Kingston vs San Jose, Costa Rica - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Kingston	San Jose
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1364	$1398
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$3138	$3421
🏠 One person rent	$654	$662
🏘️ Family rent	$1106	$1102
🍽️ Food expenses	$490	$509
🚐 Transport expenses	$130	$78.6
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$504	$981
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	4 km	7 km
🎓 Higher education	40	60
😀 Quality of life	57	74
🏙️ Population	580K	342K

The cost of living in Kingston is 2% less expensive than in San Jose, Costa Rica. Cities ranked 4339th and 4260th ($1364 vs $1398) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 2nd in Jamaica and Costa Rica, respectively. Check Jamaica vs Costa Rica comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.4 months in Kingston compared to 0.7 months in San Jose, Costa Rica. Kingston ranked 1st best city to live in Jamaica vs San Jose, Costa Rica ranked 1st in Costa Rica, while ranked 6173rd and 2458th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Kingston vs San Jose, Costa Rica infographic

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Prices in Kingston vs San Jose, Costa Rica

Prices for goods and services in Kingston and San Jose are partly crowdsourced by our visitors, just like yourself. Please consider telling us about your city.

	Kingston	San Jose
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$9.4	$10.2
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$84.2	$51.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$8.14	$9.89
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.35	$2.74
☕ Cappuccino	$4.76	$4.55
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.28	$2.09
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$792	$804
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$424	$492
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1427	$1349
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$765	$868
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$100	$54.8
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$152	$84.9
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$56.2	$52.5
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	9.36%	10.54%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2802	$2935
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2172	$1711
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.95	$1
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$48.8	$42.2
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$26	$16.2
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.27	$1.43
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$4.1	$2.08
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$3.83	$2.38
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.58	$2.16
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.54	$3.11
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.2	$11.8
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.21	$8.68
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.6	$13.6
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.04	$4.14
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.08	$1.51
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.3	$4.29
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.04	$3.33
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.08	$3.53
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.94	$3.36
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.97	$1.94
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.75	$3.14
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$11.1	$19.2
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.84	$2.44
🚬 Cigarette pack	$8.69	$5.28
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$7.01	$8.15
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$6	$8.94
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.51	$3.05
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.61	$3.79
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$68.6	$56.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$13.1	$8.97
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$27	$94.6
💇 Haircut, simple	$7.93	$16.8
👖 Brand Jeans	$23.6	$60
👟 Brand Sneakers	$71.3	$126
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$227	$609
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$4783	$12743

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Kingston

Distance	City	Cost of living
4.4 km or 2.7 mi	Half Way Tree	$1223
17 km or 11 mi	Spanish Town	$793
31 km or 19 mi	Linstead	$1055
34 km or 21 mi	Old Harbour	$1030
42 km or 26 mi	Port Antonio	$1164
48 km or 30 mi	May Pen	$947
76 km or 47 mi	Mandeville	$973
131 km or 81 mi	Montego Bay	$1072
144 km or 90 mi	Savanna-la-Mar	$1149
251 km or 156 mi	Santiago de Cuba	$1645
257 km or 160 mi	Yara	$2126
263 km or 164 mi	Palma Soriano	$1266
265 km or 165 mi	Manzanillo	$2761
268 km or 167 mi	Bayamo	$1165
293 km or 182 mi	Guantanamo	$1656
329 km or 205 mi	Holguin	$1354
333 km or 207 mi	Las Tunas	$1574
356 km or 221 mi	Moa	$1884
369 km or 229 mi	Anse-a-Veau	$529
395 km or 245 mi	Miragoane	$528
397 km or 247 mi	Camaguey	$1601
423 km or 263 mi	Florida	$1504
450 km or 280 mi	Saint-Marc	$533
463 km or 288 mi	Gonaives	$544
468 km or 291 mi	Carrefour	$552
475 km or 295 mi	Port-au-Prince	$567
478 km or 297 mi	Ciego de Avila	$1300
479 km or 297 mi	Delmas	$541
480 km or 298 mi	Petion-Ville	$546
499 km or 310 mi	Moron	$1300
504 km or 313 mi	George Town	$3615
520 km or 323 mi	Sancti Spiritus	$1221
522 km or 324 mi	Cap-Haitien	$536
544 km or 338 mi	Cerca-la-Source	$529
568 km or 353 mi	Placetas	$1097
593 km or 369 mi	Santa Clara	$1154
594 km or 369 mi	San Juan de la Maguana	$639
597 km or 371 mi	Sabaneta	$721
600 km or 373 mi	Cienfuegos	$855
602 km or 374 mi	Barahona	$713

Cities near San Jose, Costa Rica

Distance	City	Cost of living
7.9 km or 4.9 mi	Heredia	$1335
17 km or 11 mi	Alajuela	$1303
20 km or 12 mi	Cartago	$1241
82 km or 51 mi	Puntarenas	$821
115 km or 72 mi	Limon	$1288
124 km or 77 mi	Santa Teresa	$1236
167 km or 104 mi	Liberia	$953
197 km or 122 mi	Tamarindo	$1714
244 km or 151 mi	San Juan del Sur	$864
246 km or 153 mi	David	$925
279 km or 173 mi	Juigalpa	$768
302 km or 188 mi	Granada	$698
316 km or 196 mi	Masaya	$790
343 km or 213 mi	Managua	$760
387 km or 241 mi	Matagalpa	$673
398 km or 247 mi	Santiago de Veraguas	$1122
408 km or 253 mi	Jinotega	$467
413 km or 257 mi	Leon	$735
429 km or 266 mi	Esteli	$682
438 km or 272 mi	Penonome	$1150
447 km or 278 mi	Chinandega	$770
457 km or 284 mi	Chitre	$1150
463 km or 288 mi	Colon	$1188
486 km or 302 mi	La Chorrera	$981
508 km or 316 mi	Balboa	$1400
513 km or 319 mi	Panama City	$1560
524 km or 326 mi	Tocumen	$1377
535 km or 333 mi	Pacora	$1371
574 km or 357 mi	Tegucigalpa	$836
596 km or 370 mi	San Miguel	$1097
609 km or 378 mi	Usulutan	$1090
635 km or 395 mi	Comayagua	$739
666 km or 414 mi	Yoro	$729
696 km or 432 mi	San Salvador	$1362
697 km or 433 mi	Soyapango	$1273
701 km or 435 mi	Mejicanos	$1262
702 km or 436 mi	Apopa	$1238
703 km or 437 mi	Santa Tecla	$1182
713 km or 443 mi	La Ceiba	$627
729 km or 453 mi	El Progreso	$780