Cost of living comparison

South Africa

compared to

United States

Jacksonville vs. Cape Town Cost of Living Summary

Jacksonville is 53.4% more expensive than Cape Town.

Restaurants: pay 86.4% more in Jacksonville
Groceries: pay 65.2% more in Jacksonville
Transportation: pay 12.9% less in Jacksonville
Housing: pay 67.5% more in Jacksonville
Childcare: pay 3.0 times more in Jacksonville
Entertainment and Sports: pay 57.8% more in Jacksonville
Clothing: pay 23.0% more in Jacksonville

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

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Jacksonville vs. Cape Town Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 86.4% more for restaurants

	Cape Town	Jacksonville
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$12.02 ZAR198.53	$20.00	+66.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.01 ZAR99.27	$11.50	+91.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.30 ZAR21.48	$3.07	+135.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.99 ZAR16.40	$2.22	+123.4%
Average			+86.4%

Cape Town vs. Jacksonville - Cost of restaurants

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pay 65.2% more for groceries

	Cape Town	Jacksonville
Bread 1 loaf	$1.23 ZAR20.38	$3.32	+169.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.39 ZAR72.52	$6.99	+59.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.99 ZAR82.49	$3.70	-25.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.14 ZAR51.87	$4.41	+40.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.07 ZAR50.73	$4.45	+44.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.85 ZAR14.01	$2.12	+150.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.87 ZAR14.38	$0.68	-21.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.77 ZAR12.74	$1.75	+127.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.95 ZAR15.73	$2.10	+121.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.70 ZAR11.53	$1.33	+91.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.68 ZAR11.31	$1.41	+105.8%
Average			+65.2%

Cape Town vs. Jacksonville - Cost of groceries

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pay 12.9% less for transportation

	Cape Town	Jacksonville
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.86 ZAR96.77	$3.87	-33.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$60.09 ZAR992.66	$62.50	+4.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,391.94 ZAR585K	$36,928.80	+4.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$12.62 ZAR208.46	$10.70	-15.2%
Average			-12.9%

Cape Town vs. Jacksonville - Cost of transportation

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pay 67.5% more for housing

	Cape Town	Jacksonville
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$39.98 ZAR660.43	$68.80	+72.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,017.49 ZAR16,809.04	$1,682.22	+65.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$706.64 ZAR11,673.68	$1,152.11	+63.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$88.53 ZAR1,462.58	$163.52	+84.7%
Average			+67.5%

Cape Town vs. Jacksonville - Cost of housing

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pay 3.0 times more for childcare

	Cape Town	Jacksonville
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$262.39 ZAR4,334.61	$1,312.50	+400.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$6,820.14 ZAR113K	$12,000.00	+75.9%
Average			+196.7%

Cape Town vs. Jacksonville - Cost of childcare

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pay 57.8% more for entertainment and sports

	Cape Town	Jacksonville
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.00 ZAR49.63	$5.00	+66.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.43 ZAR40.10	$5.56	+128.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.61 ZAR59.56	$9.85	+173.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$49.37 ZAR815.55	$42.19	-14.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$9.01 ZAR148.90	$15.00	+66.4%
Average			+57.8%

Cape Town vs. Jacksonville - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 23.0% more for clothing

	Cape Town	Jacksonville
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$55.49 ZAR916.75	$63.68	+14.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$32.30 ZAR533.55	$48.05	+48.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$119.84 ZAR1,979.80	$111.59	-6.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$105.58 ZAR1,744.24	$151.79	+43.8%
Average			+23.0%

Cape Town vs. Jacksonville - 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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Cape Town is about 1.3 times bigger than Jacksonville.

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