Last update: Nov 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Cape Town and Berat

For one person, living is cheaper in Berat: $1,146 a month against $1,527 in Cape Town, rent and utilities included – about $4,600 less a year. Higher rent and utilities in Cape Town outweigh lower spending on other living expenses.

74

Cost of Living Index in Cape Town
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Cape Town Living Index
55

Cost of Living Index in Berat
Learn more

Berat Living Index

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Cape Town

🇿🇦 South Africa

$1,527

/mo nomad

Berat

🇦🇱 Albania

$1,146

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

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

A single person spends $1,527 per month in Cape Town vs $1,146 in Berat, rent included.

Cape Town $1,527
Berat $1,146

A couple spends around $2,417 per month in Cape Town vs $1,741 in Berat, rent included.

Cape Town $2,417
Berat $1,741

A family of three spends $3,306 per month in Cape Town vs $2,337 in Berat, rent included.

Cape Town $3,306
Berat $2,337

Cape Town costs about 33% more than Berat, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in transport.

Cape Town sits 13% above the global median, while Berat is 15% below – they fall on opposite sides of the world average.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$12.01 R 199

$9.63 ALL 776

24.71%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$42.92 R 709

$34.30 ALL 2,763

25.13%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$6.15 R 102

$8.74 ALL 704

-29.63%

Cappuccino

$2.37 R 39.16

$1.89 ALL 153

25.40%

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

$1.27 R 21.03

$1.87 ALL 150

-32.09%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.94 R 15.50

$1.01 ALL 81.5

-6.93%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$2.96 R 48.92

$2.75 ALL 221

7.64%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.69 R 61.0

$3.75 ALL 302

-1.60%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.32 R 21.80

$2.08 ALL 168

-36.54%

White Bread (500g)

$1.21 R 19.93

$1.13 ALL 91.2

7.08%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$2.20 R 36.37

$2.36 ALL 190

-6.78%

Eggs

$3.10 R 51.3

$3.00 ALL 242

3.33%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$8.73 R 144

$11.13 ALL 897

-21.56%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$6.89 R 114

$8.48 ALL 683

-18.75%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$9.26 R 153

$17.20 ALL 1,386

-46.16%

Apples (1kg)

$1.83 R 30.17

$1.89 ALL 152

-3.17%

Banana (1kg)

$1.95 R 32.22

$2.52 ALL 203

-22.62%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.66 R 27.40

$1.62 ALL 130

2.47%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.14 R 35.30

$1.44 ALL 116

48.61%

Potato (1kg)

$1.58 R 26.09

$1.02 ALL 82.0

54.90%

Onion (1kg)

$1.47 R 24.37

$1.19 ALL 95.9

23.53%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.35 R 22.25

$0.90 ALL 72.3

50.00%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.14 R 18.91

$0.71 ALL 57.1

60.56%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$3.58 R 59.1

$4.78 ALL 385

-25.10%

Wine (Bottle)

