Cape Town vs Sydney - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Cape Town	Sydney
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1231	$2640
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2814	$6276
🏠 One person rent	$681	$1578
🏘️ Family rent	$1180	$2764
🍽️ Food expenses	$322	$549
🚐 Transport expenses	$124	$366
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$352	$4008
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	7 km	9 km
🎓 Higher education	56	99
😀 Quality of life	55	100
🏙️ Population	3.78M	5.45M

The cost of living in Cape Town is 53% less expensive than in Sydney. Cities ranked 4637th and 649th ($1231 vs $2640) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd and 1st in South Africa and Australia, respectively. Check South Africa vs Australia comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.3 months in Cape Town compared to 1.5 months in Sydney. Cape Town ranked 5th best city to live in South Africa vs Sydney ranked 2nd in Australia, while ranked 6312th and 3rd 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 Sydney infographic

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Prices in Cape Town vs Sydney

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

	Cape Town	Sydney
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$11.5	$13.9
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$46.4	$77.7
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.16	$9.79
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.9	$7.2
☕ Cappuccino	$2.15	$3.47
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.24	$2.62
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$761	$1915
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$513	$1294
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1355	$3447
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$937	$2319
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$75	$112
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$116	$172
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$43.4	$47.9
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.58%	6.15%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1957	$12628
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1290	$7359
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.15	$3.27
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$28.5	$134
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$10.7	$23.2
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.26	$1.25
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.18	$1.59
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.14	$2.27
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2	$1.99
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.53	$5.43
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.62	$12.3
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.36	$8.55
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.75	$13.9
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.73	$3.27
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.73	$2.8
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.64	$2.98
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.75	$4.04
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.32	$2.52
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.39	$2.36
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.71	$0.8
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.67	$2.45
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$5.78	$14.3
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.35	$4.45
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.18	$29.1
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.15	$8.2
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.66	$5.8
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.2	$2.68
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.56	$2.71
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$43.3	$58.2
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$7.86	$15.1
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$37.1	$63.6
💇 Haircut, simple	$9.69	$20
👖 Brand Jeans	$56	$75.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$120	$99.5
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$228	$2071
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$4978	$19140

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 Sydney

Distance	City	Cost of living
15 km or 9.2 mi	Dee Why	$2181
19 km or 12 mi	Parramatta	$2292
29 km or 18 mi	Kellyville	$1888
29 km or 18 mi	Blacktown	$1599
69 km or 43 mi	Wollongong	$1580
117 km or 73 mi	Newcastle	$1839
158 km or 98 mi	Bathurst	$1568
168 km or 104 mi	Goulburn	$1678
205 km or 127 mi	Orange	$1364
247 km or 154 mi	Canberra	$2019
301 km or 187 mi	Dubbo	$1747
314 km or 195 mi	Port Macquarie	$1633
377 km or 234 mi	Armidale	$1184
378 km or 235 mi	Wagga Wagga	$1458
436 km or 271 mi	Coffs Harbour	$1988
478 km or 297 mi	Griffith	$1667
597 km or 371 mi	Shepparton	$1662
624 km or 388 mi	Byron Bay	$2471
638 km or 396 mi	Traralgon	$1813
683 km or 425 mi	Gold Coast	$2297
689 km or 428 mi	Southport	$2140
695 km or 432 mi	Pakenham	$1725
701 km or 436 mi	Berwick	$1706
706 km or 439 mi	Bendigo	$1362
706 km or 439 mi	Toowoomba	$1639
707 km or 439 mi	Dandenong	$1736
711 km or 442 mi	Ipswich	$1662
711 km or 442 mi	Cranbourne	$1674
713 km or 443 mi	South Yarra	$1681
713 km or 443 mi	Melbourne	$2308
716 km or 445 mi	Sunbury	$1768
724 km or 450 mi	Frankston	$1728
732 km or 455 mi	Melton	$1738
733 km or 455 mi	Brisbane	$2065
735 km or 457 mi	Tarneit	$1673
736 km or 457 mi	Hoppers Crossing	$1697
775 km or 481 mi	Caboolture	$1798
778 km or 484 mi	Geelong	$2058
779 km or 484 mi	Ballarat	$1464
807 km or 502 mi	Caloundra	$1710