Last update: Nov 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Cape Town and Cham

For one person, living is cheaper in Cape Town: $1,527 a month against $3,649 in Cham, rent and utilities included – about $25,500 less a year. Rent and utilities account for about half of the difference.

74

Cost of Living Index in Cape Town
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Cape Town Living Index
173

Cost of Living Index in Cham
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Cham Living Index

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Cape Town

🇿🇦 South Africa

$1,527

/mo nomad

Cham

🇨🇭 Switzerland

$3,649

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

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

A single person spends $1,527 per month in Cape Town vs $3,649 in Cham, rent included.

Cape Town $1,527
Cham $3,649

A couple spends around $2,417 per month in Cape Town vs $5,407 in Cham, rent included.

Cape Town $2,417
Cham $5,407

A family of three spends $3,306 per month in Cape Town vs $7,164 in Cham, rent included.

Cape Town $3,306
Cham $7,164

Cape Town is about 58% cheaper than Cham, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in groceries.

Both Cape Town and Cham sit above the global median – Cape Town by 13%, Cham by 170%.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$12.01 R 197

$30.47 CHF 24.88

-60.58%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$42.92 R 704

$121 CHF 98.7

-64.51%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$6.15 R 101

$18.68 CHF 15.25

-67.08%

Cappuccino

$2.37 R 38.87

$5.80 CHF 4.74

-59.14%

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

$1.27 R 20.87

$5.53 CHF 4.52

-77.03%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.94 R 15.39

$4.97 CHF 4.06

-81.09%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$2.96 R 48.55

$8.53 CHF 6.97

-65.30%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.69 R 60.5

$6.85 CHF 5.59

-46.13%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.32 R 21.64

$2.19 CHF 1.79

-39.73%

White Bread (500g)

$1.21 R 19.78

$3.63 CHF 2.97

-66.67%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$2.20 R 36.10

$3.66 CHF 2.99

-39.89%

Eggs

$3.10 R 50.9

$7.23 CHF 5.90

-57.12%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$8.73 R 143

$27.67 CHF 22.59

-68.45%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$6.89 R 113

$28.76 CHF 23.48

-76.04%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$9.26 R 152

$42.08 CHF 34.36

-77.99%

Apples (1kg)

$1.83 R 29.94

$4.11 CHF 3.35

-55.47%

Banana (1kg)

$1.95 R 31.99

$2.18 CHF 1.78

-10.55%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.66 R 27.20

$3.21 CHF 2.62

-48.29%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.14 R 35.04

$4.64 CHF 3.79

-53.88%

Potato (1kg)

$1.58 R 25.90

$2.28 CHF 1.86

-30.70%

Onion (1kg)

$1.47 R 24.19

$2.35 CHF 1.92

-37.45%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.35 R 22.08

$2.34 CHF 1.91

-42.31%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.14 R 18.77

$1.16 CHF 0.95

-1.72%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$3.58 R 58.7

$11.06 CHF 9.03

-67.63%

Wine (Bottle)

