Cost of living comparison

Cape Town, South Africa

compared to

Nairobi, Kenya

Nairobi vs. Cape Town Cost of Living Summary

Nairobi is 10.6% cheaper than Cape Town.

Restaurants: pay 24.8% less in Nairobi
Groceries: pay 2.7% less in Nairobi
Transportation: pay 9.0% more in Nairobi
Housing: pay 47.5% less in Nairobi
Childcare: pay 33.1% more in Nairobi
Entertainment and Sports: pay 0.4% more in Nairobi
Clothing: pay 41.8% less in Nairobi

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

Nairobi vs. Cape Town Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Nairobi instead of Cape Town, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 24.8% less for restaurants

	Cape Town	Nairobi
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.52 ZAR155.06	$3.85 KES498.82	-54.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.11 ZAR93.04	$6.17 KES798.11	+20.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.99 ZAR18.07	$0.66 KES85.79	-33.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.78 ZAR14.20	$0.53 KES68.93	-31.8%
Average			-24.8%

Cape Town vs. Nairobi - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.7% less for groceries

	Cape Town	Nairobi
Bread 1 loaf	$1.07 ZAR19.52	$0.56 KES72.25	-48.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.13 ZAR75.19	$5.59 KES723.60	+35.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.25 ZAR77.41	$3.35 KES433.86	-21.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.53 ZAR46.10	$1.70 KES220.41	-32.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.30 ZAR41.80	$2.71 KES350.75	+18.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.73 ZAR13.31	$1.26 KES163.59	+72.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.70 ZAR12.66	$0.50 KES64.68	-28.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.69 ZAR12.52	$0.87 KES113.11	+27.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.70 ZAR12.72	$0.46 KES59.17	-34.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.55 ZAR9.99	$0.48 KES62.46	-12.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.59 ZAR10.81	$0.56 KES72.01	-6.3%
Average			-2.7%

Cape Town vs. Nairobi - Cost of groceries

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pay 9.0% more for transportation

	Cape Town	Nairobi
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.09 ZAR92.64	$6.17 KES799.28	+21.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$42.60 ZAR775.30	$30.83 KES3,990.54	-27.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$19,879.98 ZAR361,808.21	$19,266.80 KES2,494,087.35	-3.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$9.54 ZAR173.67	$13.87 KES1,795.74	+45.4%
Average			+9.0%

Cape Town vs. Nairobi - Cost of transportation

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pay 47.5% less for housing

	Cape Town	Nairobi
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$43.29 ZAR787.82	$39.39 KES5,099.38	-9.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$784.43 ZAR14,276.27	$428.53 KES55,472.96	-45.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$505.72 ZAR9,203.96	$166.44 KES21,545.08	-67.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$71.33 ZAR1,298.10	$22.39 KES2,898.71	-68.6%
Average			-47.5%

Cape Town vs. Nairobi - Cost of housing

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pay 33.1% more for childcare

	Cape Town	Nairobi
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$207.06 ZAR3,768.44	$166.67 KES21,576.04	-19.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$4,312.73 ZAR78,490.16	$8,008.06 KES1,036,642.95	+85.7%
Average			+33.1%

Cape Town vs. Nairobi - Cost of childcare

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pay 0.4% more for entertainment and sports

	Cape Town	Nairobi
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.56 ZAR46.52	$2.31 KES299.29	-9.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.12 ZAR38.67	$2.24 KES290.08	+5.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.95 ZAR53.75	$3.08 KES399.05	+4.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$39.65 ZAR721.71	$44.12 KES5,710.95	+11.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.82 ZAR124.05	$6.17 KES798.11	-9.5%
Average			+0.4%

Cape Town vs. Nairobi - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 41.8% less for clothing

	Cape Town	Nairobi
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$53.53 ZAR974.21	$16.84 KES2,180.31	-68.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$30.86 ZAR561.60	$22.95 KES2,970.74	-25.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$104.97 ZAR1,910.35	$61.84 KES8,004.83	-41.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$77.06 ZAR1,402.53	$52.50 KES6,796.35	-31.9%
Average			-41.8%

Cape Town vs. Nairobi - 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: March 2025

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

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