Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Lisbon and Montego Bay

For one person, living is cheaper in Montego Bay: $1,169 a month against $2,210 in Lisbon, rent and utilities included – about $12,500 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

107

Cost of Living Index in Lisbon
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Lisbon Living Index
56

Cost of Living Index in Montego Bay
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Montego Bay Living Index

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Lisbon

🇵🇹 Portugal

$2,210

/mo nomad

Montego Bay

🇯🇲 Jamaica

$1,169

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Lisbon and in Montego Bay

Real prices from locals and on-the-ground checks – rent, groceries, transit and the daily extras. Here's what a month in Lisbon and in Montego Bay actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $2,210 in Lisbon versus $1,169 in Montego Bay.

Lisbon $2,210
Montego Bay $1,169

Estimated couple costs with rent: $3,275 in Lisbon versus $2,160 in Montego Bay.

Lisbon $3,275
Montego Bay $2,160

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $4,341 in Lisbon versus $3,152 in Montego Bay.

Lisbon $4,341
Montego Bay $3,152

Living in Lisbon is roughly 89% more expensive than in Montego Bay, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in clothing.

The two cities straddle the global median: Lisbon is 62% above, Montego Bay is 14% below.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$16.65 €14.95

$11.11 JMD 1,752

49.86%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$61.7 €55.5

$76.2 JMD 12.0K

-18.93%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$11.36 €10.20

$8.33 JMD 1,314

36.37%

Cappuccino

$2.97 €2.67

$5.38 JMD 848

-44.80%

Coke/Pepsi/Fanta/Sprite (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.29 €2.06

$0.86 JMD 136

166.28%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.74 €1.56

$0.74 JMD 117

135.14%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.40 €3.06

$2.23 JMD 351

52.47%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.31 €2.97

$3.21 JMD 506

3.12%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.16 €1.04

$3.25 JMD 513

-64.31%

White Bread (500g)

$1.91 €1.72

$2.64 JMD 417

-27.65%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.51 €1.36

$1.38 JMD 218

9.42%

Eggs

$4.02 €3.61

$3.50 JMD 552

14.86%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$12.94 €11.62

$11.40 JMD 1,797

13.51%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$7.77 €6.98

$6.35 JMD 1,002

22.36%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$17.76 €15.95

$8.88 JMD 1,400

100.00%

Apples (1kg)

$2.30 €2.07

$4.28 JMD 675

-46.26%

Banana (1kg)

$1.73 €1.56

$2.56 JMD 403

-32.42%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.86 €1.67

$7.18 JMD 1,132

-74.09%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.59 €2.33

$2.56 JMD 404

1.17%

Potato (1kg)

$1.82 €1.64

$2.50 JMD 394

-27.20%

Onion (1kg)

$1.97 €1.77

$2.61 JMD 411

-24.52%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.47 €1.32

$2.50 JMD 394

-41.20%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.72 €0.65

$0.80 JMD 127

-10.00%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$6.58 €5.91

$9.50 JMD 1,498

-30.74%

Wine (Bottle)

$5.61 €5.04

$11.47 JMD 1,809

-51.09%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.36 €1.22

$2.89 JMD 456

-52.94%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.14 €1.92

$3.93 JMD 620

-45.55%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$2.33 €2.10

$0.95 JMD 150

145.26%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$44.68 €40.14

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$3.85 €3.46

$0.91 JMD 143

323.08%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.07 €0.96

$3.17 JMD 500

-66.25%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$16.46 €14.79

$6.33 JMD 998

160.03%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$2.20 €1.98

$1.39 JMD 220

58.27%

Midsize Hatchback 1.4l (Volkswagen Golf, Toyota Prius, Honda Civic, etc)

$34.2K €30.7K

$43.9K JMD 6.9M

-22.10%

Compact Sedan 1.6l (Toyota Corolla, Mazda3, Kia K4, Hyundai Elantra, etc)

$38.7K €34.8K

$33.0K JMD 5.2M

17.41%

Utilities for 2 People in 2-bedroom Apartment (Heating, Electricity, Gas, Water, Garbage) (85m2)

$161 €145

$167 JMD 26.3K

-3.28%

SIM Card Monthly Plan (Calls and 10GB+ Data)

$18.41 €16.54

$22.32 JMD 3,519

-17.52%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$32.74 €29.41

$47.00 JMD 7,412

-30.34%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$44.55 €40.02

$43.62 JMD 6,879

2.13%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$19.10 €17.16

Cinema Ticket

$9.60 €8.62

$8.63 JMD 1,360

11.24%

Preschool or Kindergarten, Full Day, Private, 1 Child (Monthly)

