Cost of living comparison

Wellington, New Zealand

compared to

Kingston, Jamaica

Kingston vs. Wellington Cost of Living Summary

Kingston is 26.0% cheaper than Wellington.

Restaurants: pay 39.5% less in Kingston
Groceries: pay 27.2% more in Kingston
Transportation: pay 6.4% less in Kingston
Housing: pay 30.8% less in Kingston
Childcare: pay 78.7% less in Kingston
Entertainment and Sports: pay 2.4% less in Kingston
Clothing: pay 51.5% less in Kingston

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

Kingston vs. Wellington Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 39.5% less for restaurants

	Wellington	Kingston
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$14.93 NZ$26.12	$7.52 JMD1,181.92	-49.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.96 NZ$15.67	$8.62 JMD1,354.28	-3.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.57 NZ$4.50	$1.41 JMD221.99	-45.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.15 NZ$3.77	$0.88 JMD137.89	-59.3%
Average			-39.5%

Wellington vs. Kingston - Cost of restaurants

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pay 27.2% more for groceries

	Wellington	Kingston
Bread 1 loaf	$1.96 NZ$3.43	$3.54 JMD556.71	+80.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.15 NZ$7.26	$6.58 JMD1,033.55	+58.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.98 NZ$12.21	$15.26 JMD2,398.23	+118.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$6.84 NZ$11.97	$4.27 JMD671.39	-37.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$5.06 NZ$8.85	$2.97 JMD466.56	-41.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.40 NZ$2.44	$2.70 JMD424.67	+93.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.09 NZ$1.91	$1.39 JMD217.84	+27.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.48 NZ$2.58	$1.82 JMD286.59	+23.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.61 NZ$4.57	$1.59 JMD250.42	-39.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.01 NZ$1.77	$1.04 JMD163.81	+2.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.84 NZ$1.47	$0.95 JMD149.09	+13.1%
Average			+27.2%

Wellington vs. Kingston - Cost of groceries

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pay 6.4% less for transportation

	Wellington	Kingston
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.42 NZ$11.23	$4.83 JMD759.84	-24.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$127.57 NZ$223.15	$37.59 JMD5,909.58	-70.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$34,339.84 NZ$60,071.44	$42,920.30 JMD6,746,766.04	+25.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$18.22 NZ$31.86	$26.32 JMD4,136.70	+44.5%
Average			-6.4%

Wellington vs. Kingston - Cost of transportation

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pay 30.8% less for housing

	Wellington	Kingston
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$54.27 NZ$94.93	$52.89 JMD8,313.60	-2.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,487.35 NZ$2,601.85	$874.50 JMD137,465.33	-41.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,335.17 NZ$2,335.65	$425.21 JMD66,839.37	-68.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$134.11 NZ$234.60	$118.83 JMD18,678.90	-11.4%
Average			-30.8%

Wellington vs. Kingston - Cost of housing

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pay 78.7% less for childcare

	Wellington	Kingston
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$871.44 NZ$1,524.42	$227.66 JMD35,785.77	-73.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$12,649.75 NZ$22,128.49	$2,105.29 JMD330,936.26	-83.4%
Average			-78.7%

Wellington vs. Kingston - Cost of childcare

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pay 2.4% less for entertainment and sports

	Wellington	Kingston
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$7.17 NZ$12.54	$3.13 JMD492.46	-56.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.41 NZ$5.97	$4.28 JMD673.25	+25.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$24.46 NZ$42.78	$8.77 JMD1,378.90	-64.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$39.85 NZ$69.71	$69.97 JMD10,998.38	+75.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$12.24 NZ$21.42	$13.16 JMD2,068.35	+7.5%
Average			-2.4%

Wellington vs. Kingston - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 51.5% less for clothing

	Wellington	Kingston
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$75.78 NZ$132.56	$26.32 JMD4,136.70	-65.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$55.09 NZ$96.38	$25.59 JMD4,021.79	-53.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$119.44 NZ$208.94	$71.01 JMD11,162.53	-40.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$129.60 NZ$226.70	$68.92 JMD10,834.22	-46.8%
Average			-51.5%

Wellington 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: April 2025

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See the cost of living in New Zealand vs. Jamaica. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within New Zealand and Jamaica.

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