Cost of living comparison

South Africa

compared to

United States

Dallas vs. Cape Town Cost of Living Summary

Dallas is 72.6% more expensive than Cape Town.

Restaurants: pay 95.3% more in Dallas
Groceries: pay 70.7% more in Dallas
Transportation: pay 7.3% more in Dallas
Housing: pay 82.3% more in Dallas
Childcare: pay 5.3 times more in Dallas
Entertainment and Sports: pay 93.3% more in Dallas
Clothing: pay 23.8% more in Dallas

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

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Dallas vs. Cape Town Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 95.3% more for restaurants

	Cape Town	Dallas
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$12.02 ZAR198.53	$21.00	+74.7%
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	$3.17	+143.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.99 ZAR16.40	$2.37	+138.9%
Average			+95.3%

Cape Town vs. Dallas - Cost of restaurants

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pay 70.7% more for groceries

	Cape Town	Dallas
Bread 1 loaf	$1.23 ZAR20.38	$3.17	+157.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.39 ZAR72.52	$6.56	+49.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.99 ZAR82.49	$3.82	-23.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.14 ZAR51.87	$4.80	+53.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.07 ZAR50.73	$5.09	+65.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.85 ZAR14.01	$2.68	+215.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.87 ZAR14.38	$0.72	-17.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.77 ZAR12.74	$2.26	+193.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.95 ZAR15.73	$1.88	+97.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.70 ZAR11.53	$1.07	+52.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.68 ZAR11.31	$1.43	+109.2%
Average			+70.7%

Cape Town vs. Dallas - Cost of groceries

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pay 7.3% more for transportation

	Cape Town	Dallas
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.86 ZAR96.77	$3.80	-35.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$60.09 ZAR992.66	$126.00	+109.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,391.94 ZAR585K	$36,232.00	+2.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$12.62 ZAR208.46	$17.00	+34.7%
Average			+7.3%

Cape Town vs. Dallas - Cost of transportation

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pay 82.3% more for housing

	Cape Town	Dallas
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$39.98 ZAR660.43	$65.42	+63.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,017.49 ZAR16,809.04	$1,782.73	+75.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$706.64 ZAR11,673.68	$1,400.42	+98.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$88.53 ZAR1,462.58	$148.61	+67.9%
Average			+82.3%

Cape Town vs. Dallas - Cost of housing

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pay 5.3 times more for childcare

	Cape Town	Dallas
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$262.39 ZAR4,334.61	$2,084.15	+694.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$6,820.14 ZAR113K	$24,380.00	+257.5%
Average			+432.9%

Cape Town vs. Dallas - Cost of childcare

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pay 93.3% more for entertainment and sports

	Cape Town	Dallas
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.00 ZAR49.63	$8.00	+166.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.43 ZAR40.10	$6.19	+155.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.61 ZAR59.56	$10.00	+177.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$49.37 ZAR815.55	$59.50	+20.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$9.01 ZAR148.90	$15.00	+66.4%
Average			+93.3%

Cape Town vs. Dallas - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 23.8% more for clothing

	Cape Town	Dallas
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$55.49 ZAR916.75	$65.50	+18.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$32.30 ZAR533.55	$48.56	+50.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$119.84 ZAR1,979.80	$122.20	+2.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$105.58 ZAR1,744.24	$136.90	+29.7%
Average			+23.8%

Cape Town vs. Dallas - 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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