Cost of living comparison
compared to
Japan vs. Austin Cost of Living Summary
Japan is 30.1% cheaper than Austin.
- Restaurants
-
pay 61.1% less in Japan
- Groceries
-
pay 6.2% less in Japan
- Transportation
-
pay 31.2% more in Japan
- Housing
-
pay 52.9% less in Japan
- Childcare
-
pay 59.2% less in Japan
- Entertainment and Sports
-
pay 37.2% less in Japan
- Clothing
-
pay 25.5% less in Japan
Expenses including restaurants, childcare, housing, entertainment and sports, clothing, and groceries are lower in Japan.
Japan vs. Austin Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Japan instead of Austin, you would:
pay 61.1% less for restaurants
|
Austin
|
Japan
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$20.00
|
$6.60
¥1,026
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$11.00
|
$5.10
¥792
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.67
|
$1.07
¥166
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.09
|
$0.76
¥118
|
|
Austin vs. Japan - Cost of restaurants
pay 6.2% less for groceries
|
Austin
|
Japan
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$3.40
|
$1.50
¥233
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$6.17
|
$5.07
¥787
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$3.93
|
$5.67
¥880
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$4.85
|
$2.08
¥323
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$5.15
|
$2.93
¥455
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$2.20
|
$2.14
¥332
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.70
|
$1.12
¥174
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$1.96
|
$1.69
¥263
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$1.75
|
$2.13
¥331
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.18
|
$1.22
¥189
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.24
|
$1.15
¥179
|
|
Austin vs. Japan - Cost of groceries
pay 31.2% more for transportation
|
Austin
|
Japan
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$2.79
|
$4.39
¥682
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$41.38
|
$59.14
¥9,189
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$27,900.00
|
$22,599.51
¥3,511,060
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$17.67
|
$25.32
¥3,934
|
|
Austin vs. Japan - Cost of transportation
pay 52.9% less for housing
|
Austin
|
Japan
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$68.20
|
$33.91
¥5,269
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$2,134.75
|
$543.18
¥84,389
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$1,434.41
|
$353.61
¥54,937
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$133.86
|
$118.72
¥18,444
|
|
Austin vs. Japan - Cost of housing
pay 59.2% less for childcare
|
Austin
|
Japan
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$1,343.18
|
$296.89
¥46,124
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$22,093.75
|
$13,159.48
¥2,044,457
|
|
Austin vs. Japan - Cost of childcare
pay 37.2% less for entertainment and sports
|
Austin
|
Japan
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$6.00
|
$2.60
¥405
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$5.56
|
$3.03
¥470
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$9.00
|
$3.89
¥604
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$66.33
|
$59.54
¥9,250
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$15.00
|
$12.46
¥1,936
|
|
Austin vs. Japan - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 25.5% less for clothing
|
Austin
|
Japan
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$52.74
|
$44.79
¥6,959
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$43.79
|
$32.04
¥4,978
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$87.55
|
$57.37
¥8,913
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$117.47
|
$87.37
¥13,574
|
|
Austin vs. Japan - Cost of clothing
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: December 2025
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