Cost of living comparison

South Africa

compared to

United States

Sacramento vs. Cape Town Cost of Living Summary

Sacramento is 85.9% more expensive than Cape Town.

Restaurants: pay 2.0 times more in Sacramento
Groceries: pay 2.0 times more in Sacramento
Transportation: pay 20.8% more in Sacramento
Housing: pay 2.1 times more in Sacramento
Childcare: pay 4.1 times more in Sacramento
Entertainment and Sports: pay 77.8% more in Sacramento
Clothing: pay 10.8% more in Sacramento

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

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Sacramento vs. Cape Town Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 2.0 times more for restaurants

	Cape Town	Sacramento
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	$12.50	+108.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.30 ZAR21.48	$2.86	+119.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.99 ZAR16.40	$2.98	+199.8%
Average			+100.6%

Cape Town vs. Sacramento - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.0 times more for groceries

	Cape Town	Sacramento
Bread 1 loaf	$1.23 ZAR20.38	$4.09	+231.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.39 ZAR72.52	$7.60	+73.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.99 ZAR82.49	$4.81	-3.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.14 ZAR51.87	$5.75	+83.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.07 ZAR50.73	$6.90	+124.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.85 ZAR14.01	$2.28	+169.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.87 ZAR14.38	$0.90	+3.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.77 ZAR12.74	$1.96	+154.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.95 ZAR15.73	$2.56	+169.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.70 ZAR11.53	$1.70	+144.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.68 ZAR11.31	$1.48	+115.9%
Average			+102.1%

Cape Town vs. Sacramento - Cost of groceries

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pay 20.8% more for transportation

	Cape Town	Sacramento
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.86 ZAR96.77	$5.97	+2.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$60.09 ZAR992.66	$100.00	+66.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,391.94 ZAR585K	$36,998.00	+4.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$12.62 ZAR208.46	$19.04	+50.9%
Average			+20.8%

Cape Town vs. Sacramento - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.1 times more for housing

	Cape Town	Sacramento
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$39.98 ZAR660.43	$69.08	+72.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,017.49 ZAR16,809.04	$2,097.78	+106.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$706.64 ZAR11,673.68	$1,559.09	+120.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$88.53 ZAR1,462.58	$176.23	+99.1%
Average			+108.9%

Cape Town vs. Sacramento - Cost of housing

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pay 4.1 times more for childcare

	Cape Town	Sacramento
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$262.39 ZAR4,334.61	$1,556.40	+493.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$6,820.14 ZAR113K	$19,301.25	+183.0%
Average			+309.7%

Cape Town vs. Sacramento - Cost of childcare

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pay 77.8% more for entertainment and sports

	Cape Town	Sacramento
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.00 ZAR49.63	$8.00	+166.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.43 ZAR40.10	$5.13	+111.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.61 ZAR59.56	$11.71	+224.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$49.37 ZAR815.55	$41.00	-16.9%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$9.01 ZAR148.90	$17.00	+88.6%
Average			+77.8%

Cape Town vs. Sacramento - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 10.8% more for clothing

	Cape Town	Sacramento
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$55.49 ZAR916.75	$60.52	+9.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$32.30 ZAR533.55	$46.68	+44.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$119.84 ZAR1,979.80	$93.62	-21.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$105.58 ZAR1,744.24	$129.04	+22.2%
Average			+10.8%

Cape Town vs. Sacramento - 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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