$6.05 R 100

$11.16 ALL 899

-45.79%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.39 R 23.02

$1.21 ALL 97.6

14.88%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.18 R 36.01

$1.45 ALL 116

50.34%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$1.40 R 23.09

$0.35 ALL 28.49

300.00%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$60.8 R 1,004

$20.10 ALL 1,619

202.24%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$0.93 R 15.31

$3.72 ALL 300

-75.00%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$0.90 R 14.88

$3.60 ALL 290

-75.00%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$4.96 R 82.0

$18.74 ALL 1,509

-73.53%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.54 R 25.45

$2.18 ALL 176

-29.36%

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

$35.4K R 584.6K

$32.9K ALL 2.7M

7.33%

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

$33.4K R 551.6K

$29.9K ALL 2.4M

11.77%

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

$117 R 1,935

$85.3 ALL 6,869

37.29%

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

$25.71 R 425

$18.63 ALL 1,501

38.00%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$39.41 R 651

$19.86 ALL 1,600

98.44%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$51.6 R 853

$57.6 ALL 4,643

-10.46%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$11.35 R 188

$18.63 ALL 1,501

-39.08%

Cinema Ticket

$8.89 R 147

$9.58 ALL 772

-7.20%

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

$308 R 5,085

$187 ALL 15.0K

64.84%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$8,141 R 134.6K

$1,837 ALL 148.0K

343.29%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$57.4 R 948

$64.0 ALL 5,154

-10.32%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$31.75 R 525

$46.07 ALL 3,711

-31.08%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$116 R 1,917

$117 ALL 9,427

-0.90%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$101 R 1,665

$121 ALL 9,767

-16.93%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,047 R 17.3K

$475 ALL 38.2K

120.58%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$669 R 11.1K

$319 ALL 25.7K

109.86%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,861 R 30.8K

$713 ALL 57.4K

161.00%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,407 R 23.3K

$469 ALL 37.8K

199.80%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$2,410 R 39.8K

$1,915 ALL 154.3K

25.83%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$1,570 R 25.9K

$1,291 ALL 104.0K

21.60%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$1,630 R 26.9K

$807 ALL 65.0K

101.94%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

10.89

4.75

129.26%

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

Last update for Cape Town: November 2, 2026

Last update for Berat: November 1, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Cape Town

$669 43.8%

Berat

$319 27.8% 52.3% $350

Groceries & Markets

Cape Town

$223 14.6%

Berat

$268 23.4% 20.1% $45

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Cape Town

$182 11.9%

Berat

$124 10.8% 32.1% $58

Eating Out

Cape Town

$174 11.4%

Berat

$159 13.9% 8.8% $15

Clothing & Footwear

Cape Town

$138 9%

Berat

$157 13.7% 13.9% $19

Getting Around

Cape Town

$72 4.7%

Berat

$43 3.8% 39.7% $29

Sport & Entertainment

Cape Town

$69 4.5%

Berat

$77 6.7% 10.7% $7.4

Cost Breakdown

A central one-bedroom costs $1,047 in Cape Town versus $475 in Berat. Rent is usually the largest line item in a monthly budget, so the gap here sets the tone for the overall comparison.

Salaries in Cape Town are about 2 times higher. Purchasing power depends on which expenses matter most to you.

A mid-range dinner for two costs $43 in Cape Town versus $34 in Berat. Groceries tell a different story – $223 in Cape Town vs $268 in Berat – so Cape Town wins on supermarket bills even if dining out costs more.

Good to know

🇿🇦 Cape Town

🇦🇱 Berat

🕒 Local time

22:58 10:58 PM

21:58 9:58 PM

1 h behind Cape Town

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

3,740,026 Capital

32,606

💱 Currency

South African Rand ZAR R

Albanian Lek ALL L

📈 Exchange rate

100 ZAR = 6.05 USD

100 ZAR = 5.41 EUR

100 ALL = 1.24 USD

100 ALL = 1.11 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

ALL, 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 = 16.53 ZAR (100 ZAR = 6.05 USD). 1 EUR = 18.47 ZAR (100 ZAR = 5.41 EUR).

Albanian Lek exchange rates as of November 6, 2026: 1 USD = 80.56 ALL (100 ALL = 1.24 USD). 1 EUR = 90.03 ALL (100 ALL = 1.11 EUR).

USD to ZAR in detail →

On the map

Lowest

Highest

Between locations

Cape Town Berat 8,300 km ≈ 11 h nonstop flight

From you

Cape Town
Berat

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 Berat: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Yes – Cape Town is pricier by about 33%, and outside of rent the gap shows up most in transport.

For a comfortable life, plan on about $2,291 per month in Cape Town and $1,719 in Berat. That covers rent, food, utilities, transport, and enough left over to feel settled – not just surviving.

Rent is clearly cheaper in Berat, especially for central apartments: a one-bedroom in the center costs $475 there versus $1,047 in Cape Town.

Interestingly, groceries are about 17% cheaper in Cape Town – one category where the pricier city actually offers better value.

A mid-range dinner for two costs $43 in Cape Town and $34 in Berat. That’s a good indicator of the overall restaurant and café pricing gap between the two cities.

A $1,500 monthly budget goes further in Berat, where all-in costs run around $1,146, than in Cape Town at $1,527. In Berat it covers expenses comfortably, while in Cape Town it requires careful planning or may not stretch far enough.

Families tend to lean toward Berat – 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 Berat. If higher salaries or specific career opportunities are the priority, Cape Town makes more sense. Both are solid long-term options with distinct trade-offs.