Cape Town vs Zurich - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Cape Town	Zurich
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1231	$3691
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2814	$8778
🏠 One person rent	$681	$2299
🏘️ Family rent	$1180	$4069
🍽️ Food expenses	$322	$919
🚐 Transport expenses	$124	$198
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$352	$8151
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	7 km	8 km
🎓 Higher education	56	81
😀 Quality of life	55	100
🏙️ Population	3.78M	449K

The cost of living in Cape Town is 67% less expensive than in Zurich. Cities ranked 4637th and 23rd ($1231 vs $3691) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd and 3rd in South Africa and Switzerland, respectively. Check South Africa vs Switzerland comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.3 months in Cape Town compared to 2.2 months in Zurich. Cape Town ranked 5th best city to live in South Africa vs Zurich ranked 1st in Switzerland, while ranked 6312th and 2nd among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Cape Town vs Zurich infographic

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Prices in Cape Town vs Zurich

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

	Cape Town	Zurich
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$11.5	$27.9
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$46.4	$90.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.16	$20.1
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.9	$9.69
☕ Cappuccino	$2.15	$7.32
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.24	$5.52
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$761	$2543
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$513	$1977
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1355	$4563
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$937	$3579
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$75	$157
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$116	$240
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$43.4	$52.4
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.58%	2.08%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1957	$24740
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1290	$9963
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.15	$4.35
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$28.5	$109
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$10.7	$33.5
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.26	$2.26
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.18	$2.29
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.14	$3.29
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2	$3.54
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.53	$8.34
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.62	$24.8
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.36	$23.9
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.75	$53.7
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.73	$4.29
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.73	$2.89
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.64	$3.33
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.75	$5.27
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.32	$2.97
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.39	$2.27
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.71	$1.11
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.67	$3.93
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$5.78	$18.1
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.35	$2.74
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.18	$11.2
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.15	$20.8
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.66	$5.39
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.2	$4.88
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.56	$3.84
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$43.3	$83.2
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$7.86	$23.3
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$37.1	$138
💇 Haircut, simple	$9.69	$55.6
👖 Brand Jeans	$56	$138
👟 Brand Sneakers	$120	$150
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$228	$2616
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$4978	$22875

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 Zurich

Distance	City	Cost of living
4.2 km or 2.6 mi	Altstetten	$3392
6.4 km or 4 mi	Dubendorf	$3276
11 km or 6.6 mi	Dietikon	$3239
14 km or 8.6 mi	Horgen	$3282
14 km or 8.6 mi	Uster	$3249
16 km or 9.7 mi	Bulach	$3153
19 km or 12 mi	Wettingen	$3207
19 km or 12 mi	Wadenswil	$3225
19 km or 12 mi	Winterthur	$3207
20 km or 13 mi	Wetzikon	$3180
20 km or 13 mi	Baden	$3240
20 km or 13 mi	Baar	$3381
23 km or 15 mi	Zug	$3836
28 km or 17 mi	Rapperswil-Jona	$3169
33 km or 21 mi	Frauenfeld	$2747
36 km or 22 mi	Schaffhausen	$2699
37 km or 23 mi	Waldshut-Tiengen	$1684
37 km or 23 mi	Aarau	$2489
38 km or 24 mi	Emmen	$3197
40 km or 25 mi	Wil	$2650
40 km or 25 mi	Lucerne	$3231
43 km or 27 mi	Kriens	$3175
48 km or 30 mi	Singen	$1705
51 km or 32 mi	Radolfzell	$1766
56 km or 35 mi	Kreuzlingen	$2924
57 km or 36 mi	Konstanz	$1887
60 km or 37 mi	Rheinfelden	$1690
63 km or 39 mi	St. Gallen	$2694
63 km or 39 mi	Uberlingen	$1810
64 km or 40 mi	Donaueschingen	$1537
70 km or 44 mi	Riehen	$3565
71 km or 44 mi	Tuttlingen	$1593
71 km or 44 mi	Lorrach	$1694
74 km or 46 mi	Weil am Rhein	$1698
74 km or 46 mi	Basel	$2964
76 km or 47 mi	Villingen-Schwenningen	$1397
77 km or 48 mi	Saint-Louis	$1447
77 km or 48 mi	Friedrichshafen	$1839
77 km or 48 mi	Schaan	$2443
78 km or 48 mi	Allschwil	$3041