Cost of living comparison

South Africa

compared to

United States

Atlanta vs. Cape Town Cost of Living Summary

Atlanta is 78.5% more expensive than Cape Town.

Restaurants: pay 2.3 times more in Atlanta
Groceries: pay 86.0% more in Atlanta
Transportation: pay 0.5% more in Atlanta
Housing: pay 2.0 times more in Atlanta
Childcare: pay 4.8 times more in Atlanta
Entertainment and Sports: pay 62.2% more in Atlanta
Clothing: pay 3.1% more in Atlanta

The cost of childcare, restaurants, housing, groceries, entertainment and sports, and clothing in Atlanta are more expensive than in Cape Town. Notably, childcare, restaurants, and housing are significantly more expensive in Atlanta.

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Atlanta vs. Cape Town Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Atlanta instead of Cape Town, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 2.3 times more for restaurants

	Cape Town	Atlanta
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$12.02 ZAR198.53	$33.00	+174.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.01 ZAR99.27	$12.00	+99.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.30 ZAR21.48	$2.81	+116.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.99 ZAR16.40	$2.10	+111.4%
Average			+133.6%

Cape Town vs. Atlanta - Cost of restaurants

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pay 86.0% more for groceries

	Cape Town	Atlanta
Bread 1 loaf	$1.23 ZAR20.38	$3.48	+182.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.39 ZAR72.52	$6.91	+57.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.99 ZAR82.49	$3.36	-32.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.14 ZAR51.87	$4.84	+54.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.07 ZAR50.73	$6.65	+116.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.85 ZAR14.01	$2.69	+217.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.87 ZAR14.38	$0.67	-22.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.77 ZAR12.74	$2.71	+252.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.95 ZAR15.73	$2.42	+154.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.70 ZAR11.53	$1.65	+136.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.68 ZAR11.31	$1.22	+77.6%
Average			+86.0%

Cape Town vs. Atlanta - Cost of groceries

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pay 0.5% more for transportation

	Cape Town	Atlanta
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.86 ZAR96.77	$3.86	-34.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$60.09 ZAR992.66	$97.00	+61.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,391.94 ZAR585K	$36,812.00	+4.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$12.62 ZAR208.46	$15.43	+22.3%
Average			+0.5%

Cape Town vs. Atlanta - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.0 times more for housing

	Cape Town	Atlanta
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$39.98 ZAR660.43	$84.46	+111.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,017.49 ZAR16,809.04	$2,089.00	+105.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$706.64 ZAR11,673.68	$1,521.67	+115.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$88.53 ZAR1,462.58	$153.48	+73.4%
Average			+104.3%

Cape Town vs. Atlanta - Cost of housing

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pay 4.8 times more for childcare

	Cape Town	Atlanta
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$262.39 ZAR4,334.61	$1,850.00	+605.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$6,820.14 ZAR113K	$22,530.88	+230.4%
Average			+382.6%

Cape Town vs. Atlanta - Cost of childcare

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pay 62.2% more for entertainment and sports

	Cape Town	Atlanta
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.00 ZAR49.63	$7.50	+149.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.43 ZAR40.10	$5.55	+128.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.61 ZAR59.56	$8.47	+134.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$49.37 ZAR815.55	$32.00	-35.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$9.01 ZAR148.90	$17.00	+88.6%
Average			+62.2%

Cape Town vs. Atlanta - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 3.1% more for clothing

	Cape Town	Atlanta
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$55.49 ZAR916.75	$53.27	-4.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$32.30 ZAR533.55	$44.80	+38.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$119.84 ZAR1,979.80	$98.12	-18.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$105.58 ZAR1,744.24	$109.27	+3.5%
Average			+3.1%

Cape Town vs. Atlanta - 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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