Cost of living comparison

Romania

compared to

South Africa

Sandton vs. Bucharest Cost of Living Summary

Sandton is 10.7% cheaper than Bucharest.

Restaurants: pay 33.2% less in Sandton
Groceries: pay 7.6% more in Sandton
Transportation: pay 0.3% more in Sandton
Housing: pay 5.3% less in Sandton
Childcare: pay 54.3% less in Sandton
Entertainment and Sports: pay 30.1% less in Sandton
Clothing: pay 1.6% less in Sandton

The cost of groceries and transportation in Sandton are more expensive than in Bucharest. Expenses including childcare, restaurants, entertainment and sports, housing, and clothing are lower in Sandton.

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Sandton vs. Bucharest Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Sandton instead of Bucharest, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 33.2% less for restaurants

	Bucharest	Sandton
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$14.64 RON69.25	$10.82 ZAR178.40	-26.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.32 RON34.63	$5.71 ZAR94.15	-22.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.42 RON11.44	$1.06 ZAR17.48	-56.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.25 RON10.65	$0.85 ZAR14.04	-62.2%
Average			-33.2%

Bucharest vs. Sandton - Cost of restaurants

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pay 7.6% more for groceries

	Bucharest	Sandton
Bread 1 loaf	$1.32 RON6.24	$1.10 ZAR18.21	-16.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.36 RON20.63	$4.31 ZAR71.09	-1.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.22 RON29.40	$4.45 ZAR73.36	-28.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.67 RON17.35	$2.67 ZAR44.10	-27.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.05 RON14.45	$2.23 ZAR36.86	-26.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.57 RON2.70	$0.93 ZAR15.38	+63.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.72 RON3.43	$0.82 ZAR13.49	+12.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.69 RON3.25	$0.83 ZAR13.63	+20.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.15 RON5.42	$0.83 ZAR13.71	-27.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.36 RON1.73	$0.70 ZAR11.46	+90.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.34 RON1.62	$0.79 ZAR13.04	+130.9%
Average			+7.6%

Bucharest vs. Sandton - Cost of groceries

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pay 0.3% more for transportation

	Bucharest	Sandton
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$7.45 RON35.25	$5.75 ZAR94.81	-22.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$20.91 RON98.93	??
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$28,531.98 RON135K	$35,391.94 ZAR584K	+24.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.65 RON26.71	$7.51 ZAR123.89	+33.0%
Average			+0.3%

Bucharest vs. Sandton - Cost of transportation

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pay 5.3% less for housing

	Bucharest	Sandton
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$9.27 RON43.83	$36.83 ZAR607.50	+297.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$677.15 RON3,203.34	$540.64 ZAR8,917.37	-20.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$451.32 RON2,135.02	$440.65 ZAR7,268.03	-2.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$147.83 RON699.33	$126.36 ZAR2,084.21	-14.5%
Average			-5.3%

Bucharest vs. Sandton - Cost of housing

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pay 54.3% less for childcare

	Bucharest	Sandton
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$627.11 RON2,966.59	$260.78 ZAR4,301.35	-58.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$14,371.87 RON67,987.54	$7,210.58 ZAR119K	-49.8%
Average			-54.3%

Bucharest vs. Sandton - Cost of childcare

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pay 30.1% less for entertainment and sports

	Bucharest	Sandton
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.76 RON17.81	$2.25 ZAR37.17	-40.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.51 RON16.59	$2.44 ZAR40.27	-30.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$6.43 RON30.42	$3.25 ZAR53.60	-49.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$49.22 RON232.83	$36.05 ZAR594.66	-26.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.37 RON39.57	$7.21 ZAR118.93	-13.8%
Average			-30.1%

Bucharest vs. Sandton - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 1.6% less for clothing

	Bucharest	Sandton
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$88.76 RON419.90	$57.63 ZAR950.55	-35.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$38.43 RON181.80	$45.77 ZAR754.99	+19.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$77.83 RON368.20	$96.14 ZAR1,585.75	+23.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$91.69 RON433.74	$90.13 ZAR1,486.64	-1.7%
Average			-1.6%

Bucharest vs. Sandton - Cost of clothing

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We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated October 2026). How we calculate this

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