$6.05 R 99.3

$12.28 CHF 10.03

-50.73%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.39 R 22.85

$2.76 CHF 2.25

-49.64%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.18 R 35.75

$3.10 CHF 2.53

-29.68%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$1.40 R 22.92

$4.99 CHF 4.07

-71.94%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$60.8 R 997

$150 CHF 123

-59.53%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$0.93 R 15.20

$4.46 CHF 3.64

-79.15%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$0.90 R 14.77

$3.01 CHF 2.46

-70.10%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$4.96 R 81.4

$60.9 CHF 49.70

-91.85%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.54 R 25.26

$2.32 CHF 1.90

-33.62%

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

$35.4K R 580.2K

$39.3K CHF 32.1K

-9.92%

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

$33.4K R 547.5K

$39.9K CHF 32.6K

-16.33%

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

$117 R 1,921

$285 CHF 232

-58.89%

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

$25.71 R 422

$29.52 CHF 24.10

-12.91%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$39.41 R 647

$55.3 CHF 45.17

-28.77%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$51.6 R 847

$84.3 CHF 68.8

-38.75%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$11.35 R 186

$44.46 CHF 36.30

-74.47%

Cinema Ticket

$8.89 R 146

$21.91 CHF 17.89

-59.42%

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

$308 R 5,047

$1,518 CHF 1,240

-79.74%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$8,141 R 133.6K

$24.7K CHF 20.1K

-66.98%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$57.4 R 941

$143 CHF 117

-60.01%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$31.75 R 521

$56.4 CHF 46.05

-43.71%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$116 R 1,903

$159 CHF 130

-27.01%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$101 R 1,652

$250 CHF 204

-59.79%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,047 R 17.2K

$1,847 CHF 1,508

-43.32%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$669 R 11.0K

$1,616 CHF 1,319

-58.59%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,861 R 30.5K

$2,985 CHF 2,437

-37.67%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,407 R 23.1K

$2,483 CHF 2,027

-43.32%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$2,410 R 39.5K

$13.1K CHF 10.7K

-81.54%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$1,570 R 25.8K

$10.6K CHF 8,641

-85.17%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$1,630 R 26.7K

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

10.89

2.03

436.45%

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

Last update for Cape Town: November 2, 2026

Last update for Cham: November 1, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Cape Town

$669 43.8%

Cham

$1.6K 44.3% 142% $947

Groceries & Markets

Cape Town

$223 14.6%

Cham

$604 16.6% 171% $381

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Cape Town

$182 11.9%

Cham

$370 10.1% 103% $187

Eating Out

Cape Town

$174 11.4%

Cham

$468 12.8% 169% $294

Clothing & Footwear

Cape Town

$138 9%

Cham

$274 7.5% 99.2% $137

Getting Around

Cape Town

$72 4.7%

Cham

$190 5.2% 164% $118

Sport & Entertainment

Cape Town

$69 4.5%

Cham

$128 3.5% 84.6% $59

Cost Breakdown

A central one-bedroom costs $1,047 in Cape Town versus $1,847 in Cham. 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 $43 in Cape Town versus $121 in Cham. Monthly groceries follow the same trend: $223 vs $604 – making Cape Town the more affordable choice for daily food spending.

Good to know

🇿🇦 Cape Town

🇨🇭 Cham

🕒 Local time

20:30 8:30 PM

19:30 7:30 PM

1 h behind Cape Town

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

3,740,026 Capital

17,060

💱 Currency

South African Rand ZAR R

Swiss Franc CHF Fr

📈 Exchange rate

100 ZAR = 6.09 USD

100 ZAR = 5.42 EUR

1 CHF = 1.22 USD

1 CHF = 1.09 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

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

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇿🇦 South African Rand (R)

South African Rand exchange rates as of November 5, 2026: 1 USD = 16.41 ZAR (100 ZAR = 6.09 USD). 1 EUR = 18.44 ZAR (100 ZAR = 5.42 EUR).

Swiss Franc exchange rates as of November 5, 2026: 1 USD = 0.816 CHF (1 CHF = 1.22 USD). 1 EUR = 0.917 CHF (1 CHF = 1.09 EUR).

USD to ZAR in detail →

On the map

Lowest

Highest

Between locations

Cape Town Cham 9,070 km ≈ 12 h nonstop flight

From you

Cape Town
Cham

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 Cham: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Cham costs about 139% more than Cape Town, 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 $5,474 in Cham. That covers rent, food, utilities, transport, and enough left over to feel settled – not just surviving.

Rent is clearly cheaper in Cape Town, especially for central apartments: a one-bedroom in the center costs $1,047 there versus $1,847 in Cham.

Monthly expenses with rent come to $1,527 in Cape Town and $3,649 in Cham. That makes Cape Town about 58% cheaper.

Public transport costs about 60% less in Cape Town. For daily commuters, that gap adds up to noticeable savings over a year.

$1,000 is a stretch for both – monthly costs hit $1,527 in Cape Town and $3,649 in Cham. You’ll need shared housing and careful budgeting no matter which city you pick.

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

For expats, Cape Town is the easier option financially – housing and daily costs are lower, and overall it costs about 58% less, which matters a lot on a fixed budget or early-career salary.