Cost of living comparison

South Korea

compared to

Jamaica

Kingston vs. Seoul Cost of Living Summary

Kingston is 3.5% cheaper than Seoul.

Restaurants: pay 19.6% more in Kingston
Groceries: pay 6.5% less in Kingston
Transportation: pay 19.3% more in Kingston
Housing: pay 0.9% more in Kingston
Childcare: pay 73.9% less in Kingston
Entertainment and Sports: pay 11.1% more in Kingston
Clothing: pay 14.2% less in Kingston

The cost of restaurants, transportation, entertainment and sports, and housing in Kingston are more expensive than in Seoul. Expenses including childcare, clothing, and groceries are lower in Kingston.

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Kingston vs. Seoul Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Kingston instead of Seoul, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 19.6% more for restaurants

	Seoul	Kingston
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.96 ₩12,215	$13.53 JMD2,152.16	+51.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.46 ₩10,179	$8.18 JMD1,301.30	+9.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.58 ₩2,158	$1.17 JMD186.44	-25.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.79 ₩1,072	$0.72 JMD114.00	-8.8%
Average			+19.6%

Seoul vs. Kingston - Cost of restaurants

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pay 6.5% less for groceries

	Seoul	Kingston
Bread 1 loaf	$3.10 ₩4,224	$3.75 JMD597.11	+21.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.84 ₩12,055	$5.70 JMD906.60	-35.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.79 ₩10,629	$15.66 JMD2,490.37	+100.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.61 ₩4,917	$3.54 JMD562.56	-1.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.74 ₩6,466	$2.86 JMD454.05	-39.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$3.46 ₩4,724	$2.74 JMD435.93	-20.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.57 ₩2,136	$1.76 JMD280.36	+12.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.59 ₩3,537	$3.33 JMD530.17	+28.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.83 ₩3,864	$1.38 JMD219.10	-51.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.66 ₩2,259	$1.47 JMD233.84	-11.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.16 ₩1,575	$1.20 JMD190.91	+3.9%
Average			-6.5%

Seoul vs. Kingston - Cost of groceries

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pay 19.3% more for transportation

	Seoul	Kingston
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.53 ₩7,545	$5.42 JMD861.61	-2.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$46.28 ₩63,112	$37.77 JMD6,006.01	-18.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$29,385.60 ₩40M	$44,062.55 JMD7M	+49.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$8.51 ₩11,604	$26.37 JMD4,194.20	+210.0%
Average			+19.3%

Seoul vs. Kingston - Cost of transportation

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pay 0.9% more for housing

	Seoul	Kingston
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$20.82 ₩28,392	$52.78 JMD8,393.21	+153.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$886.39 ₩1M	$960.80 JMD153K	+8.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$620.25 ₩846K	$569.14 JMD90,507.30	-8.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$162.69 ₩222K	$128.52 JMD20,438.11	-21.0%
Average			+0.9%

Seoul vs. Kingston - Cost of housing

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pay 73.9% less for childcare

	Seoul	Kingston
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,927.59 ₩3M	$361.00 JMD57,407.35	-81.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$22,602.27 ₩31M	$8,238.45 JMD1M	-63.6%
Average			-73.9%

Seoul vs. Kingston - Cost of childcare

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pay 11.1% more for entertainment and sports

	Seoul	Kingston
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.73 ₩5,090	$2.20 JMD350.35	-41.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.10 ₩5,593	$5.31 JMD844.60	+29.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.36 ₩4,581	$9.44 JMD1,501.50	+181.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$58.22 ₩79,399	$61.69 JMD9,809.82	+6.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$11.20 ₩15,269	$13.22 JMD2,102.10	+18.1%
Average			+11.1%

Seoul vs. Kingston - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 14.2% less for clothing

	Seoul	Kingston
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$57.88 ₩78,937	$23.60 JMD3,753.76	-59.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$32.77 ₩44,695	$31.47 JMD5,005.01	-4.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$69.99 ₩95,451	$77.63 JMD12,345.70	+10.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$82.45 ₩112K	$102.81 JMD16,349.71	+24.7%
Average			-14.2%

Seoul vs. Kingston - 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 November 2026). How we calculate this

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