Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Brighton and Cape Town

For one person, living is cheaper in Cape Town: $1,568 a month against $2,889 in Brighton, rent and utilities included – about $15,900 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

142

Cost of Living Index in Brighton
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Brighton Living Index
76

Cost of Living Index in Cape Town
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Cape Town Living Index

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Brighton

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

$2,889

/mo nomad

Cape Town

🇿🇦 South Africa

$1,568

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Brighton 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 Brighton and in Cape Town actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $2,889 in Brighton versus $1,568 in Cape Town.

Brighton $2,889
Cape Town $1,568

Estimated couple costs with rent: $4,135 in Brighton versus $2,438 in Cape Town.

Brighton $4,135
Cape Town $2,438

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $5,380 in Brighton versus $3,307 in Cape Town.

Brighton $5,380
Cape Town $3,307

Living in Brighton is roughly 84% 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: Brighton 116% above, Cape Town 17% above.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$25.56 £19.31

$11.78 R 194

116.98%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$95.3 £72.0

$46.55 R 768

104.70%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$9.81 £7.41

$5.96 R 98.4

64.60%

Cappuccino

$5.10 £3.85

$2.47 R 40.80

106.48%

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

$3.85 £2.91

$1.33 R 21.91

189.47%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.27 £2.47

$1.03 R 16.99

217.48%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$8.61 £6.50

$3.01 R 49.72

186.05%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$8.99 £6.79

$3.66 R 60.4

145.63%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.95 £1.47

$1.39 R 22.96

40.29%

White Bread (500g)

$2.02 £1.53

$1.19 R 19.60

69.75%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$2.13 £1.61

$2.11 R 34.84

0.95%

Eggs

$4.43 £3.35

$3.01 R 49.58

47.18%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$11.71 £8.85

$8.96 R 148

30.69%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$9.37 £7.08

$6.65 R 110

40.90%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$14.98 £11.32

$9.29 R 153

61.25%

Apples (1kg)

$2.90 £2.19

$1.83 R 30.13

58.47%

Banana (1kg)

$1.98 £1.50

$1.90 R 31.31

4.21%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.87 £2.17

$1.75 R 28.83

64.00%

Tomato (1kg)

$3.75 £2.84

$2.09 R 34.41

79.43%

Potato (1kg)

$2.19 £1.65

$1.55 R 25.64

41.29%

Onion (1kg)

$1.80 £1.36

$1.49 R 24.53

20.81%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.19 £0.90

$1.30 R 21.41

-8.46%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.68 £1.27

$1.16 R 19.19

44.83%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$23.01 £17.39

$3.71 R 61.2

520.22%

Wine (Bottle)

$10.86 £8.20

$6.06 R 100

79.21%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$2.92 £2.21

$1.39 R 22.85

110.07%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.24 £2.45

$2.20 R 36.32

47.27%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$4.01 £3.03

$1.51 R 24.98

165.56%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$132 £99.6

$61.0 R 1,006

116.21%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$4.99 £3.77

$0.63 R 10.33

692.06%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$2.72 £2.05

$1.53 R 25.29

77.78%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$38.98 £29.46

$4.81 R 79.4

710.40%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$2.05 £1.55

$1.58 R 26.08

29.75%

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

$38.6K £29.1K

$35.5K R 585.7K

8.60%

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

$40.8K £30.9K

$31.7K R 523.8K

28.60%

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

$287 £217

$116 R 1,920

146.18%

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

$16.77 £12.67

$28.37 R 468

-40.89%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$44.44 £33.58

$40.69 R 671

9.22%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$49.65 £37.52

$48.85 R 806

1.64%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$27.16 £20.52

$11.13 R 184

144.03%

Cinema Ticket

$17.28 £13.06

$8.83 R 146

95.70%

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

$2,057 £1,554

$261 R 4,314

686.60%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$30.8K £23.3K

$6,702 R 110.6K

359.44%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$91.7 £69.3

$55.4 R 914

65.60%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$44.81 £33.86

$32.27 R 532

38.86%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$104 £78.7

$118 R 1,939

-11.35%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$90.8 £68.7

$107 R 1,766

-15.14%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,846 £1,395

$1,015 R 16.7K

81.92%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,468 £1,109

$715 R 11.8K

105.20%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$2,791 £2,109

$1,801 R 29.7K

54.95%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$2,257 £1,706

$1,330 R 22.0K

69.66%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$8,443 £6,380

$2,331 R 38.5K

262.24%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$6,228 £4,706

$1,513 R 25.0K

311.63%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$3,423 £2,587

$1,636 R 27.0K

109.24%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

5.12

10.97

-53.33%

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

Last update for Brighton: October 5, 2026

Last update for Cape Town: October 4, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Brighton

$1.5K 50.1%

Cape Town

$715 45.3% 51.3% $753

Eating Out

Brighton

$385 13.1%

Cape Town

$174 11% 54.8% $211

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Brighton

$348 11.9%

Cape Town

$185 11.7% 46.7% $162

Groceries & Markets

Brighton

$327 11.2%

Cape Town

$222 14.1% 32.1% $105

Getting Around

Brighton

$166 5.7%

Cape Town

$75 4.8% 54.7% $91

Clothing & Footwear

Brighton

$149 5.1%

Cape Town

$141 8.9% 5.8% $8.7

Sport & Entertainment

Brighton

$84 2.9%

Cape Town

$67 4.2% 21% $18

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $1,846 in Brighton and $1,015 in Cape Town. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Brighton pays 109% 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: $95.0 in Brighton vs $47.00 in Cape Town for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $327 vs $222 per month, with Cape Town cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇬🇧 Brighton

🇿🇦 Cape Town

🕒 Local time

06:16 6:16 AM

07:16 7:16 AM

1 h ahead of Brighton

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

256,000

3,740,026 Capital

💱 Currency

British Pound GBP £

South African Rand ZAR R

📈 Exchange rate

1 GBP = 1.32 USD

1 GBP = 1.18 EUR

100 ZAR = 6.06 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 10, 2026: 1 USD = 0.756 GBP (1 GBP = 1.32 USD). 1 EUR = 0.848 GBP (1 GBP = 1.18 EUR).

South African Rand exchange rates as of October 10, 2026: 1 USD = 16.5 ZAR (100 ZAR = 6.06 USD). 1 EUR = 18.5 ZAR (100 ZAR = 5.4 EUR).

USD to GBP in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Brighton Cape Town 9,600 km ≈ 12 h nonstop flight

From you

Brighton
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

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

Brighton and Cape Town differ by about 84% in total monthly costs ($2,889 vs $1,568 including rent). Cape Town is meaningfully more affordable – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

Average pay runs 109% higher in Brighton, 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: $1,846 in Brighton versus $1,015 in Cape Town. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $2,057 in Brighton versus $261 in Cape Town. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Supermarket bills run roughly 47% higher in Brighton. For households that cook at home regularly, that difference adds up over a month.

At $1,568 in Cape Town versus $2,889 in Brighton, a $1,000 budget is realistic in Cape Town but tight or insufficient in Brighton. The gap between the two cities makes Cape Town the clear choice for anyone on this budget.

Both cities offer a good standard of living with different trade-offs. Neither is objectively better – the right pick depends on what matters most: affordability, career, cultural scene, or climate.

Safety-wise, Brighton and Cape Town are on par. Petty crime is typical for cities this size, and most residents feel comfortable going about their daily routines in either place.

Expats usually find Cape Town gentler on the wallet – expenses run 84% less than in Brighton. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.