Cape Town vs Rome - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Cape Town	Rome
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1231	$2020
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2814	$4683
🏠 One person rent	$681	$1128
🏘️ Family rent	$1180	$1938
🍽️ Food expenses	$322	$543
🚐 Transport expenses	$124	$179
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$352	$2219
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Good
✈️ Airport proximity	7 km	7 km
🎓 Higher education	56	91
😀 Quality of life	55	89
🏙️ Population	3.78M	2.75M

The cost of living in Cape Town is 39% less expensive than in Rome. Cities ranked 4637th and 1942nd ($1231 vs $2020) 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 1.1 months in Rome. Cape Town ranked 5th best city to live in South Africa vs Rome ranked 1st in Italy, while ranked 6312th and 292nd among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Cape Town vs Rome infographic

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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	$11.5	$17.4
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$46.4	$72
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.16	$11.8
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.9	$5.92
☕ Cappuccino	$2.15	$2.25
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.24	$2.48
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$761	$1313
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$513	$865
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1355	$2374
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$937	$1513
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$75	$143
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$116	$222
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$43.4	$31.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.58%	3.84%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1957	$8120
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1290	$3992
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.15	$1.76
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$28.5	$40.6
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$10.7	$17.7
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.26	$2.02
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.18	$1.88
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.14	$1.89
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2	$2.46
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.53	$4.77
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.62	$18.7
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.36	$12
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.75	$21.2
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.73	$2.76
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.73	$2.41
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.64	$2.5
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.75	$3.32
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.32	$1.87
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.39	$2.09
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.71	$0.36
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.67	$2.19
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$5.78	$6.8
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.35	$1.8
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.18	$7.33
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.15	$10.4
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.66	$4.3
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.2	$3.15
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.56	$3.17
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$43.3	$64.6
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$7.86	$10.2
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$37.1	$126
💇 Haircut, simple	$9.69	$20.6
👖 Brand Jeans	$56	$84.1
👟 Brand Sneakers	$120	$93
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$228	$558
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$4978	$10916

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	$1243
99 km or 62 mi	Worcester	$666
371 km or 231 mi	George	$857
644 km or 400 mi	Uitenhage	$946
662 km or 411 mi	Port Elizabeth	$1005
664 km or 413 mi	Upington	$746
754 km or 468 mi	Makhanda	$814
821 km or 510 mi	Komani	$988
833 km or 518 mi	Kimberley	$861
845 km or 525 mi	Bhisho	$1304
882 km or 548 mi	East London	$784
912 km or 567 mi	Bloemfontein	$698
950 km or 590 mi	Mafeteng	$598
999 km or 621 mi	Maseru	$650
1002 km or 622 mi	Mthatha	$901
1029 km or 639 mi	Teyateyaneng	$533
1030 km or 640 mi	Welkom	$762
1034 km or 643 mi	Mariental	$948
1092 km or 679 mi	Butha-Buthe	$570
1092 km or 679 mi	Kroonstad	$808
1113 km or 692 mi	Klerksdorp	$762
1135 km or 705 mi	Mmabatho	$833
1155 km or 718 mi	Potchefstroom	$731
1187 km or 737 mi	Rehoboth	$904
1194 km or 742 mi	Lobatse	$637
1198 km or 745 mi	Kanye	$637
1208 km or 751 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$799
1217 km or 756 mi	Vereeniging	$706
1231 km or 765 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$705
1244 km or 773 mi	Soweto	$984
1250 km or 777 mi	Rustenburg	$940
1260 km or 783 mi	Gaborone	$668
1261 km or 783 mi	Molepolole	$607
1261 km or 784 mi	Johannesburg	$1082
1267 km or 788 mi	Randburg	$890
1269 km or 789 mi	Windhoek	$985
1270 km or 789 mi	Sandton	$984
1271 km or 790 mi	Durban	$892
1277 km or 794 mi	Gobabis	$927
1279 km or 795 mi	Walvis Bay	$857

Cities near Rome

Distance	City	Cost of living
2.7 km or 1.7 mi	Vatican City	$1153
19 km or 12 mi	Frascati	$1747
34 km or 21 mi	Ladispoli	$1680
44 km or 27 mi	Cisterna di Latina	$1479
47 km or 29 mi	Colleferro	$1413
51 km or 32 mi	Anzio	$1376
59 km or 37 mi	Latina	$1345
61 km or 38 mi	Civitavecchia	$1586
65 km or 40 mi	Rieti	$1392
66 km or 41 mi	Viterbo	$1404
76 km or 47 mi	Terni	$1101
78 km or 48 mi	Frosinone	$1145
80 km or 49 mi	Avezzano	$1128
91 km or 56 mi	L'Aquila	$1381
93 km or 58 mi	Terracina	$1462
120 km or 74 mi	Foligno	$1307
132 km or 82 mi	Teramo	$1264
136 km or 84 mi	Perugia	$1215
140 km or 87 mi	Ascoli Piceno	$1340
148 km or 92 mi	Chieti	$1463
156 km or 97 mi	Pescara	$1166
170 km or 106 mi	Aversa	$1191
173 km or 107 mi	Santa Maria Capua Vetere	$1170
174 km or 108 mi	Fermo	$1429
175 km or 109 mi	Macerata	$1271
178 km or 111 mi	Giugliano in Campania	$1389
179 km or 112 mi	Caserta	$1291
181 km or 113 mi	Arezzo	$1365
183 km or 114 mi	Frattamaggiore	$1381
184 km or 115 mi	Siena	$1650
185 km or 115 mi	Campobasso	$1084
187 km or 116 mi	Civitanova Marche	$1438
189 km or 117 mi	Naples	$1605
209 km or 130 mi	Ancona	$1412
210 km or 130 mi	Benevento	$1299
213 km or 133 mi	Castellammare di Stabia	$1466
221 km or 137 mi	Avellino	$1217
221 km or 137 mi	Fano	$1325
226 km or 140 mi	Amalfi	$1689
227 km or 141 mi	San Marino City	$1323