Last update: Nov 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Cape Town and Lushnje

For one person, living is cheaper in Lushnje: $1,191 a month against $1,527 in Cape Town, rent and utilities included – about $4,000 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
57

Cost of Living Index in Lushnje
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Lushnje Living Index

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Cape Town

🇿🇦 South Africa

$1,527

/mo nomad

Lushnje

🇦🇱 Albania

$1,191

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

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

A single person spends $1,527 per month in Cape Town vs $1,191 in Lushnje, rent included.

Cape Town $1,527
Lushnje $1,191

A couple spends around $2,417 per month in Cape Town vs $1,855 in Lushnje, rent included.

Cape Town $2,417
Lushnje $1,855

A family of three spends $3,306 per month in Cape Town vs $2,519 in Lushnje, rent included.

Cape Town $3,306
Lushnje $2,519

Cape Town costs about 28% more than Lushnje, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in transport.

Cape Town sits 13% above the global median, while Lushnje is 12% below – they fall on opposite sides of the world average.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$12.01 R 199

$10.11 ALL 814

18.79%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$42.92 R 709

$55.5 ALL 4,474

-22.71%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$6.15 R 102

$10.98 ALL 885

-43.99%

Cappuccino

$2.37 R 39.16

$2.25 ALL 182

5.33%

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

$1.27 R 21.03

$2.39 ALL 193

-46.86%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.94 R 15.50

$1.31 ALL 105

-28.24%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$2.96 R 48.92

$3.61 ALL 290

-18.01%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.69 R 61.0

$4.19 ALL 338

-11.93%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.32 R 21.80

$2.17 ALL 174

-39.17%

White Bread (500g)

$1.21 R 19.93

$1.19 ALL 96.1

1.68%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$2.20 R 36.37

$2.45 ALL 197

-10.20%

Eggs

$3.10 R 51.3

$3.82 ALL 307

-18.85%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$8.73 R 144

$12.72 ALL 1,024

-31.37%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$6.89 R 114

$8.99 ALL 724

-23.36%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$9.26 R 153

$16.85 ALL 1,357

-45.04%

Apples (1kg)

$1.83 R 30.17

$1.92 ALL 155

-4.69%

Banana (1kg)

$1.95 R 32.22

$2.42 ALL 195

-19.42%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.66 R 27.40

$2.23 ALL 179

-25.56%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.14 R 35.30

$1.83 ALL 148

16.94%

Potato (1kg)

$1.58 R 26.09

$1.02 ALL 82.0

54.90%

Onion (1kg)

$1.47 R 24.37

$1.32 ALL 107

11.36%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.35 R 22.25

$1.52 ALL 123

-11.18%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.14 R 18.91

$0.81 ALL 65.1

40.74%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$3.58 R 59.1

$4.86 ALL 391

-26.34%

Wine (Bottle)

