Cost of living comparison
compared to
Cape Town vs. United States Cost of Living Summary
Cape Town is 42.0% cheaper than United States overall.
- Restaurants
-
pay 50.5% less in Cape Town
- Groceries
-
pay 44.9% less in Cape Town
- Transportation
-
pay 23.2% less in Cape Town
- Housing
-
pay 46.7% less in Cape Town
- Childcare
-
pay 80.8% less in Cape Town
- Entertainment and Sports
-
pay 48.4% less in Cape Town
- Clothing
-
pay 0.4% more in Cape Town
Expenses including childcare, restaurants, entertainment and sports, housing, groceries, and transportation are lower in Cape Town.
Cape Town vs. United States Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Cape Town instead of United States, you would:
pay 50.5% less for restaurants
|
United States
|
Cape Town
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$19.45
|
$11.47
ZAR194.18
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$11.12
|
$5.16
ZAR87.38
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.56
|
$1.20
ZAR20.35
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.00
|
$0.92
ZAR15.53
|
|
United States vs. Cape Town - Cost of restaurants
pay 44.9% less for groceries
|
United States
|
Cape Town
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$3.56
|
$1.14
ZAR19.21
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$6.50
|
$4.37
ZAR73.94
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$3.97
|
$4.50
ZAR76.09
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$4.27
|
$2.49
ZAR42.19
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$5.41
|
$2.43
ZAR41.18
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$2.37
|
$0.78
ZAR13.27
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.78
|
$0.76
ZAR12.83
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$2.04
|
$0.74
ZAR12.54
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$2.21
|
$0.78
ZAR13.19
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.34
|
$0.60
ZAR10.08
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.38
|
$0.62
ZAR10.51
|
|
United States vs. Cape Town - Cost of groceries
pay 23.2% less for transportation
|
United States
|
Cape Town
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$3.41
|
$4.73
ZAR80.12
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$65.85
|
$28.68
ZAR485.44
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$32,336.38
|
$21,796.50
ZAR368,934.03
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$17.61
|
$10.15
ZAR171.85
|
|
United States vs. Cape Town - Cost of transportation
pay 46.7% less for housing
|
United States
|
Cape Town
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$68.97
|
$42.97
ZAR727.40
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$1,664.59
|
$838.02
ZAR14,184.54
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$1,416.15
|
$559.94
ZAR9,477.63
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$150.19
|
$91.96
ZAR1,556.46
|
|
United States vs. Cape Town - Cost of housing
pay 80.8% less for childcare
|
United States
|
Cape Town
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$1,387.27
|
$228.00
ZAR3,859.24
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$23,196.46
|
$5,090.62
ZAR86,165.43
|
|
United States vs. Cape Town - Cost of childcare
pay 48.4% less for entertainment and sports
|
United States
|
Cape Town
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$5.84
|
$2.87
ZAR48.54
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$5.15
|
$2.12
ZAR35.82
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$9.90
|
$3.15
ZAR53.40
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$51.45
|
$44.05
ZAR745.55
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$13.64
|
$6.88
ZAR116.51
|
|
United States vs. Cape Town - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 0.4% more for clothing
|
United States
|
Cape Town
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$51.08
|
$55.23
ZAR934.82
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$41.81
|
$33.91
ZAR573.94
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$87.56
|
$117.06
ZAR1,981.48
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$112.04
|
$88.13
ZAR1,491.79
|
|
United States vs. Cape Town - Cost of clothing
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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