Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Stip and Cape Town

For one person, living is cheaper in Stip: $805 a month against $1,527 in Cape Town, rent and utilities included – about $8,700 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

39

Cost of Living Index in Stip
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Stip Living Index
74

Cost of Living Index in Cape Town
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Cape Town Living Index

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Stip

🇲🇰 North Macedonia

$805

/mo nomad

Cape Town

🇿🇦 South Africa

$1,527

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

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

A single person spends $805 per month in Stip vs $1,527 in Cape Town, rent included.

Stip $805
Cape Town $1,527

A couple spends around $1,204 per month in Stip vs $2,417 in Cape Town, rent included.

Stip $1,204
Cape Town $2,417

A family of three spends $1,602 per month in Stip vs $3,306 in Cape Town, rent included.

Stip $1,602
Cape Town $3,306

Stip is about 47% cheaper than Cape Town, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

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

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$7.36 MKD 401

$12.01 R 198

-38.72%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$23.23 MKD 1,266

$42.92 R 707

-45.88%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$6.19 MKD 337

$6.15 R 101

0.65%

Cappuccino

$1.80 MKD 98.1

$2.37 R 39.04

-24.05%

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

$1.42 MKD 77.1

$1.27 R 20.96

11.81%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.10 MKD 60.1

$0.94 R 15.46

17.02%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$1.80 MKD 98.3

$2.96 R 48.77

-39.19%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.66 MKD 145

$3.69 R 60.8

-27.91%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.27 MKD 69.3

$1.32 R 21.73

-3.79%

White Bread (500g)

$0.79 MKD 42.95

$1.21 R 19.87

-34.71%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.07 MKD 58.2

$2.20 R 36.26

-51.36%

Eggs

$2.39 MKD 130

$3.10 R 51.1

-22.90%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$7.71 MKD 420

$8.73 R 144

-11.68%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$7.41 MKD 404

$6.89 R 114

7.55%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$7.06 MKD 385

$9.26 R 153

-23.76%

Apples (1kg)

$0.87 MKD 47.66

$1.83 R 30.08

-52.46%

Banana (1kg)

$1.36 MKD 74.4

$1.95 R 32.12

-30.26%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.37 MKD 74.7

$1.66 R 27.32

-17.47%

Tomato (1kg)

$1.60 MKD 86.9

$2.14 R 35.19

-25.23%

Potato (1kg)

$0.84 MKD 45.82

$1.58 R 26.01

-46.84%

Onion (1kg)

$0.84 MKD 45.77

$1.47 R 24.29

-42.86%

Lettuce (1 head)

$0.57 MKD 30.97

$1.35 R 22.18

-57.78%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.39 MKD 21.46

$1.14 R 18.85

-65.79%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$3.21 MKD 175

$3.58 R 59.0

-10.34%

Wine (Bottle)

