 Higher education	55	91
😀 Quality of life	58	91
🏙️ Population	3.78M	2.75M

The cost of living in Cape Town is 30% less expensive than in Rome. Cities ranked 4336th and 2104th ($1386 vs $1972) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd and 2nd in South Africa and Italy, respectively. Check South Africa vs Italy comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.3 months in Cape Town compared to 1 months in Rome. Cape Town ranked 2nd best city to live in South Africa vs Rome ranked 1st in Italy, while ranked 6134th and 134th 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 Rome

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

	Cape Town	Rome
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$12.2	$15.9
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$48.7	$63.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$6.19	$12.1
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.03	$6.2
☕ Cappuccino	$2.47	$2.27
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.39	$2.88
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$942	$1246
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$591	$861
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1671	$2194
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1075	$1571
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$72.4	$129
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$112	$199
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$41.7	$31.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.35%	3.51%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2325	$8628
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1508	$3484
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.33	$1.74
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$37.4	$40.1
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$11	$19.1
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.33	$2
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.36	$1.83
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.2	$2.14
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.25	$2.86
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.97	$5.19
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.53	$17
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.77	$12
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.45	$19.4
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.94	$2.81
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.88	$2.45
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.82	$2.49
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.09	$2.73
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.6	$1.68
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.56	$1.82
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.78	$0.35
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.77	$2.42
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.22	$6.81
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.47	$1.64
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.38	$7.52
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$6.05	$10.3
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.91	$4.46
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.41	$3.04
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.62	$2.83
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$49.1	$61.9
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$9.14	$11.2
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$37.2	$107
💇 Haircut, simple	$11.1	$22.5
👖 Brand Jeans	$58.7	$83.7
👟 Brand Sneakers	$124	$91.7
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$272	$499
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$6197	$14156

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 Rome

Distance	City	Cost of living
2.7 km or 1.7 mi	Vatican City	$1179
19 km or 12 mi	Frascati	$1779
34 km or 21 mi	Ladispoli	$1707
44 km or 27 mi	Cisterna di Latina	$1512
47 km or 29 mi	Colleferro	$1425
51 km or 32 mi	Anzio	$1417
59 km or 37 mi	Latina	$1400
61 km or 38 mi	Civitavecchia	$1683
65 km or 40 mi	Rieti	$1436
66 km or 41 mi	Viterbo	$1367
76 km or 47 mi	Terni	$1128
78 km or 48 mi	Frosinone	$1166
80 km or 49 mi	Avezzano	$1173
91 km or 56 mi	L'Aquila	$1322
93 km or 58 mi	Terracina	$1474
120 km or 74 mi	Foligno	$1421
132 km or 82 mi	Teramo	$1316
136 km or 84 mi	Perugia	$1212
140 km or 87 mi	Ascoli Piceno	$1383
148 km or 92 mi	Chieti	$1473
156 km or 97 mi	Pescara	$1296
170 km or 106 mi	Aversa	$1217
173 km or 107 mi	Santa Maria Capua Vetere	$1215
174 km or 108 mi	Fermo	$1395
175 km or 109 mi	Macerata	$1240
178 km or 111 mi	Giugliano in Campania	$1407
179 km or 112 mi	Caserta	$1346
181 km or 113 mi	Arezzo	$1429
183 km or 114 mi	Frattamaggiore	$1385
184 km or 115 mi	Siena	$1645
185 km or 115 mi	Campobasso	$1048
187 km or 116 mi	Civitanova Marche	$1480
189 km or 117 mi	Naples	$1570
209 km or 130 mi	Ancona	$1413
210 km or 130 mi	Benevento	$1305
213 km or 133 mi	Castellammare di Stabia	$1476
221 km or 137 mi	Avellino	$1201
221 km or 137 mi	Fano	$1431
226 km or 140 mi	Amalfi	$1685
227 km or 141 mi	San Marino City	$1330