Where to live in South Africa
We track 6 cities in South Africa: Bloemfontein, Cape Town, Durban, Gqeberha, Johannesburg and Pretoria. Average temperatures run from 16°C to 21°C. We estimate a couple needs €2,350 to €2,599 a month to live centrally. South Africa sits in our high tax tier. For foreigners, long-term residency is possible, with conditions.
12 questions, about 4 minutes, no account needed. Taking the quiz is free, and so is seeing your #1 city. Full results for both of you are a one-time US$12 (€12 in Europe).
- Tax tier
- High
- High personal income tax
- Languages
- English, Afrikaans, Zulu
- Some English
- Safety
- 30/100
- country-level
- Healthcare
- 55/100
- country-level
- Internet
- ~50 Mbps
- median fixed broadband
The 6 cities we track
| City | Size | Setting | Avg temp | Rain a year | Est. cost a month |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bloemfontein | mid-sized | inland | 17°C | 491 mm | €2,350 |
| Cape Town | large | coastal | 17°C | 592 mm | €2,529 |
| Durban | large | coastal | 21°C | 951 mm | €2,499 |
| Gqeberha | large | coastal | 18°C | 585 mm | €2,403 |
| Johannesburg | major | inland | 16°C | 721 mm | €2,599 |
| Pretoria | large | inland | 18°C | 665 mm | €2,461 |
Source: City size from GeoNames, temperature from the Open-Meteo archive (2019 to 2023 averages), rainfall from TerraClimate (1991 to 2020 normals), coast distance from Natural Earth. Cost is our model estimate for a couple living centrally.
Taxes
South Africa sits in our high tax tier: high personal income tax. The tier applies to every city here, and couples who cap tax below it will not see these cities in their results.
Source: OurNextCity tax tiers, assigned by hand from each country's top marginal personal income tax rate and overall tax reputation, with no fixed rate cut-offs. Coarse by design; not tax advice.
Residency and visas
Possible, with conditions. Long-term residency is realistic via the Retired Person's Visa (guaranteed pension/annuity income), the Critical Skills Visa (no capital, for in-demand occupations), the Financially Independent Permit (net-worth-based PR), or the Business Visa (capital invested in a local business), though Home Affairs processing is slow and a pending White Paper may tighten thresholds.
The cheapest self-funded routes we track for South Africa:
- Income: about $2,271 a month (South Africa Retired Person's Visa, ZAR 37,000/mo guaranteed pension/annuity income, single applicant (USD/ZAR 16.29, Wise mid-market 2026-06-03); as of June 2026)
- Investment: about $307k (South Africa Business Visa, ZAR 5,000,000 one-time capital invested in a business; cheaper than the ZAR 12m Financially Independent Permit net-worth route (USD/ZAR 16.29, Wise mid-market 2026-06-03); as of June 2026)
For short visits, 86 of 198 passports can enter visa-free, 32 can get an e-visa or visa on arrival and 80 need a visa in advance.
Source: OurNextCity residency dataset, hand-reviewed approximations researched against published immigration rules, figures as of June 2026. Not legal advice: check the official source before you apply. Short-stay entry from the passport-index dataset (ilyankou, MIT).