Last update: Nov 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Cape Town and Belo Horizonte

For one person, living is cheaper in Belo Horizonte: $953 a month against $1,527 in Cape Town, rent and utilities included – about $6,900 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

74

Cost of Living Index in Cape Town
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Cape Town Living Index
45

Cost of Living Index in Belo Horizonte
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Belo Horizonte Living Index

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Cape Town

🇿🇦 South Africa

$1,527

/mo nomad

Belo Horizonte

🇧🇷 Brazil

$953

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Cape Town and in Belo Horizonte

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 Belo Horizonte actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,527 in Cape Town versus $953 in Belo Horizonte.

Cape Town $1,527
Belo Horizonte $953

Estimated couple costs with rent: $2,417 in Cape Town versus $1,502 in Belo Horizonte.

Cape Town $2,417
Belo Horizonte $1,502

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $3,306 in Cape Town versus $2,051 in Belo Horizonte.

Cape Town $3,306
Belo Horizonte $2,051

Living in Cape Town is roughly 60% more expensive than in Belo Horizonte, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

The two cities straddle the global median: Cape Town is 13% above, Belo Horizonte is 30% below.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$12.01 R 198

$5.48 R$30.08

119.16%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$42.92 R 707

$32.71 R$179

31.21%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$6.15 R 101

$8.36 R$45.90

-26.44%

Cappuccino

$2.37 R 39.04

$2.17 R$11.88

9.22%

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

$1.27 R 20.96

$1.27 R$6.98

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.94 R 15.46

$0.71 R$3.88

32.39%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$2.96 R 48.77

$2.00 R$10.99

48.00%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.69 R 60.8

$3.41 R$18.72

8.21%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.32 R 21.73

$0.89 R$4.86

48.31%

White Bread (500g)

$1.21 R 19.87

$1.69 R$9.28

-28.40%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$2.20 R 36.26

$1.87 R$10.27

17.65%

Eggs

$3.10 R 51.1

$2.06 R$11.31

50.49%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$8.73 R 144

$9.07 R$49.74

-3.75%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$6.89 R 114

$4.11 R$22.53

67.64%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$9.26 R 153

$6.97 R$38.23

32.86%

Apples (1kg)

$1.83 R 30.08

$1.87 R$10.28

-2.14%

Banana (1kg)

$1.95 R 32.12

$1.16 R$6.34

68.10%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.66 R 27.32

$1.15 R$6.30

44.35%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.14 R 35.19

$1.45 R$7.96

47.59%

Potato (1kg)

$1.58 R 26.01

$1.01 R$5.57

56.44%

Onion (1kg)

$1.47 R 24.29

$0.99 R$5.41

48.48%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.35 R 22.18

$0.74 R$4.08

82.43%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.14 R 18.85

$0.80 R$4.39

42.50%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$3.58 R 59.0

$2.36 R$12.97

51.69%

Wine (Bottle)

$6.05 R 99.7

$7.46 R$40.92

-18.90%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.39 R 22.95

$1.31 R$7.19

6.11%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.18 R 35.90

$2.54 R$13.95

-14.17%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$1.40 R 23.02

$1.12 R$6.16

25.00%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$60.8 R 1,001

$63.7 R$350

-4.65%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$0.93 R 15.26

$0.92 R$5.07

1.09%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$0.90 R 14.83

$0.77 R$4.23

16.88%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$4.96 R 81.7

$5.81 R$31.87

-14.63%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.54 R 25.37

$1.17 R$6.40

31.62%

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

$35.4K R 582.8K

$21.7K R$119.2K

62.73%

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

$33.4K R 549.9K

$31.2K R$171.2K

6.99%

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

$117 R 1,929

$72.0 R$395

62.55%

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

$25.71 R 424

$9.93 R$54.5

158.91%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$39.41 R 649

$19.26 R$106

104.62%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$51.6 R 850

$26.56 R$146

94.31%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$11.35 R 187

$40.42 R$222

-71.92%

Cinema Ticket

$8.89 R 146

$7.56 R$41.50

17.59%

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

$308 R 5,069

$421 R$2,310

-26.94%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$8,141 R 134.2K

$13.6K R$74.6K

-40.10%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$57.4 R 946

$56.9 R$312

0.81%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$31.75 R 523

$44.14 R$242

-28.07%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$116 R 1,911

$91.4 R$501

26.87%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$101 R 1,660

$66.0 R$362

52.50%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,047 R 17.2K

$553 R$3,037

89.12%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$669 R 11.0K

$318 R$1,747

110.22%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,861 R 30.7K

$838 R$4,601

121.89%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,407 R 23.2K

$597 R$3,278

135.55%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$2,410 R 39.7K

$2,269 R$12.4K

6.23%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$1,570 R 25.9K

$1,162 R$6,374

35.12%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$1,630 R 26.9K

$682 R$3,740

139.13%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

10.89

11.17

-2.51%

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

Last update for Cape Town: November 2, 2026

Last update for Belo Horizonte: November 2, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Cape Town

$669 43.8%

Belo Horizonte

$318 33.4% 52.4% $351

Groceries & Markets

Cape Town

$223 14.6%

Belo Horizonte

$182 19.2% 18.3% $41

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Cape Town

$182 11.9%

Belo Horizonte

$101 10.6% 44.4% $81

Eating Out

Cape Town

$174 11.4%

Belo Horizonte

$120 12.6% 31.2% $54

Clothing & Footwear

Cape Town

$138 9%

Belo Horizonte

$116 12.2% 15.5% $21

Getting Around

Cape Town

$72 4.7%

Belo Horizonte

$73 7.7% 1.7% $1.2

Sport & Entertainment

Cape Town

$69 4.5%

Belo Horizonte

$42 4.4% 39.9% $28

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $1,047 in Cape Town and $553 in Belo Horizonte. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Cape Town pays about 2.4 times more on average. How far that income stretches comes down to housing choices and lifestyle.

Dining out: $43 in Cape Town vs $33 in Belo Horizonte for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $223 vs $182 per month, with Belo Horizonte cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇿🇦 Cape Town

🇧🇷 Belo Horizonte

🕒 Local time

16:28 4:28 PM

11:28 11:28 AM

5 h behind Cape Town

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

3,740,026 Capital

2,315,560

💱 Currency

South African Rand ZAR R

Brazilian Real BRL R$

📈 Exchange rate

100 ZAR = 6.07 USD

100 ZAR = 5.4 EUR

1 BRL = 0.182 USD

1 BRL = 0.162 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

BRL, 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 = 18.51 ZAR (100 ZAR = 5.4 EUR).

Brazilian Real exchange rates as of November 6, 2026: 1 USD = 5.49 BRL (1 BRL = 0.182 USD). 1 EUR = 6.16 BRL (1 BRL = 0.162 EUR).

USD to ZAR in detail →

On the map

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Highest

Between locations

Cape Town Belo Horizonte 6,280 km ≈ 8 h nonstop flight

From you

Cape Town
Belo Horizonte

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 Belo Horizonte: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Total monthly costs including rent come to $1,527 in Cape Town and $953 in Belo Horizonte, so Belo Horizonte is about 38% cheaper – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

Average pay in Cape Town is about 2.4 times higher, 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: $1,047 in Cape Town versus $553 in Belo Horizonte. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $308 in Cape Town versus $421 in Belo Horizonte. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Supermarket bills run roughly 22% higher in Cape Town. For households that cook at home regularly, that difference adds up over a month.

At $953 in Belo Horizonte versus $1,527 in Cape Town, a $1,200 budget is realistic in Belo Horizonte but tight or insufficient in Cape Town. The gap between the two cities makes Belo Horizonte 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.

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