Cost of living comparison

Cape Town, South Africa

compared to

Wellington, New Zealand

Wellington vs. Cape Town Cost of Living Summary

Wellington is 2.3 times more expensive than Cape Town.

Restaurants: pay 2.2 times more in Wellington
Groceries: pay 100.0% more in Wellington
Transportation: pay 97.3% more in Wellington
Housing: pay 91.8% more in Wellington
Childcare: pay 3.6 times more in Wellington
Entertainment and Sports: pay 3.1 times more in Wellington
Clothing: pay 50.5% more in Wellington

The cost of childcare, entertainment and sports, restaurants, groceries, transportation, and housing in Wellington are more expensive than in Cape Town. Notably, childcare, entertainment and sports, and restaurants are significantly more expensive in Wellington.

Wellington vs. Cape Town Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 2.2 times more for restaurants

	Cape Town	Wellington
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.52 ZAR153.35	$14.93 NZ$25.00	+75.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.11 ZAR92.01	$8.96 NZ$15.00	+75.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.99 ZAR17.87	$2.57 NZ$4.31	+159.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.78 ZAR14.05	$2.15 NZ$3.61	+176.1%
Average			+121.4%

Cape Town vs. Wellington - Cost of restaurants

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pay 100.0% more for groceries

	Cape Town	Wellington
Bread 1 loaf	$1.07 ZAR19.30	$1.96 NZ$3.29	+83.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.13 ZAR74.37	$4.15 NZ$6.95	+0.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.25 ZAR76.56	$6.98 NZ$11.69	+64.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.53 ZAR45.60	$6.84 NZ$11.45	+170.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.30 ZAR41.34	$5.06 NZ$8.47	+120.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.73 ZAR13.16	$1.40 NZ$2.34	+91.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.70 ZAR12.52	$1.09 NZ$1.83	+56.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.69 ZAR12.38	$1.48 NZ$2.47	+114.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.70 ZAR12.58	$2.61 NZ$4.37	+273.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.55 ZAR9.88	$1.01 NZ$1.70	+84.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.59 ZAR10.69	$0.84 NZ$1.40	+41.2%
Average			+100.0%

Cape Town vs. Wellington - Cost of groceries

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pay 97.3% more for transportation

	Cape Town	Wellington
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.09 ZAR91.62	$6.42 NZ$10.75	+26.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$42.60 ZAR766.77	$127.57 NZ$213.59	+199.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$19,879.98 ZAR357,825.67	$34,339.84 NZ$57,496.60	+72.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$9.54 ZAR171.76	$18.22 NZ$30.50	+90.9%
Average			+97.3%

Cape Town vs. Wellington - Cost of transportation

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pay 91.8% more for housing

	Cape Town	Wellington
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$43.29 ZAR779.14	$54.27 NZ$90.86	+25.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$784.43 ZAR14,119.13	$1,487.35 NZ$2,490.32	+89.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$505.72 ZAR9,102.65	$1,335.17 NZ$2,235.53	+164.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$71.33 ZAR1,283.81	$134.11 NZ$224.54	+88.0%
Average			+91.8%

Cape Town vs. Wellington - Cost of housing

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pay 3.6 times more for childcare

	Cape Town	Wellington
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$207.06 ZAR3,726.96	$871.44 NZ$1,459.08	+320.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$4,312.73 ZAR77,626.19	$12,649.75 NZ$21,180.00	+193.3%
Average			+257.1%

Cape Town vs. Wellington - Cost of childcare

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pay 3.1 times more for entertainment and sports

	Cape Town	Wellington
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.56 ZAR46.01	$7.17 NZ$12.00	+180.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.12 ZAR38.24	$3.41 NZ$5.72	+60.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.95 ZAR53.16	$24.46 NZ$40.95	+728.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$39.65 ZAR713.76	$39.85 NZ$66.72	+0.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.82 ZAR122.68	$12.24 NZ$20.50	+79.6%
Average			+209.8%

Cape Town vs. Wellington - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 50.5% more for clothing

	Cape Town	Wellington
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$53.53 ZAR963.49	$75.78 NZ$126.88	+41.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$30.86 ZAR555.41	$55.09 NZ$92.24	+78.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$104.97 ZAR1,889.32	$119.44 NZ$199.99	+13.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$77.06 ZAR1,387.09	$129.60 NZ$216.99	+68.2%
Average			+50.5%

Cape Town vs. Wellington - 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: June 2025

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