Salary Equivalence
Cape Town
Cape Town, South Africa — cost-of-living and salary purchasing-power profile with a price-level index of 42.0 (New York City = 100).
Key figures
| Price level index | 42.0 |
|---|---|
| Rent index | 32.0 |
| Population | 433,000 |
About Cape Town
Cape Town has a composite price-level index of 42.0 (New York City = 100) and a rent index of 32.0, making it a relatively affordable city. It is home to roughly 0.4 million people and uses the ZAR. The calculators below convert any salary to and from Cape Town so you can judge a move in real purchasing-power terms rather than raw currency.
The comparisons below show how Cape Town stacks up against the alternatives people most often weigh against it, with the specific numbers laid out side by side.
Frequently asked questions
How expensive is Cape Town?
Cape Town has a composite price-level index of 42.0 (NYC = 100) and a rent index of 32.0.
What currency is used in Cape Town?
Cape Town uses the ZAR.
✓ Reviewed by Priya Nair, Data Quality Reviewer.
Last updated 2026-06-01