Cost of living comparison

South Africa

compared to

United States

Key West vs. Cape Town Cost of Living Summary

Key West is 2.0 times more expensive than Cape Town.

Restaurants: pay 89.4% more in Key West
Groceries: pay 90.6% more in Key West
Transportation: pay 12.5% less in Key West
Housing: pay 3.4 times more in Key West
Childcare: pay 3.6 times more in Key West
Entertainment and Sports: pay 78.0% more in Key West
Clothing: pay 19.4% less in Key West

The cost of childcare, housing, groceries, restaurants, and entertainment and sports in Key West are more expensive than in Cape Town. Expenses including clothing and transportation are lower in Key West. Notably, childcare, housing, and groceries are significantly more expensive in Key West.

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Key West vs. Cape Town Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Key West instead of Cape Town, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 89.4% more for restaurants

	Cape Town	Key West
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$12.02 ZAR199.18	$22.00	+83.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.01 ZAR99.59	$12.00	+99.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.30 ZAR21.55	$2.30	+76.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.99 ZAR16.45	$1.95	+96.4%
Average			+89.4%

Cape Town vs. Key West - Cost of restaurants

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pay 90.6% more for groceries

	Cape Town	Key West
Bread 1 loaf	$1.23 ZAR20.44	$3.67	+197.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.39 ZAR72.76	$5.73	+30.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.99 ZAR82.76	$3.88	-22.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.14 ZAR52.04	$5.31	+69.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.07 ZAR50.89	$6.17	+100.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.85 ZAR14.06	$2.22	+161.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.87 ZAR14.42	$0.86	-0.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.77 ZAR12.78	$1.68	+117.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.95 ZAR15.78	$2.30	+141.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.70 ZAR11.57	$2.75	+293.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.68 ZAR11.35	$1.50	+119.1%
Average			+90.6%

Cape Town vs. Key West - Cost of groceries

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pay 12.5% less for transportation

	Cape Town	Key West
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.86 ZAR97.08	$3.35	-42.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$60.09 ZAR995.89	??
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,391.94 ZAR587K	$36,928.80	+4.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$12.62 ZAR209.14	$28.85	+128.7%
Average			-12.5%

Cape Town vs. Key West - Cost of transportation

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pay 3.4 times more for housing

	Cape Town	Key West
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$39.98 ZAR662.57	$73.80	+84.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,017.49 ZAR16,863.66	$3,413.33	+235.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$706.64 ZAR11,711.61	$3,413.33	+383.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$88.53 ZAR1,467.33	$163.46	+84.6%
Average			+244.4%

Cape Town vs. Key West - Cost of housing

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pay 3.6 times more for childcare

	Cape Town	Key West
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$262.39 ZAR4,348.70	$1,081.25	+312.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$6,820.14 ZAR113K	$20,966.67	+207.4%
Average			+255.9%

Cape Town vs. Key West - Cost of childcare

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pay 78.0% more for entertainment and sports

	Cape Town	Key West
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.00 ZAR49.79	$6.00	+99.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.43 ZAR40.23	$4.60	+89.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.61 ZAR59.75	$8.00	+121.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$49.37 ZAR818.20	$80.00	+62.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$9.01 ZAR149.38	$14.00	+55.3%
Average			+78.0%

Cape Town vs. Key West - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 19.4% less for clothing

	Cape Town	Key West
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$55.49 ZAR919.73	$47.00	-15.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$32.30 ZAR535.29	$41.75	+29.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$119.84 ZAR1,986.24	$71.25	-40.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$105.58 ZAR1,749.91	$68.33	-35.3%
Average			-19.4%

Cape Town vs. Key West - 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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Size Comparison · See true size

Cape Town is about 180 times bigger than Key West.

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