Cost of Living Comparison

ZAR

COMPARED TO

USD

United States is 2.4 times more expensive than South Africa.

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

pay 2.1 times more for restaurants

	South Africa	United States
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$7.46 R98.56	$14.02	+88.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$3.77 R49.87	$7.68	+103.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.83 R10.91	$1.89	+129.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.65 R8.53	$1.53	+136.2%
Average			+114.2%

South Africa vs. United States - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.4 times more for groceries

	South Africa	United States
Bread 1 loaf	$0.80 R10.63	$2.69	+234.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.07 R40.62	$5.53	+79.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.49 R46.12	$3.20	-8.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.74 R22.93	$2.34	+34.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.08 R27.47	$4.12	+97.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.64 R8.44	$2.11	+229.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.59 R7.74	$0.77	+30.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.67 R8.87	$1.93	+187.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.58 R7.61	$1.97	+242.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.49 R6.41	$1.30	+166.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.40 R5.28	$1.29	+222.0%
Average			+137.9%

South Africa vs. United States - Cost of groceries

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pay 61.6% more for transportation

	South Africa	United States
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.58 R47.35	$2.62	-27.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$40.96 R541.12	$63.87	+55.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$17,588.39 R232,370.81	$23,180.29	+31.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$6.07 R80.18	$17.33	+185.6%
Average			+61.6%

South Africa vs. United States - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.2 times more for housing

	South Africa	United States
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$55.17 R728.94	$67.35	+22.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$417.96 R5,521.96	$1,222.86	+192.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$350.52 R4,630.96	$1,029.07	+193.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$69.65 R920.22	$127.79	+83.5%
Average			+122.9%

South Africa vs. United States - Cost of housing

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pay 4.9 times more for childcare

	South Africa	United States
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$164.08 R2,167.71	$886.13	+440.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$3,424.43 R45,242.21	$15,193.33	+343.7%
Average			+391.9%

South Africa vs. United States - Cost of childcare

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pay 2.3 times more for entertainment and sports

	South Africa	United States
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.73 R22.89	$4.50	+159.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.58 R20.81	$4.17	+164.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.58 R34.12	$7.76	+200.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$30.59 R404.10	$39.15	+28.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.39 R71.19	$11.52	+113.8%
Average			+133.3%

South Africa vs. United States - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 15.3% more for clothing

	South Africa	United States
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$45.82 R605.32	$43.40	-5.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$28.11 R371.40	$36.02	+28.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$74.53 R984.67	$75.12	+0.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$69.06 R912.33	$95.18	+37.8%
Average			+15.3%

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: March 2021

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