Cost of living comparison

compared to

Richards Bay vs. Ottawa Cost of Living Summary

Richards Bay is 46.3% cheaper than Ottawa.

Restaurants: pay 55.0% less in Richards Bay
Groceries: pay 50.5% less in Richards Bay
Transportation: pay 13.3% less in Richards Bay
Housing: pay 47.7% less in Richards Bay
Childcare: pay 86.1% less in Richards Bay
Entertainment and Sports: pay 52.5% less in Richards Bay
Clothing: pay 19.2% less in Richards Bay

Expenses including childcare, restaurants, entertainment and sports, groceries, housing, and clothing are lower in Richards Bay.

Richards Bay vs. Ottawa Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Richards Bay instead of Ottawa, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 55.0% less for restaurants

	Ottawa	Richards Bay
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$17.99 CA$24.87	$7.17 ZAR121.31	-60.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.01 CA$15.22	$5.16 ZAR87.35	-53.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.00 CA$2.77	$0.92 ZAR15.66	-53.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.56 CA$2.15	$0.73 ZAR12.36	-53.1%
Average			-55.0%

Ottawa vs. Richards Bay - Cost of restaurants

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pay 50.5% less for groceries

	Ottawa	Richards Bay
Bread 1 loaf	$2.73 CA$3.77	$0.94 ZAR15.86	-65.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.85 CA$8.09	$3.67 ZAR62.15	-37.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$8.65 CA$11.97	$3.64 ZAR61.54	-58.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.52 CA$4.86	$2.18 ZAR36.91	-38.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$5.74 CA$7.94	$2.10 ZAR35.51	-63.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.91 CA$2.64	$0.74 ZAR12.47	-61.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.60 CA$0.83	$0.66 ZAR11.20	+10.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.63 CA$2.25	$0.64 ZAR10.75	-61.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.67 CA$2.30	$0.63 ZAR10.66	-62.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.11 CA$1.53	$0.52 ZAR8.80	-53.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.46 CA$2.02	$0.49 ZAR8.36	-66.1%
Average			-50.5%

Ottawa vs. Richards Bay - Cost of groceries

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pay 13.3% less for transportation

	Ottawa	Richards Bay
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.05 CA$5.60	$5.04 ZAR85.27	+24.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$97.12 CA$134.31	$97.47 ZAR1,649.87	+0.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$24,444.83 CA$33,803.54	$20,354.81 ZAR344,531.64	-16.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$14.82 CA$20.49	$5.73 ZAR97.05	-61.3%
Average			-13.3%

Ottawa vs. Richards Bay - Cost of transportation

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pay 47.7% less for housing

	Ottawa	Richards Bay
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$49.93 CA$69.04	$35.68 ZAR603.91	-28.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,452.55 CA$2,008.67	$401.36 ZAR6,793.58	-72.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,228.71 CA$1,699.13	$301.02 ZAR5,095.19	-75.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$118.93 CA$164.46	$101.94 ZAR1,725.51	-14.3%
Average			-47.7%

Ottawa vs. Richards Bay - Cost of housing

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pay 86.1% less for childcare

	Ottawa	Richards Bay
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$788.18 CA$1,089.93	$93.17 ZAR1,577.08	-88.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$15,753.32 CA$21,784.48	$2,537.18 ZAR42,945.14	-83.9%
Average			-86.1%

Ottawa vs. Richards Bay - Cost of childcare

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pay 52.5% less for entertainment and sports

	Ottawa	Richards Bay
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$5.76 CA$7.96	$1.43 ZAR24.26	-75.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.74 CA$5.18	$2.00 ZAR33.92	-46.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$12.95 CA$17.91	$2.47 ZAR41.73	-81.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$44.60 CA$61.68	$32.97 ZAR558.04	-26.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$10.79 CA$14.92	$7.17 ZAR121.31	-33.6%
Average			-52.5%

Ottawa vs. Richards Bay - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 19.2% less for clothing

	Ottawa	Richards Bay
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$52.82 CA$73.05	$46.39 ZAR785.28	-12.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$38.91 CA$53.81	$19.30 ZAR326.74	-50.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$87.10 CA$120.44	$87.44 ZAR1,480.03	+0.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$92.91 CA$128.48	$79.31 ZAR1,342.46	-14.6%
Average			-19.2%

Ottawa vs. Richards Bay - 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: December 2025

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