Cost of living comparison
compared to
Cape Town vs. Chicago Cost of Living Summary
Cape Town is 49.2% cheaper than Chicago.
- Restaurants
-
pay 55.2% less in Cape Town
- Groceries
-
pay 46.5% less in Cape Town
- Transportation
-
pay 26.5% less in Cape Town
- Housing
-
pay 50.5% less in Cape Town
- Childcare
-
pay 88.0% less in Cape Town
- Entertainment and Sports
-
pay 60.5% less in Cape Town
- Clothing
-
pay 16.9% less in Cape Town
Expenses including childcare, entertainment and sports, restaurants, housing, groceries, and transportation are lower in Cape Town.
Cape Town vs. Chicago Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Cape Town instead of Chicago, you would:
pay 55.2% less for restaurants
|
Chicago
|
Cape Town
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$20.50
|
$11.47
ZAR194.18
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$12.00
|
$5.16
ZAR87.38
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.96
|
$1.20
ZAR20.35
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.33
|
$0.92
ZAR15.53
|
|
Chicago vs. Cape Town - Cost of restaurants
pay 46.5% less for groceries
|
Chicago
|
Cape Town
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$4.01
|
$1.14
ZAR19.21
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$7.05
|
$4.37
ZAR73.94
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$4.30
|
$4.50
ZAR76.09
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$5.02
|
$2.49
ZAR42.19
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$6.55
|
$2.43
ZAR41.18
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$2.31
|
$0.78
ZAR13.27
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.79
|
$0.76
ZAR12.83
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$1.85
|
$0.74
ZAR12.54
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$2.09
|
$0.78
ZAR13.19
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.16
|
$0.60
ZAR10.08
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.26
|
$0.62
ZAR10.51
|
|
Chicago vs. Cape Town - Cost of groceries
pay 26.5% less for transportation
|
Chicago
|
Cape Town
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$3.81
|
$4.73
ZAR80.12
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$75.00
|
$28.68
ZAR485.44
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$35,691.85
|
$21,796.50
ZAR368,934.03
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$14.43
|
$10.15
ZAR171.85
|
|
Chicago vs. Cape Town - Cost of transportation
pay 50.5% less for housing
|
Chicago
|
Cape Town
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$65.83
|
$42.97
ZAR727.40
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$2,418.00
|
$838.02
ZAR14,184.54
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$1,692.50
|
$559.94
ZAR9,477.63
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$141.41
|
$91.96
ZAR1,556.46
|
|
Chicago vs. Cape Town - Cost of housing
pay 88.0% less for childcare
|
Chicago
|
Cape Town
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$2,050.00
|
$228.00
ZAR3,859.24
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$39,114.29
|
$5,090.62
ZAR86,165.43
|
|
Chicago vs. Cape Town - Cost of childcare
pay 60.5% less for entertainment and sports
|
Chicago
|
Cape Town
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$7.00
|
$2.87
ZAR48.54
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$5.53
|
$2.12
ZAR35.82
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$17.00
|
$3.15
ZAR53.40
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$71.80
|
$44.05
ZAR745.55
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$18.00
|
$6.88
ZAR116.51
|
|
Chicago vs. Cape Town - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 16.9% less for clothing
|
Chicago
|
Cape Town
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$64.24
|
$55.23
ZAR934.82
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$49.62
|
$33.91
ZAR573.94
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$99.48
|
$117.06
ZAR1,981.48
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$146.50
|
$88.13
ZAR1,491.79
|
|
Chicago vs. Cape Town - Cost of clothing
The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you.
We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world.
Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: December 2025
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