Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Cairo and Benoni

For one person, living is cheaper in Cairo: $647 a month against $1,072 in Benoni, rent and utilities included – about $5,100 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

32

Cost of Living Index in Cairo
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Cairo Living Index
52

Cost of Living Index in Benoni
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Benoni Living Index

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Cairo

🇪🇬 Egypt

$647

/mo nomad

Benoni

🇿🇦 South Africa

$1,072

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Cairo and in Benoni

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $647 in Cairo versus $1,072 in Benoni.

Cairo $647
Benoni $1,072

Estimated couple costs with rent: $1,035 in Cairo versus $1,331 in Benoni.

Cairo $1,035
Benoni $1,331

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $1,423 in Cairo versus $1,589 in Benoni.

Cairo $1,423
Benoni $1,589

Living in Cairo costs roughly 40% less than in Benoni, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

Both cities sit below the global median: Cairo 52% lower, Benoni 21% lower.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$4.64 E£248

$10.19 R 168

-54.47%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$28.12 E£1,501

$37.46 R 617

-24.93%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$6.03 E£322

$5.86 R 96.5

2.90%

Cappuccino

$1.72 E£92.1

$2.22 R 36.61

-22.52%

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

$0.36 E£19.38

$1.19 R 19.64

-69.75%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.12 E£6.41

$0.85 R 14.00

-85.88%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$1.51 E£80.4

$2.33 R 38.33

-35.19%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.32 E£124

$2.74 R 45.15

-15.33%

Milk (1 liter)

$0.92 E£48.92

$1.22 R 20.16

-24.59%

White Bread (500g)

$0.73 E£38.92

$1.13 R 18.65

-35.40%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$0.74 E£39.64

$1.72 R 28.33

-56.98%

Eggs

$1.19 E£63.7

$2.46 R 40.48

-51.63%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$4.33 E£231

$8.31 R 137

-47.89%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$5.03 E£269

$4.86 R 80.1

3.50%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$9.28 E£496

$7.12 R 117

30.34%

Apples (1kg)

$1.77 E£94.4

$1.73 R 28.55

2.31%

Banana (1kg)

$0.73 E£39.03

$1.63 R 26.81

-55.21%

Oranges (1kg)

$0.55 E£29.51

$1.80 R 29.58

-69.44%

Tomato (1kg)

$0.50 E£26.91

$1.56 R 25.70

-67.95%

Potato (1kg)

$0.42 E£22.42

$1.12 R 18.39

-62.50%

Onion (1kg)

$0.41 E£21.81

$1.22 R 20.10

-66.39%

Lettuce (1 head)

$0.33 E£17.51

$1.23 R 20.29

-73.17%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.21 E£11.20

$1.27 R 20.97

-83.46%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$1.98 E£106

$3.37 R 55.5

-41.25%

Wine (Bottle)

$7.81 E£417

$5.09 R 83.8

53.44%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.59 E£84.7

$1.51 R 24.94

5.30%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.09 E£112

$1.95 R 32.14

7.18%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.35 E£18.83

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$8.69 E£464

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$0.39 E£21.02

$0.29 R 4.72

34.48%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$0.22 E£11.57

$0.89 R 14.67

-75.28%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$1.51 E£80.5

$14.73 R 243

-89.75%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$0.43 E£22.88

$1.54 R 25.41

-72.08%

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

$32.7K E£1.7M

$35.1K R 578.8K

-6.91%

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

$27.2K E£1.5M

$32.5K R 534.9K

-16.14%

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

$27.27 E£1,456

$203 R 3,342

-86.56%

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

$8.58 E£458

$38.42 R 633

-77.67%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$13.99 E£747

$36.63 R 604

-61.81%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$29.69 E£1,585

$18.06 R 297

64.40%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$7.25 E£387

Cinema Ticket

$4.86 E£260

$7.10 R 117

-31.55%

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

$121 E£6,438

$246 R 4,051

-50.97%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$3,560 E£190.1K

$5,577 R 91.9K

-36.17%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$40.28 E£2,151

$53.5 R 882

-24.77%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$49.53 E£2,645

$32.40 R 534

52.87%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$115 E£6,137

$91.9 R 1,515

24.99%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$60.0 E£3,206

$84.8 R 1,397

-29.18%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$222 E£11.9K

$398 R 6,557

-44.20%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$195 E£10.4K

$296 R 4,881

-34.18%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$550 E£29.3K

$487 R 8,029

12.78%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$346 E£18.5K

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$800 E£42.7K

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$525 E£28.0K

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$200 E£10.7K

$2,041 R 33.6K

-90.22%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

16.21

10.91

48.58%

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

Last update for Cairo: October 11, 2026

Last update for Benoni: October 11, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Cairo

$195 30.2%

Benoni

$296 27.6% 51.9% $101

Groceries & Markets

Cairo

$142 21.9%

Benoni

$192 17.9% 35.3% $50

Clothing & Footwear

Cairo

$119 18.4%

Benoni

$118 11% 0.8% $1

Eating Out

Cairo

$90 13.9%

Benoni

$151 14.1% 67.8% $61

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Cairo

$50 7.7%

Benoni

$278 25.9% 458% $228

Sport & Entertainment

Cairo

$39 6.1%

Benoni

$32 3% 18.1% $7.1

Getting Around

Cairo

$12 1.8%

Benoni

$4.7 * 0.4% 59.1% $6.8

Categories marked with * are only partly priced – their share counts the items that do have prices.

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $222 in Cairo and $398 in Benoni. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Benoni pays 922% 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: $28.00 in Cairo vs $37.00 in Benoni for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $142 vs $192 per month, with Cairo cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇪🇬 Cairo

🇿🇦 Benoni

🕒 Local time

12:04 12:04 PM

11:04 11:04 AM

1 h behind Cairo

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

9,120,350 Capital

158,777

💱 Currency

Egyptian Pound EGP £

South African Rand ZAR R

📈 Exchange rate

100 EGP = 1.87 USD

100 EGP = 1.67 EUR

100 ZAR = 6.07 USD

100 ZAR = 5.4 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

ZAR, USD, EUR to EGP – Egyptian Pound Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇪🇬 Egyptian Pound (£)

Egyptian Pound exchange rates as of October 18, 2026: 1 USD = 53.4 EGP (100 EGP = 1.87 USD). 1 EUR = 60.03 EGP (100 EGP = 1.67 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 EGP in detail →

On the map

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Highest

Between locations

Cairo Benoni 6,260 km ≈ 8 h nonstop flight

From you

Cairo
Benoni

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

Cairo vs Benoni: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Cairo and Benoni differ by about 66% in total monthly costs ($647 vs $1,072 including rent). Cairo is meaningfully more affordable – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

On paper, salaries run 922% lower in Benoni. That's worth factoring in alongside costs, though remote workers earning in a stronger currency may not notice the difference at all.

Rent for a central apartment: $222 in Cairo versus $398 in Benoni. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Supermarket bills run roughly 35% higher in Benoni. For households that cook at home regularly, that difference adds up over a month.

All in, you'll spend $647 per month in Cairo versus $1,072 in Benoni – a 66% gap that adds up to real savings over time for anyone picking the cheaper option.

Either city works on $1,000 a month, though Cairo gives you more room to save. At this income level, the choice is more about lifestyle than financial pressure.

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, Cairo and Benoni 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 Cairo gentler on the wallet – expenses run 66% less than in Benoni. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.