Cost of Living Comparison

  1. Cost of Living
  2. South Africa
  3. United States
  4. New York
  5. Comparison
ZAR
COMPARED TO
USD

New York is 2.8 times more expensive than South Africa.

If you lived in New York instead of South Africa, you would:
local_dining

pay 2.4 times more for restaurants

  South Africa help_outline New York help_outline  
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $7.46
R98.56
$16.54 +121.7%
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
 $3.77
R49.87
$8.22 +117.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $0.83
R10.91
$1.99 +140.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) $0.65
R8.53
$1.69 +162.0%
Average +135.6%
South Africa vs. New York - Cost of restaurants
Improve prices · Change currency (USD)
local_grocery_store

pay 2.5 times more for groceries

  South Africa help_outline New York help_outline  
Bread
1 loaf
 $0.80
R10.63
$2.83 +252.2%
Local cheese (8 oz) $3.07
R40.62
$5.82 +89.2%
Milk (1 gallon) $3.49
R46.12
$3.60 +3.0%
Eggs
1 dozen
 $1.74
R22.93
$2.51 +44.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) $2.08
R27.47
$4.20 +102.0%
Apples (1 lb) $0.64
R8.44
$2.11 +229.6%
Bananas (1 lb) $0.59
R7.74
$0.75 +27.9%
Oranges (1 lb) $0.67
R8.87
$2.07 +208.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb) $0.58
R7.61
$2.24 +289.0%
Potatoes (1 lb) $0.49
R6.41
$1.35 +178.9%
Onions (1 lb) $0.40
R5.28
$1.36 +240.2%
Average +151.4%
South Africa vs. New York - Cost of groceries
Improve prices · Change currency (USD)
drive_eta

pay 2.0 times more for transportation

  South Africa help_outline New York help_outline  
Gasoline (1 gallon) $3.58
R47.35
$2.64 -26.3%
Monthly public transit pass $40.96
R541.12
$114.92 +180.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $17,588.39
R232,370.81
$24,097.40 +37.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) $6.07
R80.18
$19.22 +216.7%
Average +102.0%
South Africa vs. New York - Cost of transportation
Improve prices · Change currency (USD)
home

pay 2.7 times more for housing

  South Africa help_outline New York help_outline  
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
 $55.17
R728.94
$66.75 +21.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $417.96
R5,521.96
$1,623.24 +288.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $350.52
R4,630.96
$1,350.32 +285.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
 $69.65
R920.22
$124.44 +78.7%
Average +168.3%
South Africa vs. New York - Cost of housing
Improve prices · Change currency (USD)
child_care

pay 5.9 times more for childcare

  South Africa help_outline New York help_outline  
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $164.08
R2,167.71
$1,056.71 +544.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $3,424.43
R45,242.21
$18,103.69 +428.7%
Average +486.4%
South Africa vs. New York - Cost of childcare
Improve prices · Change currency (USD)
gamepad

pay 2.8 times more for entertainment and sports

  South Africa help_outline New York help_outline  
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $1.73
R22.89
$5.11 +195.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area $1.58
R20.81
$4.03 +156.0%
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
 $2.58
R34.12
$11.77 +355.9%
Monthly membership at local gym $30.59
R404.10
$41.61 +36.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema $5.39
R71.19
$13.69 +154.0%
Average +179.4%
South Africa vs. New York - Cost of entertainment and sports
Improve prices · Change currency (USD)
store

pay 14.3% more for clothing

  South Africa help_outline New York help_outline  
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
 $45.82
R605.32
$44.22 -3.5%
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
 $28.11
R371.40
$36.40 +29.5%
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
 $74.53
R984.67
$72.06 -3.3%
Men's business shoes (leather) $69.06
R912.33
$92.93 +34.6%
Average +14.3%
South Africa vs. New York - Cost of clothing
Improve prices · Change currency (USD)
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: January 2021
More cost of living comparisons
South Africa vs. Turkey
South Africa vs. India
South Africa vs. Greece
New York vs. Cambodia
New York vs. Russia
New York vs. Peru
Help us improve these prices
MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location (Ashburn, VA, United States) to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more
Contribute prices for New York
Compare countries by overall cost of living
See the cost of living in South Africa vs. United States. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within South Africa and United States.