Cape Town vs Shanghai - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated:

Livingcost

Cape Town Shanghai
🚶 Cost of living one person
$1366
$1126
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family
$3099
$3097
🏠 One person rent
$773
$600
🏘️ Family rent
$1343
$1068
🍽️ Food expenses
$355
$293
🚐 Transport expenses
$124
$108
💳 Monthly salary after tax
$404
$879
😷 Air quality
Excellent
Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity
7 km
13 km
🎓 Higher education
55
99
😀 Quality of life
55
75
🏙️ Population
3.78M
24.9M

The cost of living in Cape Town is 21% more expensive than in Shanghai. Cities ranked 4432nd and 4971st ($1366 vs $1126) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 2nd and 5th in South Africa and China, respectively. Check South Africa vs China 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 Shanghai. Cape Town ranked 4th best city to live in South Africa vs Shanghai ranked 4th in China, while ranked 6382nd and 1655th 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 Shanghai

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

Cape Town Shanghai
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu
$12.5
$5.01
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2
$49.7
$36.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's
$5.71
$5.51
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz
$3.13
$1.69
☕ Cappuccino
$2.42
$3.77
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz
$1.39
$0.54
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2
$874
$803
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2
$594
$486
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2
$1556
$1462
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2
$1079
$880
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.
$84.1
$37.5
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.
$129
$58.6
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited
$39
$13
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years
11.25%
3.34%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2
$2160
$14215
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2
$1500
$7113
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket
$1.16
$0.47
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport
$32.7
$30.1
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi
$9.46
$6.45
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal
$1.36
$1.15
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt
$1.35
$1.94
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb
$1.21
$1.8
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb
$2.24
$1.3
🥚 Eggs, x12
$2.91
$1.79
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb
$9.29
$16.2
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb
$6.21
$3.91
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb
$8.46
$11.6
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb
$1.83
$2.35
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb
$1.81
$1.74
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb
$1.79
$1.78
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb
$1.94
$1.76
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb
$1.52
$0.89
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb
$1.47
$1.04
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt
$0.79
$0.45
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz
$1.84
$1.27
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle
$6.59
$12.5
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz
$1.49
$0.92
🚬 Cigarette pack
$3.44
$3.46
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week
$5.94
$6.19
🧴 Hair Shampoo
$4.02
$6.91
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls
$2.49
$2.07
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube
$1.67
$2.21
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month
$49.6
$61.9
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person
$8.6
$7.84
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit
$39.1
$94.1
💇 Haircut, simple
$11.2
$12
👖 Brand Jeans
$59.9
$50.6
👟 Brand Sneakers
$127
$78.8
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month
$264
$1114
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year
$5378
$27781

Cost of living in other countries

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Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Cape Town

Distance City Cost of living
54 km or 33 mi Paarl
$1345
99 km or 62 mi Worcester
$718
371 km or 231 mi George
$927
644 km or 400 mi Uitenhage
$980
662 km or 411 mi Port Elizabeth
$1036
664 km or 413 mi Upington
$811
754 km or 468 mi Makhanda
$874
821 km or 510 mi Komani
$1050
833 km or 518 mi Kimberley
$927
845 km or 525 mi Bhisho
$1419
882 km or 548 mi East London
$795
912 km or 567 mi Bloemfontein
$763
950 km or 590 mi Mafeteng
$630
999 km or 621 mi Maseru
$681
1002 km or 622 mi Mthatha
$952
1029 km or 639 mi Teyateyaneng
$573
1030 km or 640 mi Welkom
$826
1034 km or 643 mi Mariental
$986
1092 km or 679 mi Butha-Buthe
$604
1092 km or 679 mi Kroonstad
$875
1113 km or 692 mi Klerksdorp
$826
1135 km or 705 mi Mmabatho
$901
1155 km or 718 mi Potchefstroom
$791
1187 km or 737 mi Rehoboth
$934
1194 km or 742 mi Lobatse
$697
1198 km or 745 mi Kanye
$694
1208 km or 751 mi Vanderbijlpark
$865
1217 km or 756 mi Vereeniging
$765
1231 km or 765 mi Pietermaritzburg
$716
1244 km or 773 mi Soweto
$1057
1250 km or 777 mi Rustenburg
$1017
1260 km or 783 mi Gaborone
$731
1261 km or 783 mi Molepolole
$662
1261 km or 784 mi Johannesburg
$1171
1267 km or 788 mi Randburg
$958
1269 km or 789 mi Windhoek
$1023
1270 km or 789 mi Sandton
$1089
1271 km or 790 mi Durban
$948
1277 km or 794 mi Gobabis
$968
1279 km or 795 mi Walvis Bay
$905

Cities near Shanghai

Distance City Cost of living
9.4 km or 5.8 mi Pudong
$1002
47 km or 29 mi Taicang
$669
53 km or 33 mi Kunshan
$696
74 km or 46 mi Qidong
$701
82 km or 51 mi Suzhou
$782
82 km or 51 mi Jiaxing
$594
85 km or 53 mi Haimen
$620
88 km or 55 mi Changshu
$644
106 km or 66 mi Nantong
$557
117 km or 73 mi Zhangjiagang
$667
121 km or 75 mi Wuxi
$683
135 km or 84 mi Huzhou
$643
141 km or 87 mi Jiangyin
$650
142 km or 88 mi Zhoushan
$584
144 km or 89 mi Ningbo
$671
148 km or 92 mi Jingjiang
$636
155 km or 96 mi Shaoxing
$680
158 km or 98 mi Yixing
$684
159 km or 99 mi Changzhou
$623
160 km or 100 mi Rugao
$646
161 km or 100 mi Hangzhou
$860
177 km or 110 mi Taixing
$636
179 km or 111 mi Hai'an
$647
191 km or 119 mi Liyang
$652
197 km or 122 mi Yangzhong
$611
198 km or 123 mi Guangde
$652
201 km or 125 mi Danyang
$604
208 km or 129 mi Taizhou
$675
217 km or 135 mi Dongtai
$678
223 km or 139 mi Zhenjiang
$525
235 km or 146 mi Yangzhou
$618
236 km or 146 mi Jurong
$626
244 km or 152 mi Ningguo
$644
246 km or 153 mi Yiwu
$667
250 km or 155 mi Xinghua
$677
250 km or 156 mi Yizheng
$601
259 km or 161 mi Linhai
$661
260 km or 161 mi Xuancheng
$665
262 km or 163 mi Gaoyou
$632
274 km or 170 mi Nanjing
$765