Cost of living comparison

Cuba

compared to

Jamaica

Jamaica vs. Cuba Cost of Living Summary

Jamaica is 80.2% more expensive than Cuba overall.

Restaurants: pay 91.1% more in Jamaica
Groceries: pay 31.4% more in Jamaica
Transportation: pay 22.8% more in Jamaica
Housing: pay 2.3 times more in Jamaica
Childcare: pay 84.7% more in Jamaica
Entertainment and Sports: pay 4.3 times more in Jamaica
Clothing: pay 0.4% less in Jamaica

The cost of entertainment and sports, housing, restaurants, childcare, groceries, and transportation in Jamaica are more expensive than in Cuba. Notably, entertainment and sports, housing, and restaurants are significantly more expensive in Jamaica.

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Jamaica vs. Cuba Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Jamaica instead of Cuba, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 91.1% more for restaurants

	Cuba	Jamaica
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.71 CUC3.71	$12.69 JMD2,020.87	+242.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.00 CUC5.00	$8.18 JMD1,302.71	+63.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.70 CUC1.70	$1.08 JMD172.18	-36.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.00 CUC1.00	$0.71 JMD113.81	-28.5%
Average			+91.1%

Cuba vs. Jamaica - Cost of restaurants

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pay 31.4% more for groceries

	Cuba	Jamaica
Bread 1 loaf	$1.49 CUC1.49	$3.00 JMD477.64	+101.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$2.22 CUC2.22	$5.70 JMD907.58	+156.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$14.20 CUC14.20	$13.76 JMD2,190.28	-3.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.71 CUC3.71	$3.54 JMD563.17	-4.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.07 CUC2.07	$2.86 JMD454.54	+37.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.75 CUC2.75	$2.46 JMD391.14	-10.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.48 CUC0.48	$1.56 JMD247.72	+221.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.79 CUC1.79	$2.98 JMD475.04	+67.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.04 CUC1.04	$1.30 JMD206.83	+24.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.73 CUC1.73	$1.36 JMD216.67	-21.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.85 CUC1.85	$1.20 JMD191.12	-35.1%
Average			+31.4%

Cuba vs. Jamaica - Cost of groceries

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pay 22.8% more for transportation

	Cuba	Jamaica
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.83 CUC4.83	$5.18 JMD823.90	+7.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$22.50 CUC22.50	$37.77 JMD6,012.49	+67.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$60,000.00 CUC60,000.00	$44,062.55 JMD7M	-26.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$6.20 CUC6.20	$26.21 JMD4,172.00	+322.7%
Average			+22.8%

Cuba vs. Jamaica - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.3 times more for housing

	Cuba	Jamaica
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$90.21 CUC90.21	$51.12 JMD8,137.47	-43.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$254.03 CUC254.03	$697.95 JMD111K	+174.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$214.40 CUC214.40	$438.00 JMD69,728.23	+104.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$36.20 CUC36.20	$114.56 JMD18,237.90	+216.5%
Average			+130.4%

Cuba vs. Jamaica - Cost of housing

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pay 84.7% more for childcare

	Cuba	Jamaica
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$112.00 CUC112.00	$324.59 JMD51,673.95	+189.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$7,000.00 CUC7,000.00	$8,236.21 JMD1M	+17.7%
Average			+84.7%

Cuba vs. Jamaica - Cost of childcare

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pay 4.3 times more for entertainment and sports

	Cuba	Jamaica
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.60 CUC1.60	$2.20 JMD350.73	+37.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.11 CUC1.11	$5.31 JMD845.51	+378.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.00 CUC2.00	$9.44 JMD1,503.12	+372.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$19.00 CUC19.00	$55.18 JMD8,784.92	+190.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$0.85 CUC0.85	$11.65 JMD1,853.85	+1270.0%
Average			+327.6%

Cuba vs. Jamaica - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 0.4% less for clothing

	Cuba	Jamaica
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$37.00 CUC37.00	$23.60 JMD3,757.81	-36.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$37.00 CUC37.00	$31.47 JMD5,010.41	-14.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$68.67 CUC68.67	$74.84 JMD11,913.64	+9.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$56.00 CUC56.00	$93.02 JMD14,808.55	+66.1%
Average			-0.4%

Cuba vs. Jamaica - 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: Cuba vs. Jamaica

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Jamaica?

Quality of Life Comparison · 21 statistics

Be 88.0% more likely to be unemployed in Jamaica

Size Comparison · See true size

Cuba is about 10 times bigger than Jamaica.

Moving from Cuba to Jamaica · UN DESA 2020

1,825 people born in Cuba live in Jamaica.

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