Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Burnley and Cape Town

For one person, living is cheaper in Cape Town: $1,586 a month against $2,187 in Burnley, rent and utilities included – about $7,200 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

107

Cost of Living Index in Burnley
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Burnley Living Index
77

Cost of Living Index in Cape Town
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Cape Town Living Index

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Burnley

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

$2,187

/mo nomad

Cape Town

🇿🇦 South Africa

$1,586

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $2,187 in Burnley versus $1,586 in Cape Town.

Burnley $2,187
Cape Town $1,586

Estimated couple costs with rent: $3,012 in Burnley versus $2,425 in Cape Town.

Burnley $3,012
Cape Town $2,425

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $3,836 in Burnley versus $3,263 in Cape Town.

Burnley $3,836
Cape Town $3,263

Living in Burnley is roughly 38% 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: Burnley 62% above, Cape Town 17% above.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$19.65 £14.74

$12.14 R 200

61.86%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$77.3 £58.0

$45.34 R 747

70.49%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$7.78 £5.83

$5.88 R 96.9

32.31%

Cappuccino

$4.62 £3.46

$2.50 R 41.18

84.80%

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

$2.63 £1.97

$1.27 R 20.94

107.09%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.74 £1.31

$0.98 R 16.14

77.55%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$4.07 £3.05

$2.99 R 49.33

36.12%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$5.89 £4.42

$3.72 R 61.4

58.33%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.68 £1.26

$1.30 R 21.40

29.23%

White Bread (500g)

$1.46 £1.09

$1.25 R 20.68

16.80%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.63 £1.22

$2.23 R 36.76

-26.91%

Eggs

$3.51 £2.63

$3.11 R 51.2

12.86%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$8.15 £6.12

$9.06 R 149

-10.04%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$8.00 £6.00

$6.92 R 114

15.61%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$12.99 £9.74

$9.30 R 153

39.68%

Apples (1kg)

$2.26 £1.70

$1.84 R 30.25

22.83%

Banana (1kg)

$1.34 £1.01

$1.96 R 32.29

-31.63%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.67 £1.25

$1.67 R 27.45

Tomato (1kg)

$2.61 £1.96

$2.17 R 35.70

20.28%

Potato (1kg)

$1.69 £1.27

$1.57 R 25.81

7.64%

Onion (1kg)

$1.61 £1.21

$1.48 R 24.45

8.78%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.29 £0.97

$1.30 R 21.41

-0.77%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.16 £0.87

$1.13 R 18.60

2.65%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$18.90 £14.18

$3.60 R 59.3

425.00%

Wine (Bottle)

$10.77 £8.08

$6.15 R 101

75.12%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$2.79 £2.09

$1.38 R 22.66

102.17%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.03 £2.28

$2.14 R 35.20

41.59%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$3.51 £2.64

$1.50 R 24.65

134.00%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$96.7 £72.6

$60.8 R 1,001

59.24%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$3.08 £2.31

$0.59 R 9.71

422.03%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$2.05 £1.54

$1.50 R 24.65

36.67%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$18.14 £13.61

$5.11 R 84.2

254.99%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.89 £1.42

$1.55 R 25.50

21.94%

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)

$41.2K £30.9K

$31.2K R 514.8K

31.73%

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

$255 £191

$114 R 1,883

123.08%

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

$16.89 £12.67

$28.91 R 476

-41.58%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$41.54 £31.16

$39.73 R 654

4.56%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$45.08 £33.82

$49.01 R 808

-8.02%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$16.41 £12.31

$10.99 R 181

49.32%

Cinema Ticket

$7.74 £5.81

$9.15 R 151

-15.41%

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

$1,837 £1,378

$259 R 4,264

609.86%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$22.1K £16.6K

$6,794 R 111.9K

225.51%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$89.6 £67.2

$56.2 R 926

59.54%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$47.32 £35.50

$32.41 R 534

46.00%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$88.9 £66.7

$121 R 1,987

-26.33%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$88.2 £66.2

$108 R 1,781

-18.38%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,203 £902

$1,021 R 16.8K

17.81%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$999 £749

$717 R 11.8K

39.31%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,449 £1,087

$1,824 R 30.1K

-20.57%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,225 £919

$1,327 R 21.9K

-7.69%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$4,950 £3,714

$2,391 R 39.4K

107.02%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$3,930 £2,949

$1,542 R 25.4K

154.93%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$3,131 £2,349

$1,639 R 27.0K

91.05%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

4.99

10.97

-54.51%

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

Last update for Burnley: 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

Burnley

$999 45.7%

Cape Town

$717 45.2% 28.2% $282

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Burnley

$313 14.3%

Cape Town

$183 11.5% 41.6% $130

Eating Out

Burnley

$286 13.1%

Cape Town

$176 11.1% 38.3% $109

Groceries & Markets

Burnley

$263 12%

Cape Town

$225 14.2% 14.6% $38

Clothing & Footwear

Burnley

$141 6.5%

Cape Town

$143 9% 1% $1.5

Getting Around

Burnley

$124 5.7%

Cape Town

$75 4.7% 39.7% $49

Sport & Entertainment

Burnley

$61 2.8%

Cape Town

$67 4.2% 11.1% $6.8

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $1,203 in Burnley and $1,021 in Cape Town. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Burnley pays 91% 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: $77.0 in Burnley vs $45.00 in Cape Town for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $263 vs $225 per month, with Cape Town cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇬🇧 Burnley

🇿🇦 Cape Town

🕒 Local time

19:16 7:16 PM

20:16 8:16 PM

1 h ahead of Burnley

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

73,500

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 19, 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 19, 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

Burnley Cape Town 9,950 km ≈ 13 h nonstop flight

From you

Burnley
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

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

Cape Town is cheaper overall, especially in eating out, groceries, and transport. The 38% gap adds up to real monthly savings that compound significantly over time.

Average pay runs 91% higher in Burnley, 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: $1,203 in Burnley versus $1,021 in Cape Town. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Dining out is cheaper in Cape Town – a meal for two runs $45.00 versus $77.0 in Burnley. If you eat out regularly, this makes a real dent in your monthly spending.

All in, you'll spend $2,187 per month in Burnley versus $1,586 in Cape Town – a 38% gap that adds up to real savings over time for anyone picking the cheaper option.

At $1,586 in Cape Town versus $2,187 in Burnley, a $1,000 budget is realistic in Cape Town but tight or insufficient in Burnley. 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 Burnley, 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 38% less than in Burnley. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.