Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Lisbon and Vanderbijlpark

For one person, living is cheaper in Vanderbijlpark: $1,036 a month against $2,223 in Lisbon, rent and utilities included – about $14,200 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

107

Cost of Living Index in Lisbon
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Lisbon Living Index
50

Cost of Living Index in Vanderbijlpark
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Vanderbijlpark Living Index

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Lisbon

🇵🇹 Portugal

$2,223

/mo nomad

Vanderbijlpark

🇿🇦 South Africa

$1,036

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Lisbon and in Vanderbijlpark

Real prices from locals and on-the-ground checks – rent, groceries, transit and the daily extras. Here's what a month in Lisbon and in Vanderbijlpark actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $2,223 in Lisbon versus $1,036 in Vanderbijlpark.

Lisbon $2,223
Vanderbijlpark $1,036

Estimated couple costs with rent: $3,271 in Lisbon versus $1,610 in Vanderbijlpark.

Lisbon $3,271
Vanderbijlpark $1,610

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $4,319 in Lisbon versus $2,184 in Vanderbijlpark.

Lisbon $4,319
Vanderbijlpark $2,184

Living in Lisbon is roughly 114% more expensive than in Vanderbijlpark, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

The two cities straddle the global median: Lisbon is 65% above, Vanderbijlpark is 23% below.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$16.50 €14.67

$7.17 R 118

130.13%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$61.3 €54.5

$37.65 R 620

62.68%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$11.27 €10.03

$5.53 R 91.1

103.80%

Cappuccino

$3.06 €2.72

$2.23 R 36.77

37.22%

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

$2.26 €2.01

$1.05 R 17.38

115.24%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.73 €1.54

$0.88 R 14.42

96.59%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.39 €3.02

$1.72 R 28.29

97.09%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.40 €3.02

$2.37 R 39.09

43.46%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.12 €1.00

$1.15 R 19.00

-2.61%

White Bread (500g)

$1.86 €1.65

$1.08 R 17.82

72.22%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.53 €1.36

$1.77 R 29.16

-13.56%

Eggs

$3.96 €3.53

$2.55 R 42.01

55.29%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$12.76 €11.35

$6.79 R 112

87.92%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$7.90 €7.02

$4.27 R 70.4

85.01%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$16.97 €15.09

$5.93 R 97.7

186.17%

Apples (1kg)

$2.27 €2.02

$1.73 R 28.45

31.21%

Banana (1kg)

$1.75 €1.55

$1.60 R 26.29

9.37%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.85 €1.64

$1.72 R 28.33

7.56%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.57 €2.28

$1.58 R 26.06

62.66%

Potato (1kg)

$1.86 €1.65

$1.13 R 18.57

64.60%

Onion (1kg)

$2.02 €1.80

$1.23 R 20.32

64.23%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.44 €1.28

$1.17 R 19.20

23.08%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.82 €0.73

$1.28 R 21.06

-35.94%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$6.56 €5.83

$3.09 R 50.9

112.30%

Wine (Bottle)

