Last update: Nov 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Cape Town and Pogradec

For one person, living is cheaper in Pogradec: $808 a month against $1,527 in Cape Town, rent and utilities included – about $8,600 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
39

Cost of Living Index in Pogradec
Learn more

Pogradec Living Index

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Cape Town

🇿🇦 South Africa

$1,527

/mo nomad

Pogradec

🇦🇱 Albania

$808

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

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

A single person spends $1,527 per month in Cape Town vs $808 in Pogradec, rent included.

Cape Town $1,527
Pogradec $808

A couple spends around $2,417 per month in Cape Town vs $1,337 in Pogradec, rent included.

Cape Town $2,417
Pogradec $1,337

A family of three spends $3,306 per month in Cape Town vs $1,866 in Pogradec, rent included.

Cape Town $3,306
Pogradec $1,866

Cape Town costs about 89% more than Pogradec, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in transport.

Cape Town sits 13% above the global median, while Pogradec is 40% below – they fall on opposite sides of the world average.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$12.01 R 198

$9.76 ALL 786

23.05%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$42.92 R 707

$39.30 ALL 3,166

9.21%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$6.15 R 101

$7.44 ALL 600

-17.34%

Cappuccino

$2.37 R 39.04

$1.58 ALL 128

50.00%

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

$1.27 R 20.96

$1.69 ALL 136

-24.85%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.94 R 15.46

$0.69 ALL 55.3

36.23%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$2.96 R 48.77

$1.46 ALL 118

102.74%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.69 R 60.8

$2.77 ALL 223

33.21%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.32 R 21.73

$1.94 ALL 157

-31.96%

White Bread (500g)

$1.21 R 19.87

$0.96 ALL 77.6

26.04%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$2.20 R 36.26

$2.09 ALL 168

5.26%

Eggs

$3.10 R 51.1

$2.24 ALL 181

38.39%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$8.73 R 144

$8.12 ALL 654

7.51%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$6.89 R 114

$4.19 ALL 337

64.44%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$9.26 R 153

$13.92 ALL 1,121

-33.48%

Apples (1kg)

$1.83 R 30.08

$1.20 ALL 96.9

52.50%

Banana (1kg)

$1.95 R 32.12

$2.25 ALL 181

-13.33%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.66 R 27.32

$1.52 ALL 123

9.21%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.14 R 35.19

$1.21 ALL 97.8

76.86%

Potato (1kg)

$1.58 R 26.01

$0.98 ALL 78.6

61.22%

Onion (1kg)

$1.47 R 24.29

$0.94 ALL 75.8

56.38%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.35 R 22.18

$0.97 ALL 78.0

39.18%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.14 R 18.85

$0.81 ALL 65.3

40.74%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$3.58 R 59.0

$4.43 ALL 357

-19.19%

Wine (Bottle)

$6.05 R 99.7

$6.18 ALL 498

-2.10%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.39 R 22.95

$1.25 ALL 101

11.20%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.18 R 35.90

$1.88 ALL 152

15.96%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$1.40 R 23.02

$0.47 ALL 37.76

197.87%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$60.8 R 1,001

$18.22 ALL 1,468

233.42%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$0.93 R 15.26

$3.63 ALL 292

-74.38%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$0.90 R 14.83

$1.88 ALL 152

-52.13%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$4.96 R 81.7

$18.38 ALL 1,481

-73.01%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.54 R 25.37

$2.25 ALL 181

-31.56%

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

$35.4K R 582.8K

$33.0K ALL 2.7M

7.24%

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

$33.4K R 549.9K

$24.4K ALL 2.0M

36.84%

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

$117 R 1,929

$62.3 ALL 5,016

88.00%

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

$25.71 R 424

$16.41 ALL 1,322

56.67%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$39.41 R 649

$17.28 ALL 1,392

128.07%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$51.6 R 850

$35.11 ALL 2,829

47.00%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$11.35 R 187

$18.63 ALL 1,501

-39.08%

Cinema Ticket

$8.89 R 146

$8.52 ALL 686

4.34%

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

$308 R 5,069

$99.7 ALL 8,029

208.64%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$8,141 R 134.2K

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$57.4 R 946

$48.44 ALL 3,902

18.46%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$31.75 R 523

$56.3 ALL 4,535

-43.61%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$116 R 1,911

$98.3 ALL 7,922

17.92%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$101 R 1,660

$147 ALL 11.8K

-31.40%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,047 R 17.2K

$186 ALL 15.0K

463.20%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$669 R 11.0K

$121 ALL 9,774

451.50%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,861 R 30.7K

$376 ALL 30.3K

394.67%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,407 R 23.2K

$247 ALL 19.9K

469.98%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$2,410 R 39.7K

$1,627 ALL 131.1K

48.14%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$1,570 R 25.9K

$1,505 ALL 121.2K

4.32%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$1,630 R 26.9K

$480 ALL 38.7K

239.59%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

10.89

117.80%

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

Last update for Cape Town: November 2, 2026

Last update for Pogradec: November 1, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Cape Town

$669 43.8%

Pogradec

$121 15% 81.9% $548

Groceries & Markets

Cape Town

$223 14.6%

Pogradec

$206 25.5% 7.8% $17

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Cape Town

$182 11.9%

Pogradec

$96 11.9% 47.3% $86

Eating Out

Cape Town

$174 11.4%

Pogradec

$142 17.6% 18.5% $32

Clothing & Footwear

Cape Town

$138 9%

Pogradec

$157 19.5% 14.4% $20

Getting Around

Cape Town

$72 4.7%

Pogradec

$33 4.1% 53.8% $39

Sport & Entertainment

Cape Town

$69 4.5%

Pogradec

$52 6.5% 24.8% $17

Cost Breakdown

A central one-bedroom costs $1,047 in Cape Town versus $186 in Pogradec. 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 3.4 times higher. Purchasing power depends on which expenses matter most to you.

A mid-range dinner for two costs $43 in Cape Town versus $39 in Pogradec. Monthly groceries follow the same trend: $223 vs $206 – making Pogradec the more affordable choice for daily food spending.

Good to know

🇿🇦 Cape Town

🇦🇱 Pogradec

🕒 Local time

11:05 11:05 AM

10:05 10:05 AM

1 h behind Cape Town

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

3,740,026 Capital

20,848

💱 Currency

South African Rand ZAR R

Albanian Lek ALL L

📈 Exchange rate

100 ZAR = 6.07 USD

100 ZAR = 5.4 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 = 16.48 ZAR (100 ZAR = 6.07 USD). 1 EUR = 18.51 ZAR (100 ZAR = 5.4 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

Lowest

Highest

Between locations

Cape Town Pogradec 8,320 km ≈ 11 h nonstop flight

From you

Cape Town
Pogradec

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 Pogradec: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Cape Town costs about 89% more than Pogradec, 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 $1,212 in Pogradec. That covers rent, food, utilities, transport, and enough left over to feel settled – not just surviving.

Rent is clearly cheaper in Pogradec, especially for central apartments: a one-bedroom in the center costs $186 there versus $1,047 in Cape Town.

Monthly expenses with rent come to $1,527 in Cape Town and $808 in Pogradec. That makes Pogradec about 47% cheaper.

Public transport costs about 70% less in Pogradec. For daily commuters, that gap adds up to noticeable savings over a year.

$800 is a stretch for both – monthly costs hit $1,527 in Cape Town and $808 in Pogradec. You’ll need shared housing and careful budgeting no matter which city you pick.

Families tend to lean toward Pogradec – 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 Pogradec. 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.