Cape Town vs Sao Tome - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Cape Town	Sao Tome
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1231	$1046
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2814	$2477
🏠 One person rent	$681	$343
🏘️ Family rent	$1180	$551
🍽️ Food expenses	$322	$571
🚐 Transport expenses	$124	$38.8
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$352	$218
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	7 km	6 km
🎓 Higher education	56	1
😀 Quality of life	55	28
🏙️ Population	3.78M	65.5K

The cost of living in Cape Town is 18% more expensive than in Sao Tome. Cities ranked 4637th and 5224th ($1231 vs $1046) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd and 1st in South Africa and Sao Tome and Principe, respectively. Check South Africa vs Sao Tome and Principe comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.3 months in Cape Town compared to 0.2 months in Sao Tome. Cape Town ranked 5th best city to live in South Africa vs Sao Tome ranked 1st in Sao Tome and Principe, while ranked 6312th and 8852nd among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Cape Town vs Sao Tome infographic

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Prices in Cape Town vs Sao Tome

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

	Cape Town	Sao Tome
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$11.5	$29.1
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$46.4	$32.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.16	$11.5
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.9	$1.67
☕ Cappuccino	$2.15	$2.31
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.24	$1.93
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$761	$315
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$513	$209
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1355	$581
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$937	$375
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$75	$40.7
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$116	$62.8
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$43.4	$71.6
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.58%	7.41%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1957	$1452
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1290	$943
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.15	$1.23
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$28.5	$47.9
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$10.7	$7.43
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.26	$1.68
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.18	$1.58
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.14	$1.06
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2	$2.32
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.53	$5.03
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.62	$20.3
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.36	$15
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.75	$25.2
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.73	$4.63
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.73	$1.16
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.64	$4.03
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.75	$3.5
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.32	$2.59
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.39	$2.02
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.71	$1.28
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.67	$1.31
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$5.78	$9.26
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.35	$1.31
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.18	$2.31
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.15	$4.08
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.66	$3.08
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.2	$1.54
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.56	$1.29
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$43.3	$37.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$7.86	$21
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$37.1	$20.3
💇 Haircut, simple	$9.69	$4.09
👖 Brand Jeans	$56	$33.6
👟 Brand Sneakers	$120	$68
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$228	$130
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$4978	$4068

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 Sao Tome

Distance	City	Cost of living
8.3 km or 5.1 mi	Trindade	$1044
256 km or 159 mi	Port-Gentil	$660
303 km or 188 mi	Libreville	$708
375 km or 233 mi	Bata	$1241
443 km or 275 mi	Malabo	$1413
492 km or 306 mi	Port Harcourt	$676
494 km or 307 mi	Limbe	$755
509 km or 316 mi	Buea	$665
529 km or 328 mi	Douala	$1363
537 km or 333 mi	Aba	$674
543 km or 337 mi	Calabar	$397
565 km or 351 mi	Kumba	$849
574 km or 356 mi	Owerri	$1774
584 km or 363 mi	Umuahia	$961
587 km or 365 mi	Warri	$926
649 km or 403 mi	Onitsha	$1051
653 km or 406 mi	Awka	$878
660 km or 410 mi	Yaounde	$671
677 km or 421 mi	Benin	$632
684 km or 425 mi	Enugu	$563
702 km or 436 mi	Bafoussam	$793
730 km or 454 mi	Bamenda	$698
772 km or 480 mi	Owo	$664
774 km or 481 mi	Lagos	$1102
788 km or 490 mi	Akure	$644
806 km or 501 mi	Pointe-Noire	$585
822 km or 511 mi	Porto-Novo	$743
824 km or 512 mi	Cotonou	$793
827 km or 514 mi	Ado Ekiti	$642
829 km or 515 mi	Ife	$778
845 km or 525 mi	Ibadan	$752
846 km or 526 mi	Abeokuta	$1013
861 km or 535 mi	Osogbo	$705
884 km or 549 mi	Kayes	$536
889 km or 552 mi	Lome	$835
890 km or 553 mi	Oyo	$664
892 km or 555 mi	Cabinda	$706
907 km or 564 mi	Madingou	$536
924 km or 574 mi	Gamboma	$536
926 km or 575 mi	Abomey	$598