Cost of living comparison

Bern, Switzerland

compared to

Kingston, Jamaica

Kingston vs. Bern Cost of Living Summary

Kingston is 44.5% cheaper than Bern.

Restaurants: pay 67.5% less in Kingston
Groceries: pay 6.9% more in Kingston
Transportation: pay 30.3% less in Kingston
Housing: pay 34.4% less in Kingston
Childcare: pay 93.2% less in Kingston
Entertainment and Sports: pay 27.4% less in Kingston
Clothing: pay 65.6% less in Kingston

Expenses including childcare, restaurants, clothing, housing, transportation, and entertainment and sports are lower in Kingston.

Kingston vs. Bern Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 67.5% less for restaurants

	Bern	Kingston
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$26.23 CHF21.98	$7.52 JMD1,198.08	-71.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$17.11 CHF14.33	$8.62 JMD1,372.80	-49.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$4.65 CHF3.90	$1.41 JMD225.02	-69.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$4.30 CHF3.61	$0.88 JMD139.78	-79.6%
Average			-67.5%

Bern vs. Kingston - Cost of restaurants

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pay 6.9% more for groceries

	Bern	Kingston
Bread 1 loaf	$3.23 CHF2.71	$3.54 JMD564.33	+9.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$13.69 CHF11.47	$6.58 JMD1,047.68	-52.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.62 CHF6.38	$15.26 JMD2,431.02	+100.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.84 CHF4.89	$4.27 JMD680.57	-26.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$13.31 CHF11.15	$2.97 JMD472.94	-77.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.48 CHF1.24	$2.70 JMD430.48	+82.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.08 CHF0.90	$1.39 JMD220.82	+28.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.16 CHF0.97	$1.82 JMD290.51	+57.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.71 CHF2.27	$1.59 JMD253.84	-41.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.06 CHF0.89	$1.04 JMD166.05	-1.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.98 CHF0.82	$0.95 JMD151.13	-3.3%
Average			+6.9%

Bern vs. Kingston - Cost of groceries

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pay 30.3% less for transportation

	Bern	Kingston
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$7.86 CHF6.59	$4.83 JMD770.23	-38.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$91.24 CHF76.45	$37.59 JMD5,990.39	-58.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$37,408.50 CHF31,342.53	$42,920.30 JMD6,839,024.59	+14.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$43.00 CHF36.02	$26.32 JMD4,193.27	-38.8%
Average			-30.3%

Bern vs. Kingston - Cost of transportation

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pay 34.4% less for housing

	Bern	Kingston
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$48.66 CHF40.77	$52.89 JMD8,427.28	+8.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,382.42 CHF1,158.25	$874.50 JMD139,345.10	-36.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$978.93 CHF820.19	$425.21 JMD67,753.37	-56.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$253.38 CHF212.29	$118.83 JMD18,934.32	-53.1%
Average			-34.4%

Bern vs. Kingston - Cost of housing

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pay 93.2% less for childcare

	Bern	Kingston
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$3,022.33 CHF2,532.25	$227.66 JMD36,275.12	-92.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$34,215.09 CHF28,666.95	$2,105.29 JMD335,461.64	-93.8%
Average			-93.2%

Bern vs. Kingston - Cost of childcare

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pay 27.4% less for entertainment and sports

	Bern	Kingston
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$7.41 CHF6.21	$3.13 JMD499.20	-57.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$5.39 CHF4.52	$4.28 JMD682.45	-20.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$10.26 CHF8.60	$8.77 JMD1,397.76	-14.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$71.17 CHF59.63	$69.97 JMD11,148.77	-1.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$22.81 CHF19.11	$13.16 JMD2,096.64	-42.3%
Average			-27.4%

Bern vs. Kingston - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 65.6% less for clothing

	Bern	Kingston
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$142.37 CHF119.29	$26.32 JMD4,193.27	-81.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$63.68 CHF53.35	$25.59 JMD4,076.79	-59.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$167.27 CHF140.15	$71.01 JMD11,315.17	-57.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$189.00 CHF158.35	$68.92 JMD10,982.38	-63.5%
Average			-65.6%

Bern vs. Kingston - Cost of clothing

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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: May 2025

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