Cost of living comparison

South Africa

compared to

Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico vs. South Africa Cost of Living Summary

Puerto Rico is 70.8% more expensive than South Africa overall.

Restaurants: pay 59.0% more in Puerto Rico
Groceries: pay 2.1 times more in Puerto Rico
Transportation: pay 11.4% less in Puerto Rico
Housing: pay 2.2 times more in Puerto Rico
Childcare: pay 2.8 times more in Puerto Rico
Entertainment and Sports: pay 27.8% more in Puerto Rico
Clothing: pay 12.0% more in Puerto Rico

The cost of childcare, housing, groceries, restaurants, entertainment and sports, and clothing in Puerto Rico are more expensive than in South Africa. Notably, childcare, housing, and groceries are significantly more expensive in Puerto Rico.

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Puerto Rico vs. South Africa Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Puerto Rico instead of South Africa, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 59.0% more for restaurants

	South Africa	Puerto Rico
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$10.21 ZAR168.45	$16.34	+60.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.91 ZAR97.49	$9.24	+56.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.08 ZAR17.88	$1.74	+60.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.84 ZAR13.78	$1.35	+62.1%
Average			+59.0%

South Africa vs. Puerto Rico - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.1 times more for groceries

	South Africa	Puerto Rico
Bread 1 loaf	$1.07 ZAR17.59	$3.37	+215.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.08 ZAR67.33	$5.35	+31.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.58 ZAR75.49	$7.71	+68.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.56 ZAR42.28	$6.03	+135.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.31 ZAR38.16	$3.95	+70.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.81 ZAR13.40	$2.15	+164.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.74 ZAR12.13	$1.17	+58.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.79 ZAR12.95	$1.88	+139.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.77 ZAR12.71	$2.09	+170.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.64 ZAR10.62	$1.43	+122.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.66 ZAR10.85	$1.54	+134.5%
Average			+112.4%

South Africa vs. Puerto Rico - Cost of groceries

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pay 11.4% less for transportation

	South Africa	Puerto Rico
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.49 ZAR90.53	$4.08	-25.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$65.15 ZAR1,074.55	$37.75	-42.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$32,517.32 ZAR536K	$38,571.43	+18.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$7.35 ZAR121.20	$14.50	+97.3%
Average			-11.4%

South Africa vs. Puerto Rico - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.2 times more for housing

	South Africa	Puerto Rico
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$38.93 ZAR642.17	$66.43	+70.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$421.37 ZAR6,950.09	$1,098.02	+160.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$369.24 ZAR6,090.32	$722.33	+95.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$105.57 ZAR1,741.24	$228.66	+116.6%
Average			+121.3%

South Africa vs. Puerto Rico - Cost of housing

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pay 2.8 times more for childcare

	South Africa	Puerto Rico
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$199.53 ZAR3,291.11	$700.71	+251.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$4,917.78 ZAR81,113.80	$10,819.51	+120.0%
Average			+178.0%

South Africa vs. Puerto Rico - Cost of childcare

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pay 27.8% more for entertainment and sports

	South Africa	Puerto Rico
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.25 ZAR37.13	$2.61	+15.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.25 ZAR37.18	$2.78	+23.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.16 ZAR52.13	$11.22	+255.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$31.59 ZAR521.05	$29.37	-7.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.32 ZAR120.70	$9.50	+29.8%
Average			+27.8%

South Africa vs. Puerto Rico - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 12.0% more for clothing

	South Africa	Puerto Rico
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$52.66 ZAR868.55	$52.28	-0.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$34.13 ZAR562.92	$47.82	+40.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$99.75 ZAR1,645.29	$96.61	-3.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$86.61 ZAR1,428.49	$101.25	+16.9%
Average			+12.0%

South Africa vs. Puerto Rico - 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

Compare further: South Africa vs. Puerto Rico

Salary Calculator · Free tool

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Quality of Life Comparison · 18 statistics

Make 6.2 times more money in Puerto Rico

Size Comparison · See true size

South Africa is about 134 times bigger than Puerto Rico.

Moving from South Africa to Puerto Rico · Cost, visas & climate

Compare cost of living, salary and climate.

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