Last update: Nov 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Cape Town and Bålsta

For one person, living is cheaper in Cape Town: $1,527 a month against $1,572 in Bålsta, rent and utilities included – about $540 less a year. The total is higher in Bålsta despite lower rent and utilities.

74

Cost of Living Index in Cape Town
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Cape Town Living Index
75

Cost of Living Index in Bålsta
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Bålsta Living Index

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Cape Town

🇿🇦 South Africa

$1,527

/mo nomad

Bålsta

🇸🇪 Sweden

$1,572

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,527 in Cape Town versus $1,572 in Bålsta.

Cape Town $1,527
Bålsta $1,572

Estimated couple costs with rent: $2,417 in Cape Town versus $2,470 in Bålsta.

Cape Town $2,417
Bålsta $2,470

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $3,306 in Cape Town versus $3,367 in Bålsta.

Cape Town $3,306
Bålsta $3,367

Living in Cape Town costs roughly 3% less than in Bålsta, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

Both cities are pricier than the global median: Cape Town 13% above, Bålsta 16% above.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$12.01 R 198

$14.20 SEK 139

-15.42%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$42.92 R 707

$67.1 SEK 659

-36.07%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$6.15 R 101

$8.83 SEK 86.6

-30.35%

Cappuccino

$2.37 R 39.04

$4.18 SEK 41.05

-43.30%

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

$1.27 R 20.96

$2.63 SEK 25.80

-51.71%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.94 R 15.46

$2.19 SEK 21.49

-57.08%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$2.96 R 48.77

$7.34 SEK 72.0

-59.67%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.69 R 60.8

$7.09 SEK 69.6

-47.95%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.32 R 21.73

$1.51 SEK 14.83

-12.58%

White Bread (500g)

$1.21 R 19.87

$2.01 SEK 19.68

-39.80%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$2.20 R 36.26

$3.64 SEK 35.70

-39.56%

Eggs

$3.10 R 51.1

$3.70 SEK 36.31

-16.22%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$8.73 R 144

$11.46 SEK 112

-23.82%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$6.89 R 114

$12.46 SEK 122

-44.70%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$9.26 R 153

$11.10 SEK 109

-16.58%

Apples (1kg)

$1.83 R 30.08

$2.53 SEK 24.79

-27.67%

Banana (1kg)

$1.95 R 32.12

$2.64 SEK 25.92

-26.14%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.66 R 27.32

$2.00 SEK 19.66

-17.00%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.14 R 35.19

$2.84 SEK 27.89

-24.65%

Potato (1kg)

$1.58 R 26.01

$1.51 SEK 14.86

4.64%

Onion (1kg)

$1.47 R 24.29

$1.22 SEK 11.94

20.49%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.35 R 22.18

$1.49 SEK 14.60

-9.40%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.14 R 18.85

$1.04 SEK 10.22

9.62%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$3.58 R 59.0

$7.25 SEK 71.1

-50.62%

Wine (Bottle)

