Cape Town vs Tokyo - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Cape Town	Tokyo
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1071	$1607
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2522	$4239
🏠 One person rent	$582	$789
🏘️ Family rent	$1083	$1714
🍽️ Food expenses	$273	$423
🚐 Transport expenses	$124	$282
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1532	$2474
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	7 km	15 km
🎓 Higher education	56	100
😀 Quality of life	58	99
🏙️ Population	3.78M	14.3M

The cost of living in Cape Town is 33% less expensive than in Tokyo. Cities ranked 5016th and 3019th ($1071 vs $1607) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd and 3rd in South Africa and Japan, respectively. Check South Africa vs Japan comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.4 months in Cape Town compared to 1.5 months in Tokyo. Cape Town ranked 1st best city to live in South Africa vs Tokyo ranked 1st in Japan, while ranked 5491st 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 Tokyo infographic

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Prices in Cape Town vs Tokyo

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

	Cape Town	Tokyo
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$8.4	$6.11
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$32.1	$42.2
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.87	$5.36
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.58	$3.62
☕ Cappuccino	$2.03	$3.42
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.03	$1.13
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$677	$1018
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$435	$562
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1304	$2660
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$863	$1239
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$59.9	$104
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$93.1	$159
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$38.9	$32
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.89%	1.77%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1804	$10251
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1180	$5162
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.09	$1.33
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$39	$58.6
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$8.47	$27.7
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.23	$1.18
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.08	$1.53
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.03	$1.38
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.48	$3.36
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.58	$2.12
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.33	$15
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.42	$7.35
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.24	$21.1
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.53	$4.81
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.45	$2.4
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.47	$5.57
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.57	$4.99
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.33	$2.78
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.13	$2.86
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.62	$0.63
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.43	$1.39
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$5.48	$7.98
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.39	$2.08
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.02	$4.05
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.02	$10.5
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.17	$3.36
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.11	$1.47
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.49	$1.45
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$34.4	$63.9
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$6.22	$12.9
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$35.7	$29.9
💇 Haircut, simple	$8.05	$22.3
👖 Brand Jeans	$51	$54.6
👟 Brand Sneakers	$104	$65.7
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$204	$553
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$4806	$15235

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	$1147
99 km or 62 mi	Worcester	$619
371 km or 231 mi	George	$743
644 km or 400 mi	Uitenhage	$840
662 km or 411 mi	Port Elizabeth	$901
664 km or 413 mi	Upington	$699
754 km or 468 mi	Makhanda	$763
821 km or 510 mi	Komani	$915
833 km or 518 mi	Kimberley	$814
845 km or 525 mi	Bhisho	$1332
882 km or 548 mi	East London	$766
912 km or 567 mi	Bloemfontein	$657
950 km or 590 mi	Mafeteng	$567
999 km or 621 mi	Maseru	$621
1002 km or 622 mi	Mthatha	$852
1029 km or 639 mi	Teyateyaneng	$500
1030 km or 640 mi	Welkom	$748
1034 km or 643 mi	Mariental	$827
1092 km or 679 mi	Butha-Buthe	$535
1092 km or 679 mi	Kroonstad	$768
1113 km or 692 mi	Klerksdorp	$722
1135 km or 705 mi	Mmabatho	$780
1155 km or 718 mi	Potchefstroom	$695
1187 km or 737 mi	Rehoboth	$792
1194 km or 742 mi	Lobatse	$665
1198 km or 745 mi	Kanye	$664
1208 km or 751 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$773
1217 km or 756 mi	Vereeniging	$672
1231 km or 765 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$640
1244 km or 773 mi	Soweto	$923
1250 km or 777 mi	Rustenburg	$889
1260 km or 783 mi	Gaborone	$691
1261 km or 783 mi	Molepolole	$628
1261 km or 784 mi	Johannesburg	$993
1267 km or 788 mi	Randburg	$837
1269 km or 789 mi	Windhoek	$862
1270 km or 789 mi	Sandton	$953
1271 km or 790 mi	Durban	$809
1277 km or 794 mi	Gobabis	$813
1279 km or 795 mi	Walvis Bay	$740

Cities near Tokyo

Distance	City	Cost of living
12 km or 7.3 mi	Musashino	$1136
12 km or 7.4 mi	Komae	$1124
12 km or 7.5 mi	Mitaka	$1150
13 km or 8 mi	Wako	$1098
13 km or 8.4 mi	Kawaguchi	$1081
14 km or 8.5 mi	Hirai	$1089
14 km or 8.9 mi	Toda	$1041
14 km or 8.9 mi	Chofu	$1138
14 km or 9 mi	Nishitokyo	$1137
15 km or 9.3 mi	Asaka	$1088
15 km or 9.4 mi	Warabi	$1033
16 km or 10 mi	Niiza	$1107
17 km or 10 mi	Higashikurume	$1111
17 km or 11 mi	Koganei	$1103
18 km or 11 mi	Kawasaki-ku	$1128
18 km or 11 mi	Inagi	$1084
18 km or 11 mi	Soka	$1104
18 km or 11 mi	Kiyose	$1105
19 km or 12 mi	Shiki	$1066
19 km or 12 mi	Kawasaki	$1249
19 km or 12 mi	Urayasu	$1099
20 km or 12 mi	Fuchu	$1122
20 km or 12 mi	Saitama	$1196
20 km or 12 mi	Kodaira	$1124
20 km or 12 mi	Yashio	$1071
21 km or 13 mi	Kokubunji	$1099
21 km or 13 mi	Higashimurayama	$1114
21 km or 13 mi	Miyoshi	$1088
22 km or 14 mi	Ichikawa	$1045
22 km or 14 mi	Matsudo	$1164
23 km or 14 mi	Misato	$1071
23 km or 14 mi	Fujimi	$1084
23 km or 14 mi	Kunitachi	$1089
23 km or 14 mi	Tama	$1065
24 km or 15 mi	Tokorozawa	$1169
24 km or 15 mi	Koshigaya	$1164
25 km or 15 mi	Tachikawa	$1109
25 km or 15 mi	Higashiyamato	$1103
26 km or 16 mi	Yoshikawa	$1090
26 km or 16 mi	Fujimino	$1101