$5.62 €5.00

$4.29 R 70.6

31.00%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.28 €1.14

$1.56 R 25.76

-17.95%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.07 €1.84

$1.99 R 32.77

4.02%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$2.35 €2.09

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$44.18 €39.30

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$3.99 €3.55

$0.29 R 4.77

1275.86%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.09 €0.97

$0.66 R 10.80

65.15%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$16.64 €14.81

$3.71 R 61.2

348.52%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$2.28 €2.03

$1.51 R 24.91

50.99%

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

$33.7K €30.0K

$34.9K R 575.7K

-3.62%

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

$39.3K €35.0K

$33.6K R 553.1K

17.03%

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

$167 €149

$150 R 2,473

11.57%

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

$18.80 €16.72

$24.65 R 406

-23.73%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$33.09 €29.43

$36.79 R 606

-10.06%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$46.01 €40.93

$32.86 R 541

40.02%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$19.19 €17.07

$15.02 R 247

27.76%

Cinema Ticket

$9.84 €8.75

$5.98 R 98.5

64.55%

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

$677 €602

$119 R 1,960

469.14%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$16.9K €15.1K

$1,506 R 24.8K

1023.44%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$101 €90.1

$46.14 R 760

119.42%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$45.76 €40.70

$32.82 R 541

39.43%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$100.0 €88.9

$91.4 R 1,505

9.45%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$123 €109

$76.2 R 1,256

61.07%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,614 €1,436

$370 R 6,093

336.39%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,197 €1,065

$365 R 6,021

227.56%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$2,862 €2,545

$605 R 9,961

373.27%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,990 €1,770

$748 R 12.3K

166.20%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$7,577 €6,740

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$4,307 €3,831

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$1,588 €1,412

$1,953 R 32.2K

-18.69%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

3.85

-65.00%

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

Last update for Lisbon: October 11, 2026

Last update for Vanderbijlpark: October 13, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Lisbon

$1.2K 53.9%

Vanderbijlpark

$365 35.3% 69.5% $832

Groceries & Markets

Lisbon

$269 12.1%

Vanderbijlpark

$178 17.2% 33.8% $91

Eating Out

Lisbon

$242 10.9%

Vanderbijlpark

$122 11.8% 49.7% $120

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Lisbon

$219 9.9%

Vanderbijlpark

$212 20.4% 3.6% $7.8

Clothing & Footwear

Lisbon

$166 7.5%

Vanderbijlpark

$111 10.7% 33.3% $55

Sport & Entertainment

Lisbon

$66 3%

Vanderbijlpark

$45 4.3% 31.8% $21

Getting Around

Lisbon

$63 2.8%

Vanderbijlpark

$3.6 * 0.3% 94.3% $59

Categories marked with * are only partly priced – their share counts the items that do have prices.

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $1,614 in Lisbon and $370 in Vanderbijlpark. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Vanderbijlpark pays 23% more on average while also being the cheaper of the two. The combined effect is a noticeably stronger local purchasing power.

Dining out: $61.0 in Lisbon vs $38.00 in Vanderbijlpark for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $269 vs $178 per month, with Vanderbijlpark cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇵🇹 Lisbon

🇿🇦 Vanderbijlpark

🕒 Local time

20:24 8:24 PM

21:24 9:24 PM

1 h ahead of Lisbon

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

545,923 Capital

95,840

💱 Currency

Euro EUR €

South African Rand ZAR R

📈 Exchange rate

1 EUR = 1.12 USD

100 ZAR = 6.07 USD

100 ZAR = 5.4 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

ZAR, USD to EUR – Euro Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇪🇺 Euro (€)

Euro exchange rates as of October 19, 2026: 1 USD = 0.889 EUR (1 EUR = 1.12 USD).

South African Rand exchange rates as of October 19, 2026: 1 USD = 16.48 ZAR (100 ZAR = 6.07 USD). 1 EUR = 18.52 ZAR (100 ZAR = 5.4 EUR).

USD to EUR in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Lisbon Vanderbijlpark 8,230 km ≈ 11 h nonstop flight

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Lisbon
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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

Lisbon vs Vanderbijlpark: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Lisbon and Vanderbijlpark differ by about 114% in total monthly costs ($2,223 vs $1,036 including rent). Vanderbijlpark is meaningfully more affordable – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

On paper, salaries run 23% lower in Vanderbijlpark. That's worth factoring in alongside costs, though remote workers earning in a stronger currency may not notice the difference at all.

Rent for a central apartment: $1,614 in Lisbon versus $370 in Vanderbijlpark. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Supermarket bills run roughly 51% higher in Lisbon. For households that cook at home regularly, that difference adds up over a month.

All in, you'll spend $2,223 per month in Lisbon versus $1,036 in Vanderbijlpark – a 114% gap that adds up to real savings over time for anyone picking the cheaper option.

At $1,036 in Vanderbijlpark versus $2,223 in Lisbon, a $1,000 budget is realistic in Vanderbijlpark but tight or insufficient in Lisbon. The gap between the two cities makes Vanderbijlpark the clear choice for anyone on this budget.

Both cities offer a good standard of living with different trade-offs. Neither is objectively better – the right pick depends on what matters most: affordability, career, cultural scene, or climate.

Safety-wise, Lisbon and Vanderbijlpark are on par. Petty crime is typical for cities this size, and most residents feel comfortable going about their daily routines in either place.

Expats usually find Vanderbijlpark gentler on the wallet – expenses run 114% less than in Lisbon. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.