Cape Town vs Tokyo - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Cape Town	Tokyo
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1231	$1698
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2814	$4089
🏠 One person rent	$681	$829
🏘️ Family rent	$1180	$1453
🍽️ Food expenses	$322	$435
🚐 Transport expenses	$124	$322
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$352	$2574
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	7 km	15 km
🎓 Higher education	56	100
😀 Quality of life	55	99
🏙️ Population	3.78M	14.3M

The cost of living in Cape Town is 27% less expensive than in Tokyo. Cities ranked 4637th and 3130th ($1231 vs $1698) 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 0.3 months in Cape Town compared to 1.5 months in Tokyo. Cape Town ranked 5th best city to live in South Africa vs Tokyo ranked 1st in Japan, while ranked 6312th and 4th 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	$11.5	$7.1
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$46.4	$39.8
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.16	$5.04
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.9	$3.96
☕ Cappuccino	$2.15	$3.41
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.24	$1.19
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$761	$1001
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$513	$631
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1355	$1794
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$937	$1151
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$75	$93.7
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$116	$143
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$43.4	$30.8
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.58%	1.61%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1957	$10581
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1290	$5243
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.15	$1.45
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$28.5	$75.3
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$10.7	$30.3
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.26	$1.14
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.18	$1.51
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.14	$1.53
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2	$4.16
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.53	$2.27
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.62	$14.5
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.36	$7.33
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.75	$20.8
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.73	$5.05
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.73	$2.57
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.64	$5.39
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.75	$5.06
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.32	$3.15
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.39	$3.2
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.71	$0.59
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.67	$1.7
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$5.78	$9.55
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.35	$2.13
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.18	$4.02
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.15	$10.4
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.66	$3.32
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.2	$1.44
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.56	$1.43
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$43.3	$60.9
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$7.86	$13
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$37.1	$29.8
💇 Haircut, simple	$9.69	$22.5
👖 Brand Jeans	$56	$55
👟 Brand Sneakers	$120	$63.8
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$228	$518
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$4978	$14795

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 Tokyo

Distance	City	Cost of living
12 km or 7.3 mi	Musashino	$1110
12 km or 7.4 mi	Komae	$1115
12 km or 7.5 mi	Mitaka	$1125
13 km or 8 mi	Wako	$1035
13 km or 8.4 mi	Kawaguchi	$1025
14 km or 8.5 mi	Hirai	$1055
14 km or 8.9 mi	Toda	$961
14 km or 8.9 mi	Chofu	$1113
14 km or 9 mi	Nishitokyo	$1094
15 km or 9.3 mi	Asaka	$1020
15 km or 9.4 mi	Warabi	$945
16 km or 10 mi	Niiza	$1033
17 km or 10 mi	Higashikurume	$1049
17 km or 11 mi	Koganei	$1066
18 km or 11 mi	Kawasaki-ku	$1198
18 km or 11 mi	Inagi	$1058
18 km or 11 mi	Soka	$1047
18 km or 11 mi	Kiyose	$1025
19 km or 12 mi	Shiki	$972
19 km or 12 mi	Kawasaki	$1354
19 km or 12 mi	Urayasu	$1068
20 km or 12 mi	Fuchu	$1088
20 km or 12 mi	Saitama	$1037
20 km or 12 mi	Kodaira	$1066
20 km or 12 mi	Yashio	$1002
21 km or 13 mi	Kokubunji	$1050
21 km or 13 mi	Higashimurayama	$1040
21 km or 13 mi	Miyoshi	$997
22 km or 14 mi	Ichikawa	$1041
22 km or 14 mi	Matsudo	$1024
23 km or 14 mi	Misato	$1005
23 km or 14 mi	Fujimi	$975
23 km or 14 mi	Kunitachi	$1050
23 km or 14 mi	Tama	$1040
24 km or 15 mi	Tokorozawa	$1061
24 km or 15 mi	Koshigaya	$1078
25 km or 15 mi	Tachikawa	$1073
25 km or 15 mi	Higashiyamato	$1044
26 km or 16 mi	Yoshikawa	$1031
26 km or 16 mi	Fujimino	$961