$6.05 R 100

$10.63 ALL 856

-43.09%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.39 R 23.02

$1.59 ALL 128

-12.58%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.18 R 36.01

$2.05 ALL 165

6.34%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$1.40 R 23.09

$0.51 ALL 40.98

174.51%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$60.8 R 1,004

$19.83 ALL 1,597

206.35%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$0.93 R 15.31

$3.75 ALL 302

-75.20%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$0.90 R 14.88

$3.74 ALL 301

-75.94%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$4.96 R 82.0

$18.90 ALL 1,522

-73.76%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.54 R 25.45

$2.43 ALL 196

-36.63%

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

$35.4K R 584.6K

$33.2K ALL 2.7M

6.56%

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

$33.4K R 551.6K

$29.7K ALL 2.4M

12.22%

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

$117 R 1,935

$101 ALL 8,147

15.76%

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

$25.71 R 425

$18.78 ALL 1,513

36.90%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$39.41 R 651

$19.86 ALL 1,600

98.44%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$51.6 R 853

$56.5 ALL 4,555

-8.72%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$11.35 R 188

Cinema Ticket

$8.89 R 147

$9.79 ALL 789

-9.19%

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

$308 R 5,085

$353 ALL 28.4K

-12.82%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$8,141 R 134.6K

$8,330 ALL 671.1K

-2.27%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$57.4 R 948

$49.90 ALL 4,020

14.99%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$31.75 R 525

$48.72 ALL 3,925

-34.83%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$116 R 1,917

$120 ALL 9,678

-3.48%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$101 R 1,665

$113 ALL 9,129

-11.13%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,047 R 17.3K

$491 ALL 39.6K

113.06%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$669 R 11.1K

$310 ALL 25.0K

115.68%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,861 R 30.8K

$711 ALL 57.3K

161.69%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,407 R 23.3K

$473 ALL 38.1K

197.42%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$2,410 R 39.8K

$1,937 ALL 156.0K

24.43%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$1,570 R 25.9K

$1,323 ALL 106.6K

18.66%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$1,630 R 26.9K

$614 ALL 49.4K

165.56%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

10.89

5.16

111.05%

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

Last update for Cape Town: November 2, 2026

Last update for Lushnje: November 1, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Cape Town

$669 43.8%

Lushnje

$310 26% 53.6% $359

Groceries & Markets

Cape Town

$223 14.6%

Lushnje

$289 24.3% 29.6% $66

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Cape Town

$182 11.9%

Lushnje

$140 11.7% 23.3% $42

Eating Out

Cape Town

$174 11.4%

Lushnje

$182 15.3% 4.6% $8.1

Clothing & Footwear

Cape Town

$138 9%

Lushnje

$149 12.6% 8.6% $12

Getting Around

Cape Town

$72 4.7%

Lushnje

$44 3.7% 38.3% $27

Sport & Entertainment

Cape Town

$69 4.5%

Lushnje

$76 6.4% 9.7% $6.7

Cost Breakdown

A central one-bedroom costs $1,047 in Cape Town versus $491 in Lushnje. 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 2.7 times higher. Purchasing power depends on which expenses matter most to you.

A mid-range dinner for two costs $43 in Cape Town versus $56 in Lushnje. Monthly groceries follow the same trend: $223 vs $289 – making Cape Town the more affordable choice for daily food spending.

Good to know

🇿🇦 Cape Town

🇦🇱 Lushnje

🕒 Local time

18:16 6:16 PM

17:16 5:16 PM

1 h behind Cape Town

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

3,740,026 Capital

31,105

💱 Currency

South African Rand ZAR R

Albanian Lek ALL L

📈 Exchange rate

100 ZAR = 6.05 USD

100 ZAR = 5.39 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 = 18.56 ZAR (100 ZAR = 5.39 EUR).

Albanian Lek exchange rates as of November 6, 2026: 1 USD = 80.56 ALL (100 ALL = 1.24 USD). 1 EUR = 90.48 ALL (100 ALL = 1.11 EUR).

USD to ZAR in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Cape Town Lushnje 8,330 km ≈ 11 h nonstop flight

From you

Cape Town
Lushnje

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 Lushnje: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Cape Town costs about 28% more than Lushnje, and outside of rent the gap comes mainly from transport. 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 $1,787 in Lushnje. That covers rent, food, utilities, transport, and enough left over to feel settled – not just surviving.

Rent is clearly cheaper in Lushnje, especially for central apartments: a one-bedroom in the center costs $491 there versus $1,047 in Cape Town.

Monthly expenses with rent come to $1,527 in Cape Town and $1,191 in Lushnje. That makes Lushnje about 22% cheaper.

Public transport costs about 67% less in Lushnje. 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 $1,191 in Lushnje. You’ll need shared housing and careful budgeting no matter which city you pick.

It depends on your priorities. Cape Town has an edge in some lifestyle areas, with costs from $1,191 in Lushnje to $1,527 in Cape Town. Climate, culture, job market, and personal taste all factor in.

If budget matters most, go with Lushnje. 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.