$668 €600

$365 JMD 57.5K

82.97%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$17.6K €15.8K

$8,368 JMD 1.3M

110.50%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$102 €91.6

$23.16 JMD 3,652

340.50%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$44.46 €39.94

$31.56 JMD 4,977

40.87%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$98.5 €88.5

$68.9 JMD 10.9K

43.00%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$124 €111

$103 JMD 16.2K

20.48%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,608 €1,445

$313 JMD 49.3K

414.54%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,190 €1,069

$220 JMD 34.7K

441.04%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$2,812 €2,526

$951 JMD 150.0K

195.70%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$2,013 €1,808

$955 JMD 150.7K

110.71%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$7,839 €7,042

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$4,576 €4,110

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$1,575 €1,415

$590 JMD 93.0K

166.96%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

3.85

9.45

-59.26%

CityCost data is based on AI and user input – minor inaccuracies may occur.

Last update for Lisbon: October 27, 2026

Last update for Montego Bay: October 25, 2026

Monthly budget structure

Share of the monthly basket for one person, rent included.

Accommodation & Living

Lisbon

$1.2K 53.8%

Montego Bay

$220 18.8% 81.5% $970

Groceries & Markets

Lisbon

$272 12.3%

Montego Bay

$327 28% 20.1% $55

Eating Out

Lisbon

$243 11%

Montego Bay

$202 17.3% 16.6% $40

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Lisbon

$212 9.6%

Montego Bay

$236 20.2% 11.1% $24

Clothing & Footwear

Lisbon

$166 7.5%

Montego Bay

$102 8.7% 38.6% $64

Sport & Entertainment

Lisbon

$64 2.9%

Montego Bay

$61 5.2% 4.5% $2.9

Getting Around

Lisbon

$63 2.9%

Montego Bay

$21 * 1.8% 67.5% $43

Categories marked with * are only partly priced – their share counts the items that do have prices.

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $1,608 in Lisbon and $313 in Montego Bay. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Lisbon pays about 2.7 times more on average. How far that income stretches comes down to housing choices and lifestyle.

Dining out: $62 in Lisbon vs $76 in Montego Bay for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $272 vs $327 per month, with Lisbon cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇵🇹 Lisbon

🇯🇲 Montego Bay

🕒 Local time

20:35 8:35 PM

15:35 3:35 PM

5 h behind Lisbon

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

545,923 Capital

110,115

💱 Currency

Euro EUR €

Jamaican Dollar JMD $

📈 Exchange rate

1 EUR = 1.11 USD

1,000 JMD = 6.34 USD

1,000 JMD = 5.7 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

JMD, USD to EUR – Euro Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇪🇺 Euro (€)

Euro exchange rates as of October 28, 2026: 1 USD = 0.898 EUR (1 EUR = 1.11 USD).

Jamaican Dollar exchange rates as of October 28, 2026: 1 USD = 158 JMD (1,000 JMD = 6.34 USD). 1 EUR = 176 JMD (1,000 JMD = 5.7 EUR).

USD to EUR in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Lisbon Montego Bay 6,920 km ≈ 9 h nonstop flight

From you

Lisbon
Montego Bay

Distances are measured in a straight line. Your location is detected approximately.

City Median Internet Speeds Comparison (Updated April 2026)

The chart highlights the Precision Threshold for mobile and fixed broadband internet speeds, updated quarterly.

Digital Nomad Cost of Living Index

Lisbon vs Montego Bay: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Total monthly costs including rent come to $2,210 in Lisbon and $1,169 in Montego Bay, so Montego Bay is about 47% cheaper – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

Average pay in Lisbon is about 2.7 times higher, which matters when comparing affordability. Whether that higher income actually nets you more depends on your spending habits and housing choices.

Rent for a central apartment: $1,608 in Lisbon versus $313 in Montego Bay. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Shoppers in Lisbon pay roughly 17% less for everyday groceries. It’s an unusual reversal that partly offsets higher costs elsewhere.

All in, you’ll spend $2,210 per month in Lisbon versus $1,169 in Montego Bay – Montego Bay is about 47% cheaper, which adds up to real savings over time.

Both cities are expensive relative to $1,000. Montego Bay is the more realistic option, but even there you’ll need to be disciplined with housing, food, and fun money.

Both cities offer a good standard of living with different trade-offs. Neither is objectively better – the right pick depends on what matters most: affordability, career, cultural scene, or climate.

It comes down to priorities – Montego Bay wins on affordability, Lisbon on earning potential. Factor in climate, language, visa rules, and proximity to places that matter to you before deciding.