Cost of living comparison

Brazil

compared to

South Africa

Cape Town vs. Sao Paulo Cost of Living Summary

Cape Town is 15.2% more expensive than Sao Paulo.

Restaurants: pay 0.2% less in Cape Town
Groceries: pay 2.1% less in Cape Town
Transportation: pay 29.7% more in Cape Town
Housing: pay 53.4% more in Cape Town
Childcare: pay 54.5% less in Cape Town
Entertainment and Sports: pay 6.7% more in Cape Town
Clothing: pay 11.3% less in Cape Town

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

Planning a move to South Africa? Get up to 5 free, no-obligation quotes from vetted international movers. Get free quotes →

Cape Town vs. Sao Paulo Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Cape Town instead of Sao Paulo, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 0.2% less for restaurants

	Sao Paulo	Cape Town
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.96 R$45.35	$12.02 ZAR198.22	+34.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.96 R$45.35	$6.01 ZAR99.11	-32.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.40 R$7.09	$1.30 ZAR21.44	-7.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.87 R$4.39	$0.99 ZAR16.37	+14.5%
Average			-0.2%

Sao Paulo vs. Cape Town - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 2.1% less for groceries

	Sao Paulo	Cape Town
Bread 1 loaf	$1.85 R$9.39	$1.23 ZAR20.34	-33.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.20 R$31.41	$4.39 ZAR72.41	-29.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.62 R$23.41	$4.99 ZAR82.36	+8.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.80 R$14.18	$3.14 ZAR51.78	+12.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.39 R$12.10	$3.07 ZAR50.65	+28.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.26 R$6.36	$0.85 ZAR13.99	-32.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.82 R$4.17	$0.87 ZAR14.35	+5.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.72 R$3.63	$0.77 ZAR12.72	+7.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.87 R$4.43	$0.95 ZAR15.70	+8.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.65 R$3.27	$0.70 ZAR11.51	+8.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.57 R$2.90	$0.68 ZAR11.29	+19.3%
Average			-2.1%

Sao Paulo vs. Cape Town - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 29.7% more for transportation

	Sao Paulo	Cape Town
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.91 R$24.84	$5.86 ZAR96.61	+19.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$48.37 R$244.87	$60.09 ZAR991.09	+24.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$23,890.58 R$121K	$35,391.94 ZAR584K	+48.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$9.76 R$49.39	$12.62 ZAR208.13	+29.4%
Average			+29.7%

Sao Paulo vs. Cape Town - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 53.4% more for housing

	Sao Paulo	Cape Town
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$22.16 R$112.18	$39.98 ZAR659.39	+80.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$656.54 R$3,323.73	$1,017.49 ZAR16,782.53	+55.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$419.66 R$2,124.51	$706.64 ZAR11,655.27	+68.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$80.32 R$406.60	$88.53 ZAR1,460.27	+10.2%
Average			+53.4%

Sao Paulo vs. Cape Town - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 54.5% less for childcare

	Sao Paulo	Cape Town
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$530.90 R$2,687.69	$262.39 ZAR4,327.78	-50.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$16,300.72 R$82,522.42	$6,820.14 ZAR112K	-58.2%
Average			-54.5%

Sao Paulo vs. Cape Town - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 6.7% more for entertainment and sports

	Sao Paulo	Cape Town
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.99 R$15.12	$3.00 ZAR49.55	+0.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.56 R$12.94	$2.43 ZAR40.04	-5.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.99 R$15.12	$3.61 ZAR59.47	+20.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$35.87 R$181.58	$49.37 ZAR814.26	+37.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$9.95 R$50.39	$9.01 ZAR148.66	-9.5%
Average			+6.7%

Sao Paulo vs. Cape Town - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 11.3% less for clothing

	Sao Paulo	Cape Town
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$65.57 R$331.96	$55.49 ZAR915.30	-15.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$61.53 R$311.49	$32.30 ZAR532.71	-47.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$99.31 R$502.77	$119.84 ZAR1,976.68	+20.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$91.35 R$462.44	$105.58 ZAR1,741.49	+15.6%
Average			-11.3%

Sao Paulo vs. Cape Town - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated October 2026). How we calculate this

Compare further: Sao Paulo vs. Cape Town

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Cape Town?

Size Comparison · See true size

Sao Paulo is about 1.6 times smaller than Cape Town.

More cost comparisons

Sao Paulo vs.

Cairo

Sao Paulo vs.

Athens

Sao Paulo vs.

Rome

Sao Paulo vs.

Reykjavik

Sao Paulo vs.

Bangkok

Sao Paulo vs.

Ottawa

Sao Paulo vs.

Vienna

Sao Paulo vs.

Berlin

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

See the cost of living in Brazil vs. South Africa. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Brazil and South Africa.

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Add prices for Sao Paulo

Add prices for Cape Town

Ask the Elsewhere Community

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Cape Town or Sao Paulo. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.