Cost of living comparison

Dominican Republic

compared to

South Africa

Sandton vs. Santiago Cost of Living Summary

Sandton is 20.8% more expensive than Santiago.

Restaurants: pay 17.9% more in Sandton
Groceries: pay 3.2% more in Sandton
Transportation: pay 27.8% more in Sandton
Housing: pay 21.1% more in Sandton
Childcare: pay 51.8% more in Sandton
Entertainment and Sports: pay 20.7% more in Sandton
Clothing: pay 46.3% more in Sandton

The cost of childcare, clothing, transportation, housing, entertainment and sports, and restaurants in Sandton are more expensive than in Santiago.

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Sandton vs. Santiago Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Sandton instead of Santiago, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 17.9% more for restaurants

	Santiago	Sandton
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.29 DOP509.30	$10.82 ZAR178.40	+30.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.05 DOP432.90	$5.71 ZAR94.15	-19.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.70 DOP42.78	$1.06 ZAR17.48	+52.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.39 DOP24.19	$0.85 ZAR14.04	+116.2%
Average			+17.9%

Santiago vs. Sandton - Cost of restaurants

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pay 3.2% more for groceries

	Santiago	Sandton
Bread 1 loaf	$1.51 DOP93.03	$1.10 ZAR18.21	-27.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.15 DOP193.81	$4.31 ZAR71.09	+36.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.50 DOP276.65	$4.45 ZAR73.36	-1.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.48 DOP90.65	$2.67 ZAR44.10	+81.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.63 DOP99.87	$2.23 ZAR36.86	+37.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.45 DOP88.96	$0.93 ZAR15.38	-35.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.37 DOP22.53	$0.82 ZAR13.49	+123.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.24 DOP75.89	$0.83 ZAR13.63	-33.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.83 DOP51.09	$0.83 ZAR13.71
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.91 DOP56.14	$0.70 ZAR11.46	-24.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.00 DOP61.45	$0.79 ZAR13.04	-21.0%
Average			+3.2%

Santiago vs. Sandton - Cost of groceries

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pay 27.8% more for transportation

	Santiago	Sandton
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.35 DOP328.96	$5.75 ZAR94.81	+7.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$30.28 DOP1,860.04	??
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$14,922.51 DOP917K	$35,391.94 ZAR584K	+137.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$20.39 DOP1,252.87	$7.51 ZAR123.89	-63.2%
Average			+27.8%

Santiago vs. Sandton - Cost of transportation

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pay 21.1% more for housing

	Santiago	Sandton
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$36.30 DOP2,230.04	$36.83 ZAR607.50	+1.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$676.34 DOP41,549.82	$540.64 ZAR8,917.37	-20.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$271.33 DOP16,668.79	$440.65 ZAR7,268.03	+62.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$70.91 DOP4,356.44	$126.36 ZAR2,084.21	+78.2%
Average			+21.1%

Santiago vs. Sandton - Cost of housing

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pay 51.8% more for childcare

	Santiago	Sandton
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$149.23 DOP9,167.36	$260.78 ZAR4,301.35	+74.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$5,471.59 DOP336K	$7,210.58 ZAR119K	+31.8%
Average			+51.8%

Santiago vs. Sandton - Cost of childcare

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pay 20.7% more for entertainment and sports

	Santiago	Sandton
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.49 DOP152.79	$2.25 ZAR37.17	-9.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.80 DOP110.35	$2.44 ZAR40.27	+35.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.81 DOP295.39	$3.25 ZAR53.60	-32.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$24.87 DOP1,527.89	$36.05 ZAR594.66	+45.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.97 DOP305.58	$7.21 ZAR118.93	+45.0%
Average			+20.7%

Santiago vs. Sandton - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 46.3% more for clothing

	Santiago	Sandton
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$26.53 DOP1,629.75	$57.63 ZAR950.55	+117.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$45.60 DOP2,801.14	$45.77 ZAR754.99	+0.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$62.18 DOP3,819.73	$96.14 ZAR1,585.75	+54.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$66.32 DOP4,074.38	$90.13 ZAR1,486.64	+35.9%
Average			+46.3%

Santiago vs. Sandton - Cost of clothing

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We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated October 2026). How we calculate this

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