Cost of Living in Cape Town
Updated:
| Cost of living | One person | Family of 4 |
|---|---|---|
| 💰 Total with rent | ||
| 🛋️ Without rent | ||
| 🏨 Rent & Utilities | ||
| 🍽️ Food | ||
| 🚐 Transport | ||
| 💳 Monthly salary after tax | ||
| 😀 Quality of life | ||
| 🏙️ Population | ||
The average cost of living in Cape Town is $1231, which is close to the world's average cost of living, ranked 4637th out of 9294 in our global list and 3rd out of 36 in South Africa.
The median after-tax salary is $352, which is enough to cover living expenses for 0.3 months. Ranked 6312th (TOP 68%) in the list of best places to live in the world and 5th best city to live in South Africa. With an estimated population of 3.78M, Cape Town is the 2nd largest city in South Africa.
Why living in Cape Town costs 3.5 times more than the average salary? Because we have a developed country lifestyle as a reference and in some least developed countries maintaining such a standard of living is hard and expensive. Thus, living costs in Cape Town for locals and expats differ significantly.
| ✈️ Closest airport | 7 km | Ysterplaat Air Force Base |
|---|---|---|
| 😷 Air quality | Excellent | 7.2 µg/m³ |
| 🎓 Best university rank | 246 | University of Cape Town |
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Prices in Cape Town
Prices for goods and services in Cape Town are partly crowdsourced by our visitors, just like yourself. Please consider telling us about your city.
| 🍱 Lunch Menu | |
|---|---|
| 🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2 | |
| 🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's | |
| 🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz | |
| ☕ Cappuccino | |
| 🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz |
| 🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in city Center, 40 m2 or 430 ft2 | |
|---|---|
| 🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2 | |
| 🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in city Center, 80 m2 or 860 ft2 | |
| 🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2 | |
| 🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc. | |
| 🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc. | |
| 🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited | |
| 🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years | |
| 🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2 | |
| 🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2 |
| 🚌 Local transport ticket | |
|---|---|
| 🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport | |
| 🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi | |
| ⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal |
| 🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt | |
|---|---|
| 🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb | |
| 🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb | |
| 🥚 Eggs, x12 | |
| 🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb | |
| 🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb | |
| 🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb | |
| 🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb | |
| 🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb | |
| 🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb | |
| 🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb | |
| 🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb | |
| 🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb | |
| 🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt | |
| 🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz | |
| 🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle | |
| 🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz | |
| 🚬 Cigarette pack | |
| 💊 Cold medicince, 1 week | |
| 🧴 Hair Shampoo | |
| 🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls | |
| 👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube |
| 🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month | |
|---|---|
| 🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person | |
| 👩⚕️ Doctor's visit | |
| 💇 Haircut, simple | |
| 👖 Brand Jeans | |
| 👟 Brand Sneakers | |
| 👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month | |
| 🏫 International Primary School, 1 year |
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