Cost of living comparison

compared to

Cape Town vs. Mexico City Cost of Living Summary

Cape Town is 7.7% cheaper than Mexico City.

Restaurants: pay 24.0% less in Cape Town
Groceries: pay 27.6% less in Cape Town
Transportation: pay 44.3% more in Cape Town
Housing: pay 36.3% more in Cape Town
Childcare: pay 50.1% less in Cape Town
Entertainment and Sports: pay 20.5% less in Cape Town
Clothing: pay 12.2% less in Cape Town

The cost of transportation and housing in Cape Town are more expensive than in Mexico City. Expenses including childcare, groceries, restaurants, entertainment and sports, and clothing are lower in Cape Town.

Cape Town vs. Mexico City Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Cape Town instead of Mexico City, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 24.0% less for restaurants

	Mexico City	Cape Town
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$10.86 MX$197.31	$11.47 ZAR194.18	+5.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.82 MX$160.32	$5.16 ZAR87.38	-41.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.73 MX$31.47	$1.20 ZAR20.35	-30.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.30 MX$23.70	$0.92 ZAR15.53	-29.6%
Average			-24.0%

Mexico City vs. Cape Town - Cost of restaurants

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pay 27.6% less for groceries

	Mexico City	Cape Town
Bread 1 loaf	$2.63 MX$47.71	$1.14 ZAR19.21	-56.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.04 MX$91.60	$4.37 ZAR73.94	-13.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.54 MX$118.83	$4.50 ZAR76.09	-31.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.61 MX$47.38	$2.49 ZAR42.19	-4.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.80 MX$69.15	$2.43 ZAR41.18	-36.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.37 MX$24.88	$0.78 ZAR13.27	-42.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.80 MX$14.54	$0.76 ZAR12.83	-5.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.97 MX$17.69	$0.74 ZAR12.54	-23.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.91 MX$16.47	$0.78 ZAR13.19	-14.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.96 MX$17.42	$0.60 ZAR10.08	-37.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.99 MX$18.07	$0.62 ZAR10.51	-37.6%
Average			-27.6%

Mexico City vs. Cape Town - Cost of groceries

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pay 44.3% more for transportation

	Mexico City	Cape Town
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.14 MX$93.37	$4.73 ZAR80.12	-7.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$19.54 MX$355.17	$28.68 ZAR485.44	+46.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$20,030.45 MX$364,045.47	$21,796.50 ZAR368,934.03	+8.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$4.42 MX$80.42	$10.15 ZAR171.85	+129.5%
Average			+44.3%

Mexico City vs. Cape Town - Cost of transportation

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pay 36.3% more for housing

	Mexico City	Cape Town
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$30.93 MX$562.20	$42.97 ZAR727.40	+38.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,079.15 MX$19,613.07	$838.02 ZAR14,184.54	-22.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$677.25 MX$12,308.67	$559.94 ZAR9,477.63	-17.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$37.36 MX$679.03	$91.96 ZAR1,556.46	+146.1%
Average			+36.3%

Mexico City vs. Cape Town - Cost of housing

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pay 50.1% less for childcare

	Mexico City	Cape Town
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$430.39 MX$7,822.12	$228.00 ZAR3,859.24	-47.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$10,897.53 MX$198,058.25	$5,090.62 ZAR86,165.43	-53.3%
Average			-50.1%

Mexico City vs. Cape Town - Cost of childcare

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pay 20.5% less for entertainment and sports

	Mexico City	Cape Town
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.26 MX$59.19	$2.87 ZAR48.54	-11.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.81 MX$69.31	$2.12 ZAR35.82	-44.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.34 MX$78.93	$3.15 ZAR53.40	-27.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$58.44 MX$1,062.21	$44.05 ZAR745.55	-24.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.51 MX$118.39	$6.88 ZAR116.51	+5.7%
Average			-20.5%

Mexico City vs. Cape Town - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 12.2% less for clothing

	Mexico City	Cape Town
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$60.95 MX$1,107.65	$55.23 ZAR934.82	-9.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$48.08 MX$873.77	$33.91 ZAR573.94	-29.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$105.72 MX$1,921.42	$117.06 ZAR1,981.48	+10.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$110.91 MX$2,015.75	$88.13 ZAR1,491.79	-20.5%
Average			-12.2%

Mexico City vs. Cape Town - Cost of clothing

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The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: December 2025

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