Cape Town vs Santiago - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Cape Town	Santiago
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1386	$1186
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$3160	$2931
🏠 One person rent	$775	$538
🏘️ Family rent	$1348	$937
🍽️ Food expenses	$359	$390
🚐 Transport expenses	$139	$153
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$405	$860
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	7 km	13 km
🎓 Higher education	55	92
😀 Quality of life	58	81
🏙️ Population	3.78M	6.26M

The cost of living in Cape Town is 17% more expensive than in Santiago. Cities ranked 4336th and 4785th ($1386 vs $1186) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd and 2nd 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 0.7 months in Santiago. Cape Town ranked 2nd best city to live in South Africa vs Santiago ranked 1st in Chile, while ranked 6134th and 637th among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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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	$12.2	$11.3
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$48.7	$50.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$6.19	$8.98
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.03	$4.3
☕ Cappuccino	$2.47	$3.87
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.39	$1.75
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$942	$612
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$591	$387
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1671	$1129
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1075	$699
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$72.4	$84.5
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$112	$130
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$41.7	$21.9
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.35%	5.35%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2325	$2854
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1508	$2901
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.33	$0.87
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$37.4	$44.9
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$11	$8.58
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.33	$1.57
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.36	$1.36
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.2	$1.5
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.25	$1.54
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.97	$4.38
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.53	$12.4
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.77	$7.69
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.45	$11.7
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.94	$2.14
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.88	$1.65
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.82	$1.96
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.09	$1.98
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.6	$1.31
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.56	$1.59
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.78	$0.81
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.77	$2.38
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.22	$6.69
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.47	$1.63
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.38	$5.64
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$6.05	$3.92
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.91	$4.49
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.41	$3.16
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.62	$2.34
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$49.1	$39.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$9.14	$7.23
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$37.2	$45
💇 Haircut, simple	$11.1	$19.1
👖 Brand Jeans	$58.7	$56.4
👟 Brand Sneakers	$124	$78.4
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$272	$484
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$6197	$12174

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 Santiago

Distance	City	Cost of living
17 km or 11 mi	San Bernardo	$807
20 km or 12 mi	Puente Alto	$926
69 km or 43 mi	Los Andes	$801
78 km or 48 mi	San Felipe	$741
80 km or 50 mi	Rancagua	$831
80 km or 50 mi	Villa Alemana	$891
83 km or 52 mi	Quillota	$896
85 km or 53 mi	Quilpue	$904
89 km or 55 mi	San Antonio	$1114
95 km or 59 mi	Vina del Mar	$957
99 km or 62 mi	Valparaiso	$937
130 km or 80 mi	San Fernando	$981
179 km or 111 mi	Curico	$828
181 km or 112 mi	Godoy Cruz	$930
182 km or 113 mi	Mendoza	$930
185 km or 115 mi	Las Heras	$928
208 km or 129 mi	San Martin	$898
238 km or 148 mi	Talca	$876
251 km or 156 mi	San Rafael	$699
264 km or 164 mi	Constitucion	$860
280 km or 174 mi	Linares	$908
292 km or 181 mi	San Juan	$626
321 km or 199 mi	Ovalle	$757
375 km or 233 mi	Chillan	$718
394 km or 245 mi	Coquimbo	$883
398 km or 247 mi	La Serena	$882
401 km or 249 mi	San Luis	$740
409 km or 254 mi	Tome	$788
426 km or 265 mi	Talcahuano	$702
434 km or 269 mi	Concepcion	$923
455 km or 283 mi	Coronel	$848
456 km or 284 mi	Lujan	$788
464 km or 288 mi	Lota	$842
472 km or 294 mi	Los Angeles	$890
482 km or 300 mi	Villa Mercedes	$795
508 km or 316 mi	Curanilahue	$851
518 km or 322 mi	Angol	$872
542 km or 337 mi	Vallenar	$844
576 km or 358 mi	La Rioja	$590
588 km or 366 mi	Rio Cuarto	$895