$6.05 R 99.7

$9.93 SEK 97.5

-39.07%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.39 R 22.95

$1.51 SEK 14.80

-7.95%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.18 R 35.90

$2.05 SEK 20.15

6.34%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$1.40 R 23.02

$3.29 SEK 32.26

-57.45%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$60.8 R 1,001

$76.2 SEK 748

-20.30%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$0.93 R 15.26

$6.17 SEK 60.6

-84.93%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$0.90 R 14.83

$1.51 SEK 14.79

-40.40%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$4.96 R 81.7

$78.1 SEK 766

-93.65%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.54 R 25.37

$1.80 SEK 17.66

-14.44%

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

$35.4K R 582.8K

$33.9K SEK 332.7K

4.28%

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

$33.4K R 549.9K

$33.3K SEK 326.7K

0.22%

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

$117 R 1,929

$50.8 SEK 499

130.27%

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

$25.71 R 424

$20.45 SEK 201

25.72%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$39.41 R 649

$40.92 SEK 401

-3.69%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$51.6 R 850

$37.43 SEK 367

37.88%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$11.35 R 187

$26.98 SEK 265

-57.93%

Cinema Ticket

$8.89 R 146

$13.19 SEK 129

-32.60%

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

$308 R 5,069

$122 SEK 1,194

152.85%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$8,141 R 134.2K

$5,269 SEK 51.7K

54.51%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$57.4 R 946

$71.2 SEK 698

-19.39%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$31.75 R 523

$10.02 SEK 98.3

216.87%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$116 R 1,911

$82.8 SEK 812

40.03%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$101 R 1,660

$113 SEK 1,107

-10.72%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,047 R 17.2K

$823 SEK 8,072

27.22%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$669 R 11.0K

$606 SEK 5,946

10.42%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,861 R 30.7K

$1,375 SEK 13.5K

35.29%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,407 R 23.2K

$1,039 SEK 10.2K

35.39%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$2,410 R 39.7K

$4,670 SEK 45.8K

-48.39%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$1,570 R 25.9K

$2,928 SEK 28.7K

-46.40%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$1,630 R 26.9K

$4,041 SEK 39.6K

-59.67%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

10.89

2.8

288.93%

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

Last update for Cape Town: November 2, 2026

Last update for Bålsta: November 1, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Cape Town

$669 43.8%

Bålsta

$606 38.5% 9.4% $63

Groceries & Markets

Cape Town

$223 14.6%

Bålsta

$302 19.2% 35.4% $79

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Cape Town

$182 11.9%

Bålsta

$112 7.1% 38.4% $70

Eating Out

Cape Town

$174 11.4%

Bålsta

$260 16.6% 49.7% $86

Clothing & Footwear

Cape Town

$138 9%

Bålsta

$125 7.9% 9.5% $13

Getting Around

Cape Town

$72 4.7%

Bålsta

$103 6.6% 43.6% $31

Sport & Entertainment

Cape Town

$69 4.5%

Bålsta

$64 4.1% 8% $5.6

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $1,047 in Cape Town and $823 in Bålsta. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Bålsta pays about 2.5 times more on average. How far that income stretches comes down to housing choices and lifestyle.

Dining out: $43 in Cape Town vs $67 in Bålsta for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $223 vs $302 per month, with Cape Town cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇿🇦 Cape Town

🇸🇪 Bålsta

🕒 Local time

07:04 7:04 AM

06:04 6:04 AM

1 h behind Cape Town

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

3,740,026 Capital

13,138

💱 Currency

South African Rand ZAR R

Swedish Krona SEK kr

📈 Exchange rate

100 ZAR = 6.07 USD

100 ZAR = 5.41 EUR

100 SEK = 10.19 USD

100 SEK = 9.08 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

SEK, USD, EUR to ZAR – South African Rand Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇿🇦 South African Rand (R)

South African Rand exchange rates as of November 6, 2026: 1 USD = 16.48 ZAR (100 ZAR = 6.07 USD). 1 EUR = 18.5 ZAR (100 ZAR = 5.41 EUR).

Swedish Krona exchange rates as of November 6, 2026: 1 USD = 9.81 SEK (1 SEK = 0.102 USD). 1 EUR = 11.01 SEK (100 SEK = 9.08 EUR).

USD to ZAR in detail →

On the map

Lowest

Highest

Between locations

Cape Town Bålsta 10,400 km ≈ 13 h nonstop flight

From you

Cape Town
Bålsta

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 Town vs Bålsta: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Cape Town wins on cost – living expenses run 3% lower than in Bålsta. Housing and daily spending are where you’ll feel the difference most, making Cape Town the obvious pick if budget is a priority.

On paper, salaries run 60% lower in Cape Town. 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: $1,047 in Cape Town versus $823 in Bålsta. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

All in, you’ll spend $1,527 per month in Cape Town versus $1,572 in Bålsta – Cape Town is about 3% cheaper, which adds up to real savings over time.

A monthly transit pass in Cape Town runs roughly 20% less than in Bålsta. The price difference matters if you commute daily and watch your budget.

Both cities are expensive relative to $1,000. Cape Town is the more realistic option, but even there you’ll need to be disciplined with housing, food, and fun money.

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.

It comes down to priorities – Cape Town wins on affordability, Bålsta on earning potential. Factor in climate, language, visa rules, and proximity to places that matter to you before deciding.