Cost of living comparison

United States

compared to

South Africa

Cape Town vs. Jersey City Cost of Living Summary

Cape Town is 47.5% cheaper than Jersey City.

Restaurants: pay 48.1% less in Cape Town
Groceries: pay 52.4% less in Cape Town
Transportation: pay 29.4% less in Cape Town
Housing: pay 49.1% less in Cape Town
Childcare: pay 84.2% less in Cape Town
Entertainment and Sports: pay 57.4% less in Cape Town
Clothing: pay 12.1% less in Cape Town

Expenses including childcare, entertainment and sports, groceries, housing, restaurants, and transportation are lower in Cape Town.

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Cape Town vs. Jersey City Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Cape Town instead of Jersey City, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 48.1% less for restaurants

	Jersey City	Cape Town
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$18.00	$11.47 ZAR193.12	-36.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$13.00	$5.16 ZAR86.90	-60.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.28	$1.20 ZAR20.24	-47.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.78	$0.92 ZAR15.45	-48.4%
Average			-48.1%

Jersey City vs. Cape Town - Cost of restaurants

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pay 52.4% less for groceries

	Jersey City	Cape Town
Bread 1 loaf	$4.05	$1.14 ZAR19.11	-72.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.73	$4.37 ZAR73.54	-50.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.83	$4.50 ZAR75.68	-6.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.33	$2.49 ZAR41.96	-53.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$5.62	$2.43 ZAR40.96	-56.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.87	$0.78 ZAR13.20	-72.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.89	$0.76 ZAR12.76	-14.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.16	$0.74 ZAR12.47	-65.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.37	$0.78 ZAR13.12	-67.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.41	$0.60 ZAR10.03	-57.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.51	$0.62 ZAR10.45	-58.9%
Average			-52.4%

Jersey City vs. Cape Town - Cost of groceries

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pay 29.4% less for transportation

	Jersey City	Cape Town
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.30	$4.73 ZAR79.68	+43.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$110.00	$28.68 ZAR482.80	-73.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,911.24	$21,796.50 ZAR367K	-39.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$19.40	$10.15 ZAR170.91	-47.7%
Average			-29.4%

Jersey City vs. Cape Town - Cost of transportation

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pay 49.1% less for housing

	Jersey City	Cape Town
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$63.75	$42.97 ZAR723.44	-32.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$3,437.50	$838.02 ZAR14,107.44	-75.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$2,442.86	$559.94 ZAR9,426.11	-77.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$103.54	$91.96 ZAR1,548.00	-11.2%
Average			-49.1%

Jersey City vs. Cape Town - Cost of housing

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pay 84.2% less for childcare

	Jersey City	Cape Town
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$2,250.00	$228.00 ZAR3,838.27	-89.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$23,666.67	$5,090.62 ZAR85,697.09	-78.5%
Average			-84.2%

Jersey City vs. Cape Town - Cost of childcare

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pay 57.4% less for entertainment and sports

	Jersey City	Cape Town
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$7.00	$2.87 ZAR48.28	-59.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$5.50	$2.12 ZAR35.62	-61.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$11.98	$3.15 ZAR53.11	-73.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$66.00	$44.05 ZAR741.50	-33.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$17.00	$6.88 ZAR115.87	-59.5%
Average			-57.4%

Jersey City vs. Cape Town - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 12.1% less for clothing

	Jersey City	Cape Town
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$67.90	$55.23 ZAR929.74	-18.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$63.33	$33.91 ZAR570.83	-46.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$77.50	$117.06 ZAR1,970.71	+51.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$133.75	$88.13 ZAR1,483.68	-34.1%
Average			-12.1%

Jersey City vs. Cape Town - Cost of clothing

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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: July 2026

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