Cost of living comparison
Cape Town is 54.4% cheaper than Chicago.
If you lived in Cape Town instead of Chicago, you would:
pay 64.5% less for restaurants
Chicago
|
Cape Town
|
||
---|---|---|---|
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$22.00
|
$8.22
ZAR153.69
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$10.00
|
$4.11
ZAR76.84
|
|
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.53
|
$0.84
ZAR15.69
|
|
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.09
|
$0.64
ZAR11.89
|
|
pay 52.7% less for groceries
Chicago
|
Cape Town
|
||
---|---|---|---|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$3.27
|
$0.97
ZAR18.08
|
|
Local cheese (8 oz) |
$7.47
|
$3.34
ZAR62.50
|
|
Milk (1 gallon) |
$3.46
|
$3.80
ZAR70.92
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$4.10
|
$1.81
ZAR33.80
|
|
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$5.61
|
$1.95
ZAR36.41
|
|
Apples (1 lb) |
$2.54
|
$0.66
ZAR12.32
|
|
Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.76
|
$0.65
ZAR12.09
|
|
Oranges (1 lb) |
$2.04
|
$0.58
ZAR10.87
|
|
Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$2.04
|
$0.63
ZAR11.82
|
|
Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.20
|
$0.47
ZAR8.78
|
|
Onions (1 lb) |
$1.06
|
$0.51
ZAR9.61
|
|
pay 35.0% less for transportation
Chicago
|
Cape Town
|
||
---|---|---|---|
Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$4.33
|
$4.90
ZAR91.63
|
|
Monthly public transit pass |
$77.50
|
$30.75
ZAR574.65
|
|
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$23,200.00
|
$17,544.53
ZAR327,864.04
|
|
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$20.35
|
$6.37
ZAR119.07
|
|
pay 56.7% less for housing
Chicago
|
Cape Town
|
||
---|---|---|---|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$66.36
|
$43.47
ZAR812.37
|
|
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$2,007.27
|
$660.86
ZAR12,349.79
|
|
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$1,417.93
|
$448.07
ZAR8,373.34
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$127.84
|
$55.22
ZAR1,031.97
|
|
pay 86.7% less for childcare
Chicago
|
Cape Town
|
||
---|---|---|---|
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$1,784.74
|
$191.19
ZAR3,572.95
|
|
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$25,786.67
|
$4,129.75
ZAR77,174.90
|
|
pay 64.2% less for entertainment and sports
Chicago
|
Cape Town
|
||
---|---|---|---|
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$6.50
|
$2.19
ZAR40.98
|
|
Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$5.13
|
$1.77
ZAR33.08
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$15.00
|
$2.71
ZAR50.72
|
|
Monthly membership at local gym |
$63.33
|
$35.54
ZAR664.20
|
|
Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$15.00
|
$5.48
ZAR102.46
|
|
pay 21.2% less for clothing
Chicago
|
Cape Town
|
||
---|---|---|---|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$59.55
|
$45.48
ZAR849.85
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$39.58
|
$30.41
ZAR568.29
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$90.92
|
$85.67
ZAR1,600.90
|
|
Men's business shoes (leather) |
$111.88
|
$75.99
ZAR1,420.09
|
|
Change currency:
ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY
Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Cape Town or Chicago. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.