Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Bath and Cape Town

For one person, living is cheaper in Cape Town: $1,586 a month against $2,726 in Bath, rent and utilities included – about $13,700 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

133

Cost of Living Index in Bath
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Bath Living Index
77

Cost of Living Index in Cape Town
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Cape Town Living Index

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Bath

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

$2,726

/mo nomad

Cape Town

🇿🇦 South Africa

$1,586

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Bath and in Cape Town

Real prices from locals and on-the-ground checks – rent, groceries, transit and the daily extras. Here's what a month in Bath and in Cape Town actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $2,726 in Bath versus $1,586 in Cape Town.

Bath $2,726
Cape Town $1,586

Estimated couple costs with rent: $3,957 in Bath versus $2,425 in Cape Town.

Bath $3,957
Cape Town $2,425

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $5,187 in Bath versus $3,263 in Cape Town.

Bath $5,187
Cape Town $3,263

Living in Bath is roughly 72% more expensive than in Cape Town, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

Both cities are pricier than the global median: Bath 102% above, Cape Town 17% above.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$23.04 £17.29

$12.14 R 200

89.79%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$98.3 £73.7

$45.34 R 747

116.72%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$10.44 £7.83

$5.88 R 96.9

77.55%

Cappuccino

$5.10 £3.83

$2.50 R 41.18

104.00%

Coke/Pepsi/Fanta/Sprite (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.70 £2.02

$1.27 R 20.94

112.60%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.76 £1.32

$0.98 R 16.14

79.59%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$7.74 £5.81

$2.99 R 49.33

158.86%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$6.59 £4.94

$3.72 R 61.4

77.15%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.49 £1.12

$1.30 R 21.40

14.62%

White Bread (500g)

$1.70 £1.28

$1.25 R 20.68

36.00%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$2.08 £1.56

$2.23 R 36.76

-6.73%

Eggs

$4.36 £3.27

$3.11 R 51.2

40.19%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$8.39 £6.29

$9.06 R 149

-7.40%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$9.48 £7.11

$6.92 R 114

36.99%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$13.02 £9.77

$9.30 R 153

40.00%

Apples (1kg)

$4.21 £3.16

$1.84 R 30.25

128.80%

Banana (1kg)

$1.77 £1.33

$1.96 R 32.29

-9.69%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.65 £1.99

$1.67 R 27.45

58.68%

Tomato (1kg)

$4.13 £3.10

$2.17 R 35.70

90.32%

Potato (1kg)

$2.10 £1.58

$1.57 R 25.81

33.76%

Onion (1kg)

$1.72 £1.29

$1.48 R 24.45

16.22%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.26 £0.94

$1.30 R 21.41

-3.08%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.93 £1.45

$1.13 R 18.60

70.80%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$23.57 £17.68

$3.60 R 59.3

554.72%

Wine (Bottle)

$10.43 £7.83

$6.15 R 101

69.59%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$2.82 £2.12

$1.38 R 22.66

104.35%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.19 £2.39

$2.14 R 35.20

49.07%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$3.44 £2.58

$1.50 R 24.65

129.33%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$130 £97.7

$60.8 R 1,001

114.30%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$3.33 £2.50

$0.59 R 9.71

464.41%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.68 £1.26

$1.50 R 24.65

12.00%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$26.35 £19.77

$5.11 R 84.2

415.66%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$2.01 £1.50

$1.55 R 25.50

29.68%

Midsize Hatchback 1.4l (Volkswagen Golf, Toyota Prius, Honda Civic, etc)

$38.9K £29.2K

$36.2K R 596.5K

7.42%

Compact Sedan 1.6l (Toyota Corolla, Mazda3, Kia K4, Hyundai Elantra, etc)

$41.1K £30.8K

$31.2K R 514.8K

31.60%

Utilities for 2 People in 2-bedroom Apartment (Heating, Electricity, Gas, Water, Garbage) (85m2)

$298 £224

$114 R 1,883

160.91%

SIM Card Monthly Plan (Calls and 10GB+ Data)

$20.00 £15.00

$28.91 R 476

-30.82%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$38.50 £28.88

$39.73 R 654

-3.10%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$45.78 £34.35

$49.01 R 808

-6.59%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$19.78 £14.84

$10.99 R 181

79.98%

Cinema Ticket

$13.79 £10.34

$9.15 R 151

50.71%

Preschool or Kindergarten, Full Day, Private, 1 Child (Monthly)

