Last update: Nov 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Cape Town and Caraguatatuba

For one person, living is cheaper in Caraguatatuba: $775 a month against $1,527 in Cape Town, rent and utilities included – about $9,000 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
37

Cost of Living Index in Caraguatatuba
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Caraguatatuba Living Index

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Cape Town

🇿🇦 South Africa

$1,527

/mo nomad

Caraguatatuba

🇧🇷 Brazil

$775

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

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

A single person spends $1,527 per month in Cape Town vs $775 in Caraguatatuba, rent included.

Cape Town $1,527
Caraguatatuba $775

A couple spends around $2,417 per month in Cape Town vs $1,257 in Caraguatatuba, rent included.

Cape Town $2,417
Caraguatatuba $1,257

A family of three spends $3,306 per month in Cape Town vs $1,738 in Caraguatatuba, rent included.

Cape Town $3,306
Caraguatatuba $1,738

Cape Town costs about 97% more than Caraguatatuba, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in groceries.

Cape Town sits 13% above the global median, while Caraguatatuba is 43% below – they fall on opposite sides of the world average.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$12.01 R 199

$7.01 R$38.58

71.33%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$42.92 R 709

$26.33 R$145

63.01%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$6.15 R 102

$8.43 R$46.37

-27.05%

Cappuccino

$2.37 R 39.16

$2.22 R$12.21

6.76%

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

$1.27 R 21.03

$1.14 R$6.28

11.40%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.94 R 15.50

$0.86 R$4.73

9.30%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$2.96 R 48.92

$2.29 R$12.60

29.26%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.69 R 61.0

$2.93 R$16.11

25.94%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.32 R 21.80

$1.00 R$5.49

32.00%

White Bread (500g)

$1.21 R 19.93

$1.45 R$7.98

-16.55%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$2.20 R 36.37

$1.23 R$6.76

78.86%

Eggs

$3.10 R 51.3

$1.84 R$10.14

68.48%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$8.73 R 144

$5.49 R$30.22

59.02%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$6.89 R 114

$3.08 R$16.97

123.70%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$9.26 R 153

$7.64 R$42.03

21.20%

Apples (1kg)

$1.83 R 30.17

$1.93 R$10.64

-5.18%

Banana (1kg)

$1.95 R 32.22

$1.60 R$8.78

21.87%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.66 R 27.40

$1.42 R$7.80

16.90%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.14 R 35.30

$1.30 R$7.17

64.62%

Potato (1kg)

$1.58 R 26.09

$1.17 R$6.46

35.04%

Onion (1kg)

$1.47 R 24.37

$0.76 R$4.20

93.42%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.35 R 22.25

$0.67 R$3.67

101.49%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.14 R 18.91

$0.71 R$3.89

60.56%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$3.58 R 59.1

$1.92 R$10.56

86.46%

Wine (Bottle)

