Cost of living comparison

Jamaica

compared to

South Africa

South Africa vs. Jamaica Cost of Living Summary

South Africa is 27.9% cheaper than Jamaica overall.

Restaurants: pay 17.8% less in South Africa
Groceries: pay 52.0% less in South Africa
Transportation: pay 6.0% less in South Africa
Housing: pay 25.6% less in South Africa
Childcare: pay 39.4% less in South Africa
Entertainment and Sports: pay 41.3% less in South Africa
Clothing: pay 31.6% more in South Africa

Expenses including groceries, entertainment and sports, childcare, housing, restaurants, and transportation are lower in South Africa.

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South Africa vs. Jamaica Cost Breakdown

If you lived in South Africa instead of Jamaica, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 17.8% less for restaurants

	Jamaica	South Africa
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$12.69 JMD2,020.87	$10.21 ZAR168.45	-19.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.18 JMD1,302.71	$5.91 ZAR97.49	-27.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.08 JMD172.18	$1.08 ZAR17.88	+0.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.71 JMD113.81	$0.84 ZAR13.78	+16.8%
Average			-17.8%

Jamaica vs. South Africa - Cost of restaurants

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pay 52.0% less for groceries

	Jamaica	South Africa
Bread 1 loaf	$3.00 JMD477.64	$1.07 ZAR17.59	-64.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.70 JMD907.58	$4.08 ZAR67.33	-28.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$13.76 JMD2,190.28	$4.58 ZAR75.49	-66.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.54 JMD563.17	$2.56 ZAR42.28	-27.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.86 JMD454.54	$2.31 ZAR38.16	-19.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.46 JMD391.14	$0.81 ZAR13.40	-66.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.56 JMD247.72	$0.74 ZAR12.13	-52.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.98 JMD475.04	$0.79 ZAR12.95	-73.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.30 JMD206.83	$0.77 ZAR12.71	-40.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.36 JMD216.67	$0.64 ZAR10.62	-52.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.20 JMD191.12	$0.66 ZAR10.85	-45.2%
Average			-52.0%

Jamaica vs. South Africa - Cost of groceries

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pay 6.0% less for transportation

	Jamaica	South Africa
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.18 JMD823.90	$5.49 ZAR90.53	+6.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$37.77 JMD6,012.49	$65.15 ZAR1,074.55	+72.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$44,062.55 JMD7M	$32,517.32 ZAR536K	-26.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$26.21 JMD4,172.00	$7.35 ZAR121.20	-72.0%
Average			-6.0%

Jamaica vs. South Africa - Cost of transportation

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pay 25.6% less for housing

	Jamaica	South Africa
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$51.12 JMD8,137.47	$38.93 ZAR642.17	-23.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$697.95 JMD111K	$421.37 ZAR6,950.09	-39.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$438.00 JMD69,728.23	$369.24 ZAR6,090.32	-15.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$114.56 JMD18,237.90	$105.57 ZAR1,741.24	-7.9%
Average			-25.6%

Jamaica vs. South Africa - Cost of housing

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pay 39.4% less for childcare

	Jamaica	South Africa
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$324.59 JMD51,673.95	$199.53 ZAR3,291.11	-38.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$8,236.21 JMD1M	$4,917.78 ZAR81,113.80	-40.3%
Average			-39.4%

Jamaica vs. South Africa - Cost of childcare

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pay 41.3% less for entertainment and sports

	Jamaica	South Africa
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.20 JMD350.73	$2.25 ZAR37.13	+2.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$5.31 JMD845.51	$2.25 ZAR37.18	-57.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$9.44 JMD1,503.12	$3.16 ZAR52.13	-66.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$55.18 JMD8,784.92	$31.59 ZAR521.05	-42.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$11.65 JMD1,853.85	$7.32 ZAR120.70	-37.2%
Average			-41.3%

Jamaica vs. South Africa - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 31.6% more for clothing

	Jamaica	South Africa
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$23.60 JMD3,757.81	$52.66 ZAR868.55	+123.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$31.47 JMD5,010.41	$34.13 ZAR562.92	+8.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$74.84 JMD11,913.64	$99.75 ZAR1,645.29	+33.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$93.02 JMD14,808.55	$86.61 ZAR1,428.49	-6.9%
Average			+31.6%

Jamaica vs. South Africa - 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: Jamaica vs. South Africa

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in South Africa?

Quality of Life Comparison · 22 statistics

Be 9.8 times more likely to be unemployed in South Africa

Size Comparison · See true size

Jamaica is about 111 times smaller than South Africa.

Moving from Jamaica to South Africa · UN DESA 2020

231 people born in Jamaica live in South Africa.

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