Cost of living comparison

compared to

HsinChu vs. Chiba Cost of Living Summary

HsinChu is 13.3% cheaper than Chiba.

Restaurants
pay 22.3% less in HsinChu
Groceries
pay 15.1% more in HsinChu
Transportation
pay 5.0% less in HsinChu
Housing
pay 37.1% less in HsinChu
Childcare
pay 41.8% more in HsinChu
Entertainment and Sports
pay 2.9% less in HsinChu
Clothing
pay 13.7% more in HsinChu

The cost of childcare, groceries, and clothing in HsinChu are more expensive than in Chiba. Expenses including housing, restaurants, transportation, and entertainment and sports are lower in HsinChu.

HsinChu vs. Chiba Cost Breakdown

If you lived in HsinChu instead of Chiba, you would:

pay 22.3% less for restaurants

 
Chiba
HsinChu
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $6.33
¥1,000
$3.77
NT$122.24
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$4.74
¥750
$4.71
NT$152.81
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $1.01
¥160
$0.94
NT$30.39

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pay 15.1% more for groceries

 
Chiba
HsinChu
Bread
1 loaf
$1.70
¥268
$1.70
NT$55.21
Local cheese (8 oz) $5.18
¥819
$18.05
NT$585.75
Milk (1 gallon) $5.37
¥849
$10.87
NT$352.84

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pay 5.0% less for transportation

 
Chiba
HsinChu
Gasoline (1 gallon) $4.11
¥649
$3.83
NT$124.17
Monthly public transit pass ?? $40.18
NT$1,303.94
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $21,434.36
¥3M
$33,523.97
NT$1M

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pay 37.1% less for housing

 
Chiba
HsinChu
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
$15.82
¥2,499
$21.44
NT$695.94
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $861.99
¥136K
$436.10
NT$14,153.16
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $485.25
¥76,676
$259.67
NT$8,427.21

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pay 41.8% more for childcare

 
Chiba
HsinChu
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $632.30
¥99,913
$753.35
NT$24,448.84
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $9,869.42
¥2M
$16,663.11
NT$541K

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pay 2.9% less for entertainment and sports

 
Chiba
HsinChu
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $1.90
¥300
$1.88
NT$61.12
Cappuccino in mid-range area $3.16
¥500
$2.98
NT$96.78
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$3.80
¥600
$3.92
NT$127.34

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pay 13.7% more for clothing

 
Chiba
HsinChu
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
$50.61
¥7,998
$57.29
NT$1,859.13
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
$36.90
¥5,832
$35.71
NT$1,158.77
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
$61.47
¥9,714
$78.47
NT$2,546.75

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We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated October 2026). How we calculate this

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