$6.05 R 100

$6.40 R$35.24

-5.47%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.39 R 23.02

$1.46 R$8.06

-4.79%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.18 R 36.01

$2.40 R$13.23

-9.17%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$1.40 R 23.09

$0.95 R$5.23

47.37%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$60.8 R 1,004

$21.32 R$117

184.94%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$0.93 R 15.31

$1.05 R$5.77

-11.43%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$0.90 R 14.88

$0.66 R$3.65

36.36%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$4.96 R 82.0

$3.28 R$18.08

51.22%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.54 R 25.45

$1.18 R$6.48

30.51%

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

$35.4K R 584.6K

$14.5K R$79.8K

143.86%

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

$33.4K R 551.6K

$27.7K R$152.7K

20.29%

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

$117 R 1,935

$61.9 R$341

89.19%

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

$25.71 R 425

$12.13 R$66.8

111.95%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$39.41 R 651

$21.37 R$118

84.42%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$51.6 R 853

$19.88 R$109

159.61%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$11.35 R 188

$15.15 R$83.4

-25.08%

Cinema Ticket

$8.89 R 147

$7.31 R$40.22

21.61%

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

$308 R 5,085

$207 R$1,139

48.68%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$8,141 R 134.6K

$3,930 R$21.6K

107.18%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$57.4 R 948

$52.8 R$291

8.59%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$31.75 R 525

$52.9 R$291

-40.03%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$116 R 1,917

$73.1 R$402

58.68%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$101 R 1,665

$54.1 R$298

86.16%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,047 R 17.3K

$391 R$2,149

168.03%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$669 R 11.1K

$214 R$1,175

213.33%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,861 R 30.8K

$792 R$4,361

134.80%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,407 R 23.3K

$482 R$2,650

192.24%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$2,410 R 39.8K

$1,571 R$8,649

53.37%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$1,570 R 25.9K

$1,149 R$6,323

36.62%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$1,630 R 26.9K

$313 R$1,724

420.44%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

10.89

8.15

33.62%

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

Last update for Cape Town: November 2, 2026

Last update for Caraguatatuba: November 2, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Cape Town

$669 43.8%

Caraguatatuba

$214 27.6% 68.1% $456

Groceries & Markets

Cape Town

$223 14.6%

Caraguatatuba

$164 21.2% 26.5% $59

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Cape Town

$182 11.9%

Caraguatatuba

$95 12.3% 47.6% $87

Eating Out

Cape Town

$174 11.4%

Caraguatatuba

$133 17.2% 23.4% $41

Clothing & Footwear

Cape Town

$138 9%

Caraguatatuba

$105 13.5% 23.8% $33

Getting Around

Cape Town

$72 4.7%

Caraguatatuba

$29 3.8% 58.9% $42

Sport & Entertainment

Cape Town

$69 4.5%

Caraguatatuba

$35 4.5% 50.3% $35

Cost Breakdown

A central one-bedroom costs $1,047 in Cape Town versus $391 in Caraguatatuba. 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 5.2 times higher. Purchasing power depends on which expenses matter most to you.

A mid-range dinner for two costs $43 in Cape Town versus $26 in Caraguatatuba. Monthly groceries follow the same trend: $223 vs $164 – making Caraguatatuba the more affordable choice for daily food spending.

Good to know

🇿🇦 Cape Town

🇧🇷 Caraguatatuba

🕒 Local time

00:11 12:11 AM

19:11 7:11 PM

5 h behind Cape Town

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

3,740,026 Capital

134,873

💱 Currency

South African Rand ZAR R

Brazilian Real BRL R$

📈 Exchange rate

100 ZAR = 6.05 USD

100 ZAR = 5.41 EUR

1 BRL = 0.182 USD

1 BRL = 0.163 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 = 16.53 ZAR (100 ZAR = 6.05 USD). 1 EUR = 18.47 ZAR (100 ZAR = 5.41 EUR).

Brazilian Real exchange rates as of November 6, 2026: 1 USD = 5.5 BRL (1 BRL = 0.182 USD). 1 EUR = 6.15 BRL (1 BRL = 0.163 EUR).

USD to ZAR in detail →

On the map

Lowest

Highest

Between locations

Cape Town Caraguatatuba 6,230 km ≈ 8 h nonstop flight

From you

Cape Town
Caraguatatuba

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 Caraguatatuba: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Cape Town costs about 97% more than Caraguatatuba, and outside of rent the gap comes mainly from groceries. That’s enough to noticeably affect everyday spending and lifestyle for anyone choosing between the two.

For a comfortable life, plan on about $2,291 per month in Cape Town and $1,163 in Caraguatatuba. That covers rent, food, utilities, transport, and enough left over to feel settled – not just surviving.

Rent is clearly cheaper in Caraguatatuba, especially for central apartments: a one-bedroom in the center costs $391 there versus $1,047 in Cape Town.

Monthly expenses with rent come to $1,527 in Cape Town and $775 in Caraguatatuba. That makes Caraguatatuba about 49% cheaper.

Public transport costs about 65% less in Caraguatatuba. For daily commuters, that gap adds up to noticeable savings over a year.

A $1,000 monthly budget goes further in Caraguatatuba, where all-in costs run around $775, than in Cape Town at $1,527. In Caraguatatuba it covers expenses comfortably, while in Cape Town it requires careful planning or may not stretch far enough.

Families tend to lean toward Caraguatatuba – 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 Caraguatatuba. 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.