$1,579 £1,184

$259 R 4,264

509.93%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$25.0K £18.8K

$6,794 R 111.9K

268.68%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$82.7 £62.0

$56.2 R 926

47.19%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$30.25 £22.69

$32.41 R 534

-6.66%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$98.3 £73.8

$121 R 1,987

-18.46%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$84.3 £63.3

$108 R 1,781

-21.99%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,786 £1,340

$1,021 R 16.8K

74.88%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,349 £1,012

$717 R 11.8K

88.18%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$3,536 £2,653

$1,824 R 30.1K

93.88%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$2,117 £1,588

$1,327 R 21.9K

59.59%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$10.1K £7,607

$2,391 R 39.4K

324.04%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$6,777 £5,084

$1,542 R 25.4K

339.58%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$3,602 £2,702

$1,639 R 27.0K

119.81%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

5.11

10.97

-53.42%

CityCost data is based on AI and user input – minor inaccuracies may occur.

Last update for Bath: October 13, 2026

Last update for Cape Town: October 10, 2026

Monthly budget structure

Share of the monthly basket for one person, rent included.

Accommodation & Living

Bath

$1.3K 49.5%

Cape Town

$717 45.2% 46.9% $632

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Bath

$357 13.1%

Cape Town

$183 11.5% 48.7% $174

Eating Out

Bath

$347 12.7%

Cape Town

$176 11.1% 49.2% $170

Groceries & Markets

Bath

$312 11.4%

Cape Town

$225 14.2% 27.8% $87

Getting Around

Bath

$156 5.7%

Cape Town

$75 4.7% 51.9% $81

Clothing & Footwear

Bath

$133 4.9%

Cape Town

$143 9% 7.3% $9.8

Sport & Entertainment

Bath

$73 2.7%

Cape Town

$67 4.2% 8.2% $6

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $1,786 in Bath and $1,021 in Cape Town. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Bath pays 120% more on average. The extra income cushions the higher costs, though housing choices and lifestyle decide how much of the gap is truly closed.

Dining out: $98.0 in Bath vs $45.00 in Cape Town for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $312 vs $225 per month, with Cape Town cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇬🇧 Bath

🇿🇦 Cape Town

🕒 Local time

19:27 7:27 PM

20:27 8:27 PM

1 h ahead of Bath

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

88,859

3,740,026 Capital

💱 Currency

British Pound GBP £

South African Rand ZAR R

📈 Exchange rate

1 GBP = 1.33 USD

1 GBP = 1.19 EUR

100 ZAR = 6.07 USD

100 ZAR = 5.4 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

ZAR, USD, EUR to GBP – British Pound Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇬🇧 British Pound (£)

British Pound exchange rates as of October 18, 2026: 1 USD = 0.75 GBP (1 GBP = 1.33 USD). 1 EUR = 0.843 GBP (1 GBP = 1.19 EUR).

South African Rand exchange rates as of October 18, 2026: 1 USD = 16.48 ZAR (100 ZAR = 6.07 USD). 1 EUR = 18.52 ZAR (100 ZAR = 5.4 EUR).

USD to GBP in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Bath Cape Town 9,700 km ≈ 13 h nonstop flight

From you

Bath
Cape Town

Distances are measured in a straight line. Your location is detected approximately.

City Median Internet Speeds Comparison (Updated April 2026)

The chart highlights the Precision Threshold for mobile and fixed broadband internet speeds, updated quarterly.

Digital Nomad Cost of Living Index

Bath vs Cape Town: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Cape Town is cheaper overall, especially in eating out, groceries, and transport. The 72% gap adds up to real monthly savings that compound significantly over time.

Average pay runs 120% higher in Bath, which matters when comparing affordability. Whether that higher income actually nets you more depends on your spending habits and housing choices.

Rent for a central apartment: $1,786 in Bath versus $1,021 in Cape Town. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

All in, you'll spend $2,726 per month in Bath versus $1,586 in Cape Town – a 72% gap that adds up to real savings over time for anyone picking the cheaper option.

A monthly transit pass in Cape Town runs roughly 114% less than in Bath. Both cities have functional networks, but the price difference matters if you're watching your budget.

At $1,586 in Cape Town versus $2,726 in Bath, a $1,000 budget is realistic in Cape Town but tight or insufficient in Bath. The gap between the two cities makes Cape Town the clear choice for anyone on this budget.

For families, Cape Town is more practical. Housing and childcare are both notably cheaper than in Bath, and the savings on those two alone free up budget for education, activities, and family trips.

Expats usually find Cape Town gentler on the wallet – expenses run 72% less than in Bath. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.