Cost of living comparison

South Africa

compared to

United States

Chicago vs. Cape Town Cost of Living Summary

Chicago is 85.4% more expensive than Cape Town.

Restaurants: pay 97.8% more in Chicago
Groceries: pay 84.9% more in Chicago
Transportation: pay 0.1% less in Chicago
Housing: pay 2.2 times more in Chicago
Childcare: pay 5.2 times more in Chicago
Entertainment and Sports: pay 97.7% more in Chicago
Clothing: pay 21.6% more in Chicago

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

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Chicago vs. Cape Town Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 97.8% more for restaurants

	Cape Town	Chicago
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$12.02 ZAR198.53	$21.25	+76.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.01 ZAR99.27	$13.00	+116.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.30 ZAR21.48	$2.66	+104.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.99 ZAR16.40	$2.30	+131.9%
Average			+97.8%

Cape Town vs. Chicago - Cost of restaurants

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pay 84.9% more for groceries

	Cape Town	Chicago
Bread 1 loaf	$1.23 ZAR20.38	$3.92	+218.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.39 ZAR72.52	$7.07	+61.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.99 ZAR82.49	$4.97	-0.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.14 ZAR51.87	$4.78	+52.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.07 ZAR50.73	$6.65	+116.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.85 ZAR14.01	$2.39	+181.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.87 ZAR14.38	$0.89	+2.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.77 ZAR12.74	$1.87	+142.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.95 ZAR15.73	$2.21	+132.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.70 ZAR11.53	$1.24	+77.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.68 ZAR11.31	$1.23	+79.0%
Average			+84.9%

Cape Town vs. Chicago - Cost of groceries

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pay 0.1% less for transportation

	Cape Town	Chicago
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.86 ZAR96.77	$4.66	-20.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$60.09 ZAR992.66	$75.00	+24.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,391.94 ZAR585K	$36,531.00	+3.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$12.62 ZAR208.46	$14.45	+14.5%
Average			-0.1%

Cape Town vs. Chicago - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.2 times more for housing

	Cape Town	Chicago
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$39.98 ZAR660.43	$61.13	+52.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,017.49 ZAR16,809.04	$2,400.00	+135.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$706.64 ZAR11,673.68	$1,679.31	+137.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$88.53 ZAR1,462.58	$147.87	+67.0%
Average			+119.8%

Cape Town vs. Chicago - Cost of housing

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pay 5.2 times more for childcare

	Cape Town	Chicago
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$262.39 ZAR4,334.61	$1,536.88	+485.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$6,820.14 ZAR113K	$31,537.78	+362.4%
Average			+420.4%

Cape Town vs. Chicago - Cost of childcare

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pay 97.7% more for entertainment and sports

	Cape Town	Chicago
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.00 ZAR49.63	$7.00	+133.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.43 ZAR40.10	$5.70	+134.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.61 ZAR59.56	$16.00	+343.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$49.37 ZAR815.55	$53.47	+8.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$9.01 ZAR148.90	$18.00	+99.7%
Average			+97.7%

Cape Town vs. Chicago - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 21.6% more for clothing

	Cape Town	Chicago
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$55.49 ZAR916.75	$66.94	+20.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$32.30 ZAR533.55	$51.67	+60.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$119.84 ZAR1,979.80	$99.58	-16.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$105.58 ZAR1,744.24	$143.78	+36.2%
Average			+21.6%

Cape Town vs. Chicago - 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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