Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Cape Coast and Cape Town

For one person, living is cheaper in Cape Coast: $1,261 a month against $1,586 in Cape Town, rent and utilities included – about $3,900 less a year. Rent and utilities account for about half of the difference.

61

Cost of Living Index in Cape Coast
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Cape Coast Living Index
77

Cost of Living Index in Cape Town
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Cape Town Living Index

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Cape Coast

🇬🇭 Ghana

$1,261

/mo nomad

Cape Town

🇿🇦 South Africa

$1,586

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

A single person spends $1,261 per month in Cape Coast vs $1,586 in Cape Town, rent included.

Cape Coast $1,261
Cape Town $1,586

A couple spends around $1,989 per month in Cape Coast vs $2,425 in Cape Town, rent included.

Cape Coast $1,989
Cape Town $2,425

A family of three spends $2,716 per month in Cape Coast vs $3,263 in Cape Town, rent included.

Cape Coast $2,716
Cape Town $3,263

Cape Coast is about 20% cheaper than Cape Town, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in clothing.

Cape Coast sits 7% below the global median, while Cape Town is 17% above – they fall on opposite sides of the world average.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$8.15 GHS 94.6

$12.14 R 201

-32.87%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$51.9 GHS 602

$45.34 R 749

14.42%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$10.18 GHS 118

$5.88 R 97.2

73.13%

Cappuccino

$4.45 GHS 51.6

$2.50 R 41.29

78.00%

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

$1.57 GHS 18.22

$1.27 R 21.00

23.62%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.45 GHS 5.18

$0.98 R 16.19

-54.08%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$1.84 GHS 21.34

$2.99 R 49.47

-38.46%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.20 GHS 25.49

$3.72 R 61.5

-40.86%

Milk (1 liter)

$3.64 GHS 42.24

$1.30 R 21.46

180.00%

White Bread (500g)

$1.67 GHS 19.42

$1.25 R 20.73

33.60%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$3.07 GHS 35.60

$2.23 R 36.87

37.67%

Eggs

$2.55 GHS 29.60

$3.11 R 51.4

-18.01%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$12.01 GHS 139

$9.06 R 150

32.56%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$7.04 GHS 81.6

$6.92 R 114

1.73%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$9.76 GHS 113

$9.30 R 154

4.95%

Apples (1kg)

$3.57 GHS 41.38

$1.84 R 30.34

94.02%

Banana (1kg)

$1.38 GHS 16.06

$1.96 R 32.38

-29.59%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.76 GHS 20.47

$1.67 R 27.52

5.39%

Tomato (1kg)

$3.63 GHS 42.15

$2.17 R 35.80

67.28%

Potato (1kg)

$2.77 GHS 32.14

$1.57 R 25.89

76.43%

Onion (1kg)

$2.74 GHS 31.73

$1.48 R 24.52

85.14%

Lettuce (1 head)

$0.69 GHS 8.04

$1.30 R 21.47

-46.92%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.60 GHS 6.98

$1.13 R 18.66

-46.90%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$2.50 GHS 29.06

$3.60 R 59.5

-30.56%

Wine (Bottle)

