Cost of living comparison

South Africa

compared to

United States

Fort Lauderdale vs. South Africa Cost of Living Summary

Fort Lauderdale is 3.0 times more expensive than South Africa overall.

Restaurants: pay 2.6 times more in Fort Lauderdale
Groceries: pay 2.6 times more in Fort Lauderdale
Transportation: pay 28.1% more in Fort Lauderdale
Housing: pay 3.7 times more in Fort Lauderdale
Childcare: pay 7.0 times more in Fort Lauderdale
Entertainment and Sports: pay 2.6 times more in Fort Lauderdale
Clothing: pay 15.6% more in Fort Lauderdale

The cost of childcare, housing, entertainment and sports, groceries, restaurants, and transportation in Fort Lauderdale are more expensive than in South Africa. Notably, childcare, housing, and entertainment and sports are significantly more expensive in Fort Lauderdale.

Fort Lauderdale vs. South Africa Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Fort Lauderdale instead of South Africa, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 2.6 times more for restaurants

	South Africa	Fort Lauderdale
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$9.33 ZAR154.65	$25.00	+167.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.11 ZAR84.71	$11.98	+134.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.03 ZAR17.09	$2.96	+186.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.80 ZAR13.31	$2.04	+154.2%
Average			+160.8%

South Africa vs. Fort Lauderdale - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.6 times more for groceries

	South Africa	Fort Lauderdale
Bread 1 loaf	$1.00 ZAR16.61	$4.48	+346.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.88 ZAR64.36	$8.26	+112.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.37 ZAR72.41	$3.68	-15.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.33 ZAR38.66	$4.37	+87.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.13 ZAR35.36	$4.68	+119.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.73 ZAR12.07	$2.82	+287.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.65 ZAR10.80	$0.78	+19.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.68 ZAR11.32	$2.25	+228.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.71 ZAR11.75	$2.54	+257.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.59 ZAR9.70	$1.41	+140.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.60 ZAR9.94	$1.73	+188.6%
Average			+161.1%

South Africa vs. Fort Lauderdale - Cost of groceries

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pay 28.1% more for transportation

	South Africa	Fort Lauderdale
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.92 ZAR81.57	$3.26	-33.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$56.18 ZAR930.74	$72.50	+29.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$21,394.82 ZAR354K	$29,003.00	+35.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$9.34 ZAR154.71	$16.93	+81.3%
Average			+28.1%

South Africa vs. Fort Lauderdale - Cost of transportation

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pay 3.7 times more for housing

	South Africa	Fort Lauderdale
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$39.36 ZAR652.07	$70.00	+77.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$404.16 ZAR6,696.12	$2,380.22	+488.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$361.59 ZAR5,990.84	$1,983.11	+448.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$88.13 ZAR1,460.11	$136.01	+54.3%
Average			+267.4%

South Africa vs. Fort Lauderdale - Cost of housing

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pay 7.0 times more for childcare

	South Africa	Fort Lauderdale
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$173.48 ZAR2,874.14	$816.67	+370.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$3,962.11 ZAR65,644.32	$37,150.00	+837.6%
Average			+604.2%

South Africa vs. Fort Lauderdale - Cost of childcare

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pay 2.6 times more for entertainment and sports

	South Africa	Fort Lauderdale
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.18 ZAR36.08	$5.00	+129.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.05 ZAR33.95	$5.14	+151.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.96 ZAR49.10	$10.50	+254.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$30.26 ZAR501.37	$72.00	+137.9%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.85 ZAR113.46	$16.50	+140.9%
Average			+162.7%

South Africa vs. Fort Lauderdale - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 15.6% more for clothing

	South Africa	Fort Lauderdale
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$50.74 ZAR840.71	$47.50	-6.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$32.75 ZAR542.65	$43.75	+33.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$94.19 ZAR1,560.56	$93.33	-0.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$81.80 ZAR1,355.19	$111.25	+36.0%
Average			+15.6%

South Africa vs. Fort Lauderdale - 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: June 2026

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South Africa is about 13,545 times bigger than Fort Lauderdale.

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