South Africa’s most popular cities: Comparing living costs

Cape City, Johannesburg, Pretoria, and Durban are South Africa’s largest cities. These 4 cities are additionally the most well-liked with international nationals trying to settle in South Africa. Particularly Cape City and Johannesburg.

Seeing as that is the case, we determined to match residing prices between these cities. In spite of everything, figuring out when you’re going to have the ability to afford to dwell in your metropolis of selection is a giant a part of immigration and relocation analysis.

Please observe: All prices are in South African rands.

Let’s begin with what you’ll be able to count on to earn

When investigating how a lot it’s going to price you to dwell someplace, it’s a must to understand how a lot you’ll earn. These are the typical annual salaries in all 4 cities in accordance with PayScale:

	Cape City	Johannesburg	Pretoria	Durban
Common Annual Wage	235,000	261,000	231,000	202,000

Now let’s see how far you’ll should stretch these rands.

1. Hire and Utilities

Single individuals and {couples} usually begin by renting an condominium. Let’s say you need to dwell within the metropolis centre. On this case, Pretoria affords essentially the most inexpensive month-to-month hire. Cape City is the most costly by far!

Households who immigrate usually favor to dwell within the suburbs. Suburb life in South Africa affords households more room and simpler entry to colleges.

Once you hire a 3-bedroom condominium outdoors of town, Pretoria is essentially the most inexpensive.

1-bedroom House within the metropolis centre

	Cape City	Johannesburg	Pretoria	Durban
1-bedroom House within the metropolis	10,559.60	6,745.71	5,326.92	5,340.74
Electrical energy, heating, cooling, water, and rubbish assortment	1,274.07	1,516.73	1,479.18	1,451.96
Web (60 Mbps or Extra, Limitless Knowledge, Cable/ADSL)	892.49	926.18	883.71	966.50
Whole	12,726.16	9,188.62	6,357.81	7,759.20

3-bedroom House within the suburbs

	Cape City	Johannesburg	Pretoria	Durban
3-Bed room condominium outdoors of metropolis centre	14,556.63	11,433.33	9,814.81	10,142.82
Utilities and Web	2,166.56	2,442.91	2,362.89	2,418.46
Whole	16,723.19	13,876.24	12,177.70	12,561.28

2. Groceries

When procuring, a basket of 14 on a regular basis objects goes to price you the least in Durban. You’ll spend R42,30 extra on the identical basket in Cape City.

	Cape City	Johannesburg	Pretoria	Durban
1L Milk	14.25	16.45	16.17	17.15
Loaf of Recent White Bread	13.91	14.46	14.16	14.36
1kg White Rice	22.14	23.30	22.07	22.08
12 Eggs	32.58	31.88	28.70	28.35
1kg Native Cheese	111.19	111.98	106.00	102.67
1kg Hen Fillets	77.52	78.71	65.44	67.29
1kg Beef Spherical	108.88	108.17	106.77	93.32
1kg Apples	24.36	24.15	24.08	21.93
1kg Bananas	23.44	21.28	21.50	19.32
1kg Oranges	23.37	22.07	24.00	18.27
1kg Tomatoes	22.29	21.47	19.81	16.53
1kg Potatoes	20.49	18.95	22.50	15.47
1kg Onions	19.09	18.51	17.47	16.22
Lettuce	15.43	15.29	15.43	15.68
Whole	528.94	526.67	504.10	468.64

3. Shopping for a automotive

Most individuals select to purchase a brand new automotive as soon as they’re in South Africa. It’s less expensive than importing a automotive from abroad!

You’ll be able to see that there aren’t large variances in new automotive costs. The identical is true for petrol, which prices round R15 per litre in all cities.

	Cape City	Johannesburg	Pretoria	Durban
Volkswagen Golf 1.4 90 KW Trendline (or equal new automotive)	300,000.00	340,000.00	300,000.00	300,000.00
Toyota Corolla Sedan 1.6l 97kW Consolation (or equal new automotive)	304,052.00	308,445.09	315,657.1	306,418.18
1L Petrol	15.09	15.25	15.63	15.89

4. Sending your kids to highschool

Many immigrants select to ship their kids to personal faculties. These faculties usually have instructing and studying strategies much like the nation from which the household emigrated.

Durban’s preschools and first faculties are essentially the most inexpensive by far. Most immigrants settle in both Cape City or Johannesburg, although. When taking a look at these two cities, you’ll be able to see that sending your kids to highschool in Johannesburg would be the costliest.

	Cape City	Johannesburg	Pretoria	Durban
Preschool (or Kindergarten), Full Day, Personal, Month-to-month for 1 Baby	3,089.74	3,673.50	3,172.41	2,866.03
Worldwide Major Faculty, Yearly for 1 Baby	66,692.38	89,411.20	73,763.04	59,578.95

5. Going out for a meal

South Africa affords loads of alternatives to unwind, and we’re particularly keen on having fun with a meal with household and pals. Durban comes out tops for worth for cash every time.

Lunch at a neighborhood restaurant

Once you’re coming out for a fast lunch to meet up with a pal, that is how a lot you’ll should put aside:

	Cape City	Johannesburg	Pretoria	Durban
Restaurant meal at an affordable restaurant	120.00	140.00	125.00	100.00
330 ml Home beer	35.00	33.50	30.00	30.00
330 ml Coke	13.83	14.13	13.90	13.94
Whole	168.83	187.63	168.90	143.94

Dinner at an up-market restaurant

That is how a lot the night at an upmarket restaurant goes to set you again when you take a bottle of wine with:

	Cape City	Johannesburg	Pretoria	Durban
3-course Meal for 2 at a mid-range restaurant	550.00	600.00	550.00	500.00
Bottle of wine	80.00	79.00	79.00	65.00
Whole	630	679.00	629.00	565.00

In conclusion

Whereas Durban has the bottom common annual wage, it affords residents an inexpensive way of life. Durban has the most affordable groceries, essentially the most inexpensive faculty charges, and it’s town the place consuming out prices the least.

Nonetheless, keep in mind that every of the 4 cities we checked out has one thing completely different to supply when it comes to high quality of life. That’s why you must think about your loved ones’s needs and desires, together with the price of residing in a metropolis.

Word: All the prices are from Numbeo, February 2021.