Climate
Cape Town logs 294 sunny days a year to Port Elizabeth's 275 — Cape Town wins by 19. Cape Town and Port Elizabeth match on outdoor-dinner months (0 vs 0).
Cape Town
Feels-like °C
Dinner outside
Port Elizabeth
Feels-like °C
Dinner outside
Cost of Living
Cape Town averages $1,323/mo for balanced living; Port Elizabeth has no cost baseline yet.
Cape Town
$1,323monthly · balanced
Mobility
Cape Town scores 2.0 on mobility (0–5 scale); Port Elizabeth has no mobility baseline.
Culture
Cape Town's culture score of 3.8 sits well above Port Elizabeth's 0.0.
Nature & Outdoors
Cape Town scores 4.8 on nature & outdoors (0–5 scale); Port Elizabeth has no nature & outdoors baseline.
Safety
Cape Town scores 0.0 on safety (0–5 scale); Port Elizabeth has no safety baseline.
Career
Cape Town scores 2.7 on career (0–5 scale); Port Elizabeth has no career baseline.
Social & Community
Cape Town scores 3.2 on social & community (0–5 scale); Port Elizabeth has no social & community baseline.
Food & Dining
Cape Town scores 3.4 on food & dining (0–5 scale); Port Elizabeth has no food & dining baseline.
Family
Cape Town scores 3.1 on family (0–5 scale); Port Elizabeth has no family baseline.
Healthcare
Cape Town scores 3.1 on healthcare (0–5 scale); Port Elizabeth has no healthcare baseline.
Air Quality
Cape Town averages 9.4 µg/m³ (good) PM2.5 annually versus Port Elizabeth's 7.3 µg/m³ (good) — Port Elizabeth breathes ~23% cleaner air (2.1 µg/m³ lower).
Cape Town
Port Elizabeth
PM2.5 annual average
WHO classification
City Scale
Both maps at the same real-world scale — 1 cm on either map is the same distance.
Cape Town (4.3M) and Port Elizabeth (806K) are 5.4x in population — Cape Town is the larger metro, Port Elizabeth the smaller; on land area Cape Town spans roughly 3.2x more ground.
Cape Town is roughly 4.2x the scale of Port Elizabeth
Combined population & area comparison
Cape TownPort ElizabethCity Scale Rankings
Cape Town4.3M5.4xPort Elizabeth806K1xCape Town695 km²3.2xPort Elizabeth217 km²1xCape Town
Port Elizabeth
Who Thrives Here
Cape Town is the stronger fit for the outdoor enthusiast. Both cities work well for the clean air seeker.
Also compared
Lisbon
LondonFrequently asked about Cape Town vs Port Elizabeth
▶Which is cheaper, Cape Town or Port Elizabeth?
▶How does the climate compare between Cape Town and Port Elizabeth?
▶Is Cape Town or Port Elizabeth safer?
▶Should I move to Cape Town or Port Elizabeth?
The best city depends on what matters to you
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