Cape Town vs Santiago - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Cape Town	Santiago
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1231	$1108
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2814	$2721
🏠 One person rent	$681	$495
🏘️ Family rent	$1180	$858
🍽️ Food expenses	$322	$360
🚐 Transport expenses	$124	$154
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$352	$844
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	7 km	13 km
🎓 Higher education	56	91
😀 Quality of life	55	81
🏙️ Population	3.78M	6.26M

The cost of living in Cape Town is 11% more expensive than in Santiago. Cities ranked 4637th and 4939th ($1231 vs $1108) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd and 1st in South Africa and Chile, respectively. Check South Africa vs Chile comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.3 months in Cape Town compared to 0.8 months in Santiago. Cape Town ranked 5th best city to live in South Africa vs Santiago ranked 1st in Chile, while ranked 6312th and 672nd 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 Santiago infographic

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Prices in Cape Town vs Santiago

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

	Cape Town	Santiago
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$11.5	$10.7
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$46.4	$47.7
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.16	$7.74
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.9	$3.49
☕ Cappuccino	$2.15	$3.52
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.24	$1.55
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$761	$509
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$513	$369
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1355	$896
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$937	$675
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$75	$77.6
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$116	$119
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$43.4	$20.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.58%	5.26%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1957	$2583
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1290	$3493
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.15	$0.85
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$28.5	$41.4
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$10.7	$10.3
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.26	$1.37
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.18	$1.19
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.14	$1.26
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2	$1.66
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.53	$4.02
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.62	$10.8
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.36	$6.5
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.75	$10.8
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.73	$1.96
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.73	$1.52
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.64	$2.03
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.75	$1.77
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.32	$1.62
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.39	$1.63
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.71	$0.78
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.67	$2.12
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$5.78	$6.13
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.35	$1.53
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.18	$5.55
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.15	$4.06
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.66	$4.03
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.2	$2.36
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.56	$2.71
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$43.3	$43.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$7.86	$6.31
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$37.1	$40.7
💇 Haircut, simple	$9.69	$16.8
👖 Brand Jeans	$56	$56
👟 Brand Sneakers	$120	$79.2
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$228	$425
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$4978	$9190

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 Santiago

Distance	City	Cost of living
17 km or 11 mi	San Bernardo	$768
20 km or 12 mi	Puente Alto	$874
69 km or 43 mi	Los Andes	$760
78 km or 48 mi	San Felipe	$714
80 km or 50 mi	Rancagua	$780
80 km or 50 mi	Villa Alemana	$839
83 km or 52 mi	Quillota	$849
85 km or 53 mi	Quilpue	$845
89 km or 55 mi	San Antonio	$1065
95 km or 59 mi	Vina del Mar	$885
99 km or 62 mi	Valparaiso	$908
130 km or 80 mi	San Fernando	$911
179 km or 111 mi	Curico	$752
181 km or 112 mi	Godoy Cruz	$877
182 km or 113 mi	Mendoza	$897
185 km or 115 mi	Las Heras	$877
208 km or 129 mi	San Martin	$838
238 km or 148 mi	Talca	$821
251 km or 156 mi	San Rafael	$639
264 km or 164 mi	Constitucion	$806
280 km or 174 mi	Linares	$848
292 km or 181 mi	San Juan	$578
321 km or 199 mi	Ovalle	$724
375 km or 233 mi	Chillan	$666
394 km or 245 mi	Coquimbo	$829
398 km or 247 mi	La Serena	$833
401 km or 249 mi	San Luis	$756
409 km or 254 mi	Tome	$746
426 km or 265 mi	Talcahuano	$657
434 km or 269 mi	Concepcion	$874
455 km or 283 mi	Coronel	$801
456 km or 284 mi	Lujan	$750
464 km or 288 mi	Lota	$800
472 km or 294 mi	Los Angeles	$840
482 km or 300 mi	Villa Mercedes	$752
508 km or 316 mi	Curanilahue	$800
518 km or 322 mi	Angol	$819
542 km or 337 mi	Vallenar	$798
576 km or 358 mi	La Rioja	$571
588 km or 366 mi	Rio Cuarto	$827