Cost of living comparison

Dominican Republic

compared to

South Africa

Cape Town vs. Santiago Cost of Living Summary

Cape Town is 36.4% more expensive than Santiago.

Restaurants: pay 44.8% more in Cape Town
Groceries: pay 15.8% more in Cape Town
Transportation: pay 1.9% less in Cape Town
Housing: pay 2.0 times more in Cape Town
Childcare: pay 42.8% more in Cape Town
Entertainment and Sports: pay 30.1% more in Cape Town
Clothing: pay 21.9% more in Cape Town

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

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Cape Town vs. Santiago Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 44.8% more for restaurants

	Santiago	Cape Town
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$5.25 DOP307.17	$11.47 ZAR188.63	+118.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.65 DOP330.80	$5.16 ZAR84.88	-8.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.98 DOP57.10	$1.20 ZAR19.77	+23.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.63 DOP36.86	$0.92 ZAR15.09	+45.7%
Average			+44.8%

Santiago vs. Cape Town - Cost of restaurants

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pay 15.8% more for groceries

	Santiago	Cape Town
Bread 1 loaf	$1.50 DOP87.83	$1.14 ZAR18.66	-24.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.11 DOP182.19	$4.37 ZAR71.82	+40.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.07 DOP238.51	$4.50 ZAR73.92	+10.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.24 DOP72.59	$2.49 ZAR40.98	+101.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.15 DOP125.77	$2.43 ZAR40.01	+13.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.02 DOP59.54	$0.78 ZAR12.89	-22.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.39 DOP22.57	$0.76 ZAR12.46	+96.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.75 DOP43.79	$0.74 ZAR12.18	-1.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.81 DOP47.26	$0.78 ZAR12.81	-3.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.58 DOP34.13	$0.60 ZAR9.79	+2.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.01 DOP59.03	$0.62 ZAR10.21	-38.4%
Average			+15.8%

Santiago vs. Cape Town - Cost of groceries

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pay 1.9% less for transportation

	Santiago	Cape Town
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.65 DOP272.41	$4.73 ZAR77.83	+1.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$29.48 DOP1,725.90	$28.68 ZAR471.56	-2.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$15,338.47 DOP898K	$21,796.50 ZAR358K	+42.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$19.86 DOP1,162.52	$10.15 ZAR166.93	-48.9%
Average			-1.9%

Santiago vs. Cape Town - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.0 times more for housing

	Santiago	Cape Town
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$34.99 DOP2,048.21	$42.97 ZAR706.61	+22.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$371.35 DOP21,738.09	$838.02 ZAR13,779.11	+125.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$242.19 DOP14,177.02	$559.94 ZAR9,206.73	+131.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$40.80 DOP2,388.48	$91.96 ZAR1,511.97	+125.4%
Average			+101.3%

Santiago vs. Cape Town - Cost of housing

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pay 42.8% more for childcare

	Santiago	Cape Town
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$213.93 DOP12,523.03	$228.00 ZAR3,748.94	+6.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$2,841.65 DOP166K	$5,090.62 ZAR83,702.59	+79.1%
Average			+42.8%

Santiago vs. Cape Town - Cost of childcare

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pay 30.1% more for entertainment and sports

	Santiago	Cape Town
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.42 DOP141.77	$2.87 ZAR47.16	+18.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.82 DOP106.33	$2.12 ZAR34.79	+16.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.23 DOP189.03	$3.15 ZAR51.87	-2.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$23.37 DOP1,368.08	$44.05 ZAR724.24	+88.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.33 DOP311.89	$6.88 ZAR113.18	+29.2%
Average			+30.1%

Santiago vs. Cape Town - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 21.9% more for clothing

	Santiago	Cape Town
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$49.65 DOP2,906.29	$55.23 ZAR908.10	+11.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$43.06 DOP2,520.36	$33.91 ZAR557.54	-21.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$72.66 DOP4,253.11	$117.06 ZAR1,924.84	+61.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$64.58 DOP3,780.54	$88.13 ZAR1,449.15	+36.5%
Average			+21.9%

Santiago 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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