$7.32 GHS 84.9

$6.15 R 102

19.02%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.28 GHS 14.82

$1.38 R 22.72

-7.25%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.38 GHS 27.64

$2.14 R 35.30

11.21%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$1.50 R 24.72

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$60.8 R 1,004

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$1.73 GHS 20.01

$0.59 R 9.74

193.22%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.25 GHS 14.46

$1.50 R 24.72

-16.67%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$4.26 GHS 49.42

$5.11 R 84.4

-16.63%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.29 GHS 14.94

$1.55 R 25.57

-16.77%

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

$7,862 GHS 91.2K

$36.2K R 598.2K

-78.29%

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

$9,880 GHS 114.6K

$31.2K R 516.2K

-68.38%

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

$73.2 GHS 849

$114 R 1,889

-36.00%

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

$19.55 GHS 227

$28.91 R 478

-32.38%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$43.07 GHS 500

$39.73 R 656

8.41%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$49.01 R 810

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$10.99 R 182

Cinema Ticket

$12.92 GHS 150

$9.15 R 151

41.20%

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

$466 GHS 5,407

$259 R 4,276

80.08%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$18.7K GHS 217.1K

$6,794 R 112.2K

175.51%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$14.04 GHS 163

$56.2 R 928

-75.01%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$18.28 GHS 212

$32.41 R 535

-43.60%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$36.79 GHS 427

$121 R 1,993

-69.49%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$53.0 GHS 615

$108 R 1,786

-50.98%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$608 GHS 7,058

$1,021 R 16.9K

-40.40%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$589 GHS 6,831

$717 R 11.8K

-17.86%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,230 GHS 14.3K

$1,824 R 30.1K

-32.58%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,119 GHS 13.0K

$1,327 R 21.9K

-15.63%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$2,391 R 39.5K

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$1,542 R 25.5K

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$1,639 R 27.1K

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

26.75

10.97

143.85%

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

Last update for Cape Coast: October 10, 2026

Last update for Cape Town: October 10, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Cape Coast

$589 46.7%

Cape Town

$717 45.2% 21.7% $128

Groceries & Markets

Cape Coast

$277 22%

Cape Town

$225 14.2% 18.8% $52

Eating Out

Cape Coast

$171 13.5%

Cape Town

$176 11.1% 3.1% $5.4

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Cape Coast

$136 10.8%

Cape Town

$183 11.5% 34.7% $47

Clothing & Footwear

Cape Coast

$55 4.4%

Cape Town

$143 9% 160% $88

Sport & Entertainment

Cape Coast

$26 * 2.1%

Cape Town

$67 4.2% 161% $41

Getting Around

Cape Coast

$8 * 0.6%

Cape Town

$75 4.7% 840% $67

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

Cost Breakdown

A central one-bedroom costs $608 in Cape Coast versus $1,021 in Cape Town. Rent is usually the largest line item in a monthly budget, so the gap here sets the tone for the overall comparison.

A mid-range dinner for two costs $52.0 in Cape Coast versus $45.00 in Cape Town. Monthly groceries follow the same trend: $277 vs $225 – making Cape Town the more affordable choice for daily food spending.

Good to know

🇬🇭 Cape Coast

🇿🇦 Cape Town

🕒 Local time

11:27 11:27 AM

13:27 1:27 PM

2 h ahead of Cape Coast

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

155,000

3,740,026 Capital

💱 Currency

Ghanaian Cedi GHS ₵

South African Rand ZAR R

📈 Exchange rate

100 GHS = 8.62 USD

100 GHS = 7.69 EUR

100 ZAR = 6.05 USD

100 ZAR = 5.4 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

ZAR, USD, EUR to GHS – Ghanaian Cedi Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇬🇭 Ghanaian Cedi (₵)

Ghanaian Cedi exchange rates as of October 16, 2026: 1 USD = 11.6 GHS (100 GHS = 8.62 USD). 1 EUR = 13.01 GHS (100 GHS = 7.69 EUR).

South African Rand exchange rates as of October 16, 2026: 1 USD = 16.52 ZAR (100 ZAR = 6.05 USD). 1 EUR = 18.53 ZAR (100 ZAR = 5.4 EUR).

USD to GHS in detail →

On the map

Lowest

Highest

Between locations

Cape Coast Cape Town 4,810 km ≈ 7 h nonstop flight

From you

Cape Coast
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

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

Yes – Cape Town is pricier by about 26%, and outside of rent the gap shows up most in clothing.

For a comfortable life, plan on about $1,892 per month in Cape Coast and $2,379 in Cape Town. That covers rent, food, utilities, transport, and enough left over to feel settled – not just surviving.

Rent is clearly cheaper in Cape Coast, especially for central apartments. Housing is actually the single biggest factor behind the overall cost gap between these two cities.

Monthly expenses with rent come to $1,261 in Cape Coast and $1,586 in Cape Town. That's a gap of about 26%.

Kindergarten costs $466 per month in Cape Coast and $259 in Cape Town. For families with young kids, this one expense can tip the scales when choosing between the two cities.

A $1,500 monthly budget goes further in Cape Coast, where all-in costs run around $1,261, than in Cape Town at $1,586. In Cape Coast it covers expenses comfortably, while in Cape Town it requires careful planning or may not stretch far enough.

Families tend to lean toward Cape Coast – lower housing and cheaper childcare make a real difference, especially on a single income or when paying for private education.

If budget matters most, go with Cape Coast. If higher salaries, better infrastructure, or specific career opportunities are the priority, Cape Town makes more sense. Both are solid long-term options with distinct trade-offs.