HowMuchToLive
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Compare the cost of living

Choose where you live now and another city. You'll see what a normal month costs in each: rent, food, transport, bills and going out.

Household
Rent

Cape Town is 56% cheaper than Dubai.

Monthly cost for one person, renting in the city centre. Includes rent, food, transport, bills and going out.

Where you live now

DubaiUnited Arab Emirates

AED 12,190

per month

City to compare

Cape TownSouth Africa

ZAR 24,224

per month, about AED 5,402

Monthly costs by category

Show amounts in
CategoryDubaiCape TownDifference
Rent8,4472,938−65%
Groceries1,235897−27%
Eating out952527−45%
Getting around406248−39%
Bills735507−31%
Going out336215−36%
Clothes8171−12%
Total per month12,1905,402−56%

Cape Town: no reports yet, so these numbers are starting estimates from the city's overall price level.How this is calculated

Everyday prices in Cape Town

The typical price people paid recently, and how it compares with Dubai. "Estimated" means we don't have many reports yet.

Show amounts in
ItemTypical priceWhat people paidvs DubaiReports
Cappuccino, regularEstimated AED 7.27 −45% vs Dubai 0 reports
Meal at an inexpensive restaurantEstimated AED 30.34 −47% vs Dubai 0 reports
Monthly public transport passEstimated AED 207 −39% vs Dubai 0 reports
1-bedroom flat, city centreEstimated AED 2,938 −65% vs Dubai 0 reports
1-bedroom flat, outside the centreEstimated AED 2,115 −65% vs Dubai 0 reports
Milk, 1 LEstimated AED 2.86 −26% vs Dubai 0 reports
Eggs, 12Estimated AED 10.12 −29% vs Dubai 0 reports
Chicken fillets, 1 kgEstimated AED 28.64 −26% vs Dubai 0 reports
Electricity, water, heating and cooling for 85 m²Estimated AED 390 −33% vs Dubai 0 reports
Home internet, 60 Mbps or fasterEstimated AED 132 −29% vs Dubai 0 reports
Mobile plan with calls and 10 GB+ dataEstimated AED 121 −29% vs Dubai 0 reports
Gym membership, monthlyEstimated AED 154 −36% vs Dubai 0 reports
Cinema ticketEstimated AED 30.71 −36% vs Dubai 0 reports
Jeans, Levi's 501 or similarEstimated AED 193 −12% vs Dubai 0 reports
Most reports (10th–90th percentile) Middle half of reports Same item in Dubai
All prices in Cape Town

Where the numbers come from

People who live in each city share what they paid. Every price is checked before it counts.

  1. People share prices

    Anyone can add what they paid, in their own currency. No account needed. A quick automatic check keeps bots out.

  2. We check every price

    Typos, wrong currencies and impossible amounts are caught. An unusual price only counts after someone else reports something similar.

  3. We work out the typical price

    We use the middle price of recent reports. When a city has only a few reports, we estimate the rest and label it "Estimated".

No reports in the last 30 days yet. When they arrive, you'll see here how many were counted, held for a second opinion or turned down.

Most and least expensive cities

Monthly cost for one person renting in the city centre, in UAE dirhams. Pick a city to compare it with Dubai. See all cities

Most expensive

  1. 1New YorkUnited StatesAED 20,901
  2. 2San FranciscoUnited StatesAED 17,812
  3. 3ZurichSwitzerlandAED 17,107
  4. 4BostonUnited StatesAED 16,927
  5. 5GenevaSwitzerlandAED 16,223
  6. 6SingaporeSingaporeAED 15,649
  7. 7LondonUnited KingdomAED 15,219
  8. 8Los AngelesUnited StatesAED 14,572

Least expensive

  1. 118KarachiPakistanAED 2,071
  2. 117KathmanduNepalAED 2,359
  3. 116CairoEgyptAED 2,508
  4. 115DhakaBangladeshAED 2,543
  5. 114New DelhiIndiaAED 3,013
  6. 113TunisTunisiaAED 3,032
  7. 112BengaluruIndiaAED 3,197
  8. 111Chiang MaiThailandAED 3,297

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