Cost of living comparison

Dominican Republic

compared to

Japan

Japan vs. Dominican Republic Cost of Living Summary

Japan is 13.0% more expensive than Dominican Republic overall.

Restaurants: pay 14.4% less in Japan
Groceries: pay 35.0% more in Japan
Transportation: pay 22.8% more in Japan
Housing: pay 1.9% less in Japan
Childcare: pay 2.0 times more in Japan
Entertainment and Sports: pay 32.7% more in Japan
Clothing: pay 6.2% less in Japan

The cost of childcare, groceries, entertainment and sports, and transportation in Japan are more expensive than in Dominican Republic. Expenses including restaurants, clothing, and housing are lower in Japan. Notably, childcare is significantly more expensive in Japan.

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Japan vs. Dominican Republic Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Japan instead of Dominican Republic, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 14.4% less for restaurants

	Dominican Republic	Japan
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.79 DOP540.07	$6.75 ¥1,066	-23.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.21 DOP443.09	$5.10 ¥805	-29.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.81 DOP49.84	$1.13 ¥179	+39.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.45 DOP27.80	$0.76 ¥120	+67.4%
Average			-14.4%

Dominican Republic vs. Japan - Cost of restaurants

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pay 35.0% more for groceries

	Dominican Republic	Japan
Bread 1 loaf	$1.60 DOP98.24	$1.53 ¥241	-4.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.31 DOP203.37	$5.55 ¥877	+67.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.73 DOP290.63	$5.56 ¥879	+17.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.76 DOP108.34	$2.01 ¥318	+14.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.93 DOP118.36	$2.85 ¥450	+47.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.41 DOP86.47	$2.16 ¥342	+53.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.46 DOP28.17	$1.08 ¥171	+135.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.32 DOP81.15	$1.54 ¥243	+16.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.89 DOP54.43	$1.92 ¥303	+116.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.14 DOP70.25	$1.10 ¥174	-3.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.11 DOP68.13	$1.08 ¥170	-3.0%
Average			+35.0%

Dominican Republic vs. Japan - Cost of groceries

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pay 22.8% more for transportation

	Dominican Republic	Japan
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.33 DOP327.30	$4.11 ¥649	-22.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$24.26 DOP1,490.25	$63.20 ¥9,986	+160.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$17,685.93 DOP1M	$21,047.50 ¥3M	+19.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$23.54 DOP1,446.41	$24.65 ¥3,895	+4.7%
Average			+22.8%

Dominican Republic vs. Japan - Cost of transportation

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pay 1.9% less for housing

	Dominican Republic	Japan
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$37.10 DOP2,278.94	$33.54 ¥5,300	-9.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$781.82 DOP48,029.48	$546.58 ¥86,367	-30.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$310.77 DOP19,091.31	$360.78 ¥57,008	+16.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$71.51 DOP4,392.81	$113.26 ¥17,897	+58.4%
Average			-1.9%

Dominican Republic vs. Japan - Cost of housing

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pay 2.0 times more for childcare

	Dominican Republic	Japan
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$183.57 DOP11,277.30	$417.01 ¥65,893	+127.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$6,114.38 DOP376K	$11,300.14 ¥2M	+84.8%
Average			+104.9%

Dominican Republic vs. Japan - Cost of childcare

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pay 32.7% more for entertainment and sports

	Dominican Republic	Japan
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.49 DOP152.79	$2.57 ¥406	+3.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.96 DOP120.11	$3.06 ¥483	+56.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.98 DOP305.92	$3.83 ¥605	-23.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$45.88 DOP2,818.55	$53.31 ¥8,424	+16.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.80 DOP356.51	$11.73 ¥1,853	+102.1%
Average			+32.7%

Dominican Republic vs. Japan - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 6.2% less for clothing

	Dominican Republic	Japan
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$32.95 DOP2,024.47	$46.32 ¥7,320	+40.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$45.95 DOP2,822.96	$31.33 ¥4,950	-31.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$69.63 DOP4,277.89	$59.45 ¥9,394	-14.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$85.66 DOP5,262.46	$81.04 ¥12,805	-5.4%
Average			-6.2%

Dominican Republic vs. Japan - Cost of clothing

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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

Compare further: Dominican Republic vs. Japan

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Japan?

Quality of Life Comparison · 19 statistics

Make 3.3 times more money in Japan

Size Comparison · See true size

Dominican Republic is about 8 times smaller than Japan.

Moving from Dominican Republic to Japan · OECD 2023

126 people moved from Dominican Republic to Japan.

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