$7.39 MKD 402

$6.05 R 99.7

22.15%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.10 MKD 59.8

$1.39 R 22.95

-20.86%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.51 MKD 82.1

$2.18 R 35.90

-30.73%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.67 MKD 36.34

$1.40 R 23.02

-52.14%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$23.80 MKD 1,296

$60.8 R 1,001

-60.82%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$1.06 MKD 57.6

$0.93 R 15.26

13.98%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$0.63 MKD 34.22

$0.90 R 14.83

-30.00%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$5.37 MKD 293

$4.96 R 81.7

8.27%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.45 MKD 79.0

$1.54 R 25.37

-5.84%

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

$33.6K MKD 1.8M

$35.4K R 582.8K

-5.05%

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

$26.1K MKD 1.4M

$33.4K R 549.9K

-21.75%

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

$154 MKD 8,414

$117 R 1,929

31.92%

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

$8.85 MKD 482

$25.71 R 424

-65.58%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$16.06 MKD 875

$39.41 R 649

-59.25%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$27.31 MKD 1,488

$51.6 R 850

-47.08%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$17.23 MKD 939

$11.35 R 187

51.81%

Cinema Ticket

$6.54 MKD 357

$8.89 R 146

-26.43%

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

$369 MKD 20.1K

$308 R 5,069

19.83%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$3,326 MKD 181.2K

$8,141 R 134.2K

-59.15%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$36.31 MKD 1,978

$57.4 R 946

-36.72%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$30.29 MKD 1,650

$31.75 R 523

-4.60%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$102 MKD 5,560

$116 R 1,911

-12.00%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$111 MKD 6,062

$101 R 1,660

10.48%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$197 MKD 10.7K

$1,047 R 17.2K

-81.16%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$129 MKD 7,026

$669 R 11.0K

-80.73%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$329 MKD 17.9K

$1,861 R 30.7K

-82.32%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$200 MKD 10.9K

$1,407 R 23.2K

-85.77%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$1,192 MKD 65.0K

$2,410 R 39.7K

-50.52%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$975 MKD 53.1K

$1,570 R 25.9K

-37.91%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$452 MKD 24.6K

$1,630 R 26.9K

-72.28%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

4.23

10.89

-61.16%

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

Last update for Stip: October 31, 2026

Last update for Cape Town: November 2, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Stip

$179 22.3%

Cape Town

$182 11.9% 1.6% $2.8

Groceries & Markets

Stip

$176 21.9%

Cape Town

$223 14.6% 26.6% $47

Accommodation & Living

Stip

$129 16%

Cape Town

$669 43.8% 419% $540

Clothing & Footwear

Stip

$126 15.7%

Cape Town

$138 9% 9.2% $12

Eating Out

Stip

$123 15.3%

Cape Town

$174 11.4% 40.9% $51

Sport & Entertainment

Stip

$40 5%

Cape Town

$69 4.5% 71.8% $29

Getting Around

Stip

$31 3.8%

Cape Town

$72 4.7% 134% $41

Cost Breakdown

A central one-bedroom costs $197 in Stip versus $1,047 in Cape Town. 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 3.6 times higher. Purchasing power depends on which expenses matter most to you.

A mid-range dinner for two costs $23 in Stip versus $43 in Cape Town. Monthly groceries follow the same trend: $176 vs $223 – making Stip the more affordable choice for daily food spending.

Good to know

🇲🇰 Stip

🇿🇦 Cape Town

🕒 Local time

03:30 3:30 AM

04:30 4:30 AM

1 h ahead of Stip

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

65,000

3,740,026 Capital

💱 Currency

North Macedonian Denar MKD ден

South African Rand ZAR R

📈 Exchange rate

100 MKD = 1.84 USD

100 MKD = 1.64 EUR

100 ZAR = 6.07 USD

100 ZAR = 5.41 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

ZAR, USD, EUR to MKD – North Macedonian Denar Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇲🇰 North Macedonian Denar (ден)

North Macedonian Denar exchange rates as of November 6, 2026: 1 USD = 54.48 MKD (100 MKD = 1.84 USD). 1 EUR = 61.16 MKD (100 MKD = 1.64 EUR).

South African Rand exchange rates as of November 6, 2026: 1 USD = 16.48 ZAR (100 ZAR = 6.07 USD). 1 EUR = 18.5 ZAR (100 ZAR = 5.41 EUR).

USD to MKD in detail →

On the map

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Highest

Between locations

Stip Cape Town 8,420 km ≈ 11 h nonstop flight

From you

Stip
Cape Town

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

Stip vs Cape Town: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Cape Town costs about 90% more than Stip, and outside of rent the gap comes mainly from eating out. That’s enough to noticeably affect everyday spending and lifestyle for anyone choosing between the two.

For a comfortable life, plan on about $1,208 per month in Stip and $2,291 in Cape Town. That covers rent, food, utilities, transport, and enough left over to feel settled – not just surviving.

Rent is clearly cheaper in Stip, especially for central apartments: a one-bedroom in the center costs $197 there versus $1,047 in Cape Town.

Monthly expenses with rent come to $805 in Stip and $1,527 in Cape Town. That makes Stip about 47% cheaper.

Public transport costs about 61% less in Stip. For daily commuters, that gap adds up to noticeable savings over a year.

A $1,000 monthly budget goes further in Stip, where all-in costs run around $805, than in Cape Town at $1,527. In Stip it covers expenses comfortably, while in Cape Town it requires careful planning or may not stretch far enough.

It depends on your priorities. Cape Town has an edge in some lifestyle areas, with costs from $805 in Stip to $1,527 in Cape Town. Climate, culture, job market, and personal taste all factor in.

If budget matters most, go with Stip. 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.