Cape Town vs Chicago - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 01, 2024

	Cape Town	Chicago
🚶 Cost of living one person	$881	$2613
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2144	$6659
🏠 One person rent	$484	$1594
🏘️ Family rent	$966	$3123
🍽️ Food expenses	$259	$649
🚐 Transport expenses	$56.2	$210
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1518	$5285
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Good
✈️ Airport proximity	7 km	15 km
🎓 Higher education	55	100
😀 Quality of life	60	96
🏙️ Population	434K	2.75M

The cost of living in Cape Town is 66% less expensive than in Chicago. Cities ranked 6078th and 505th ($881 vs $2613) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd and 455th in South Africa and the United States, respectively. Check South Africa vs the United States comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.7 months in Cape Town compared to 2 months in Chicago. Cape Town ranked 3rd best city to live in South Africa vs Chicago ranked 2nd in the United States, while ranked 5406th and 16th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Cape Town vs Chicago infographic

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Prices in Cape Town vs Chicago

Prices for goods and services in Cape Town and Chicago are partly crowdsourced by our visitors, just like yourself. Please consider telling us about your city.

	Cape Town	Chicago
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$7.47	$17.5
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$31.2	$80.3
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.87	$10.6
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.04	$6.98
☕ Cappuccino	$1.94	$5.12
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.86	$2.87
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$536	$1958
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$353	$1297
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1202	$3908
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$749	$2652
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$56.2	$103
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$87	$158
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$39.2	$61.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.61%	6.64%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1890	$3227
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1307	$2803
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.04	$2.52
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$34.8	$87.1
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$7.17	$15.1
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.22	$1.1
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1	$1.04
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.92	$3.79
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.38	$4.74
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.39	$3.8
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.96	$14.8
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.26	$12.5
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.2	$19.9
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.4	$5.27
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.46	$1.94
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.39	$5.02
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.39	$4.53
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.36	$2.42
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.31	$2.8
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.58	$1.53
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.3	$2.9
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$4.51	$15.1
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.14	$2.65
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.62	$15.7
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.8	$9.23
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$2.76	$5.71
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.22	$3.85
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.36	$1.94
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$31.3	$73.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$5.42	$14.8
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$32.9	$78.7
💇 Haircut, simple	$10.3	$28.3
👖 Brand Jeans	$42.7	$61.8
👟 Brand Sneakers	$81.4	$99.6
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$172	$2675
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$4013	$15494

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Cape Town

Distance	City	Cost of living
54 km or 33 mi	Paarl	$773
99 km or 62 mi	Worcester	$632
371 km or 231 mi	George	$684
644 km or 400 mi	Uitenhage	$805
662 km or 411 mi	Port Elizabeth	$866
664 km or 413 mi	Upington	$643
754 km or 468 mi	Makhanda	$704
821 km or 510 mi	Komani	$703
833 km or 518 mi	Kimberley	$753
845 km or 525 mi	Bhisho	$710
882 km or 548 mi	East London	$683
912 km or 567 mi	Bloemfontein	$601
950 km or 590 mi	Mafeteng	$511
999 km or 621 mi	Maseru	$535
1002 km or 622 mi	Mthatha	$689
1029 km or 639 mi	Teyateyaneng	$511
1030 km or 640 mi	Welkom	$682
1034 km or 643 mi	Mariental	$765
1092 km or 679 mi	Butha-Buthe	$511
1092 km or 679 mi	Kroonstad	$701
1113 km or 692 mi	Klerksdorp	$621
1135 km or 705 mi	Mmabatho	$719
1155 km or 718 mi	Potchefstroom	$625
1187 km or 737 mi	Rehoboth	$738
1194 km or 742 mi	Lobatse	$631
1198 km or 745 mi	Kanye	$633
1208 km or 751 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$698
1217 km or 756 mi	Vereeniging	$637
1231 km or 765 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$609
1244 km or 773 mi	Soweto	$875
1250 km or 777 mi	Rustenburg	$845
1260 km or 783 mi	Gaborone	$656
1261 km or 783 mi	Molepolole	$603
1261 km or 784 mi	Johannesburg	$908
1267 km or 788 mi	Randburg	$776
1269 km or 789 mi	Windhoek	$807
1270 km or 789 mi	Sandton	$889
1271 km or 790 mi	Durban	$780
1277 km or 794 mi	Gobabis	$751
1279 km or 795 mi	Walvis Bay	$718

Cities near Chicago

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 7 mi	Cicero	$2476
14 km or 8.8 mi	Berwyn	$2544
14 km or 8.9 mi	Oak Park	$2446
16 km or 10 mi	Elmwood Park	$2346
18 km or 11 mi	Maywood	$2387
18 km or 11 mi	Evanston	$2199
19 km or 12 mi	Skokie	$2257
19 km or 12 mi	Burbank	$2326
20 km or 12 mi	Melrose Park	$2317
21 km or 13 mi	Oak Lawn	$2300
22 km or 14 mi	Morton Grove	$2290
22 km or 14 mi	Niles	$2323
23 km or 14 mi	Park Ridge	$2295
23 km or 14 mi	Wilmette	$2245
25 km or 16 mi	Blue Island	$2282
26 km or 16 mi	Elmhurst	$2244
27 km or 17 mi	Glenview	$2264
28 km or 17 mi	Des Plaines	$2215
28 km or 18 mi	Dolton	$2264
29 km or 18 mi	Villa Park	$2204
30 km or 19 mi	Harvey	$2258
30 km or 19 mi	East Chicago	$2013
30 km or 19 mi	Westmont	$2248
31 km or 19 mi	Calumet	$2258
31 km or 20 mi	South Holland	$2240
32 km or 20 mi	Lombard	$2162
32 km or 20 mi	Hammond	$2030
32 km or 20 mi	Oak Forest	$2257
33 km or 20 mi	Northbrook	$2253
33 km or 20 mi	Mount Prospect	$2269
33 km or 20 mi	Darien	$2250
33 km or 21 mi	Elk Grove Village	$2267
34 km or 21 mi	Downers Grove	$2264
35 km or 22 mi	Orland Park	$2238
36 km or 22 mi	Lansing	$2239
36 km or 22 mi	Glen Ellyn	$2089
37 km or 23 mi	Highland Park	$2221
37 km or 23 mi	Munster	$2038
37 km or 23 mi	Tinley Park	$2241
37 km or 23 mi	Wheeling	$2240