Cost of living comparison

compared to

Kenya vs. South Africa Cost of Living Summary

Kenya is 17.4% cheaper than South Africa overall.

Restaurants: pay 33.0% less in Kenya
Groceries: pay 19.9% less in Kenya
Transportation: pay 1.5% less in Kenya
Housing: pay 48.2% less in Kenya
Childcare: pay 43.5% more in Kenya
Entertainment and Sports: pay 3.1% less in Kenya
Clothing: pay 59.4% less in Kenya

Expenses including clothing, housing, restaurants, groceries, entertainment and sports, and transportation are lower in Kenya.

Kenya vs. South Africa Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Kenya instead of South Africa, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 33.0% less for restaurants

	South Africa	Kenya
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$9.33 ZAR159.73	$3.74 KES484.15	-59.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.11 ZAR87.49	$6.17 KES798.62	+20.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.03 ZAR17.65	$0.54 KES69.44	-48.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.80 ZAR13.74	$0.44 KES57.53	-44.7%
Average			-33.0%

South Africa vs. Kenya - Cost of restaurants

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pay 19.9% less for groceries

	South Africa	Kenya
Bread 1 loaf	$1.00 ZAR17.16	$0.54 KES70.01	-46.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.88 ZAR66.47	$4.37 KES565.28	+12.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.37 ZAR74.79	$2.52 KES326.23	-42.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.33 ZAR39.93	$1.60 KES207.28	-31.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.13 ZAR36.52	$2.57 KES332.87	+20.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.73 ZAR12.46	$1.08 KES139.60	+48.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.65 ZAR11.16	$0.40 KES51.88	-38.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.68 ZAR11.70	$0.69 KES89.87	+1.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.71 ZAR12.14	$0.32 KES41.21	-55.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.59 ZAR10.02	$0.30 KES38.21	-49.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.60 ZAR10.27	$0.37 KES47.67	-38.6%
Average			-19.9%

South Africa vs. Kenya - Cost of groceries

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pay 1.5% less for transportation

	South Africa	Kenya
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.92 ZAR84.25	$5.40 KES698.69	+9.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$56.18 ZAR961.29	$26.41 KES3,419.10	-53.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$21,394.82 ZAR366,106.47	$19,331.14 KES2,502,416.20	-9.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$9.34 ZAR159.79	$13.74 KES1,778.12	+47.1%
Average			-1.5%

South Africa vs. Kenya - Cost of transportation

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pay 48.2% less for housing

	South Africa	Kenya
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$39.36 ZAR673.48	$37.35 KES4,834.47	-5.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$404.16 ZAR6,915.94	$194.00 KES25,113.52	-52.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$361.59 ZAR6,187.51	$131.26 KES16,990.97	-63.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$88.13 ZAR1,508.04	$24.47 KES3,167.26	-72.2%
Average			-48.2%

South Africa vs. Kenya - Cost of housing

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pay 43.5% more for childcare

	South Africa	Kenya
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$173.48 ZAR2,968.50	$172.28 KES22,301.68	-0.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$3,962.11 ZAR67,799.29	$7,439.34 KES963,022.59	+87.8%
Average			+43.5%

South Africa vs. Kenya - Cost of childcare

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pay 3.1% less for entertainment and sports

	South Africa	Kenya
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.18 ZAR37.27	$2.03 KES262.67	-6.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.05 ZAR35.06	$2.28 KES294.98	+11.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.96 ZAR50.72	$2.80 KES362.51	-5.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$30.26 ZAR517.83	$29.27 KES3,788.44	-3.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.85 ZAR117.19	$6.10 KES790.23	-10.9%
Average			-3.1%

South Africa vs. Kenya - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 59.4% less for clothing

	South Africa	Kenya
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$50.74 ZAR868.31	$12.46 KES1,612.32	-75.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$32.75 ZAR560.46	$20.02 KES2,592.06	-38.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$94.19 ZAR1,611.79	$34.44 KES4,457.72	-63.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$81.80 ZAR1,399.67	$32.93 KES4,262.80	-59.7%
Average			-59.4%

South Africa vs. Kenya - 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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