Cost of Living Comparison

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

United States is 97.5% more expensive than South Africa.

If you lived in United States instead of South Africa, you would:
local_dining

pay 74.8% more for restaurants

  South Africa help_outline United States help_outline  
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $9.30
R122.86
$14.25 +53.2%
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
 $4.56
R60.31
$7.75 +69.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $1.03
R13.65
$1.90 +84.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) $0.80
R10.55
$1.53 +92.0%
Average +74.8%
South Africa vs. United States - Cost of restaurants
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local_grocery_store

pay 97.7% more for groceries

  South Africa help_outline United States help_outline  
Bread
1 loaf
 $0.98
R12.94
$2.71 +177.0%
Local cheese (8 oz) $3.71
R48.98
$5.56 +49.9%
Milk (1 gallon) $4.22
R55.81
$3.22 -23.7%
Eggs
1 dozen
 $2.09
R27.65
$2.30 +9.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) $2.47
R32.60
$4.18 +69.3%
Apples (1 lb) $0.76
R9.99
$2.07 +174.3%
Bananas (1 lb) $0.68
R8.95
$0.75 +10.9%
Oranges (1 lb) $0.74
R9.82
$1.88 +152.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb) $0.68
R8.99
$1.94 +185.3%
Potatoes (1 lb) $0.53
R6.94
$1.24 +135.3%
Onions (1 lb) $0.53
R7.03
$1.25 +134.3%
Average +97.7%
South Africa vs. United States - Cost of groceries
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drive_eta

pay 29.5% more for transportation

  South Africa help_outline United States help_outline  
Gasoline (1 gallon) $4.34
R57.40
$2.62 -39.8%
Monthly public transit pass $44.53
R588.36
$63.05 +41.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $20,553.81
R271,548.69
$23,189.08 +12.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) $8.27
R109.32
$16.83 +103.3%
Average +29.5%
South Africa vs. United States - Cost of transportation
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home

pay 96.5% more for housing

  South Africa help_outline United States help_outline  
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
 $66.03
R872.36
$67.11 +1.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $465.23
R6,146.40
$1,225.46 +163.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $389.59
R5,147.15
$1,034.80 +165.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
 $82.93
R1,095.64
$128.68 +55.2%
Average +96.5%
South Africa vs. United States - Cost of housing
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child_care

pay 3.9 times more for childcare

  South Africa help_outline United States help_outline  
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $210.33
R2,778.79
$891.12 +323.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $4,155.26
R54,897.68
$15,195.09 +265.7%
Average +294.7%
South Africa vs. United States - Cost of childcare
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gamepad

pay 92.6% more for entertainment and sports

  South Africa help_outline United States help_outline  
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $2.11
R27.89
$4.52 +114.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area $2.03
R26.79
$4.18 +106.3%
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
 $3.11
R41.08
$7.90 +153.9%
Monthly membership at local gym $35.66
R471.08
$39.67 +11.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema $6.54
R86.36
$11.58 +77.1%
Average +92.6%
South Africa vs. United States - Cost of entertainment and sports
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store

pay 3.4% less for clothing

  South Africa help_outline United States help_outline  
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
 $51.96
R686.49
$43.02 -17.2%
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
 $34.51
R455.92
$35.26 +2.2%
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
 $90.37
R1,193.97
$75.54 -16.4%
Men's business shoes (leather) $80.93
R1,069.18
$95.31 +17.8%
Average -3.4%
South Africa vs. United States - 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: October 2021
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