Cost of living comparison

compared to

Saitama vs. Hillsboro Cost of Living Summary

Saitama vs. Hillsboro Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Saitama instead of Hillsboro, you would:

pay 65.3% less for restaurants

 
Hillsboro
Saitama
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $22.50
 
$5.69
¥897
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$8.00
 
$4.74
¥748
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $2.75
 
$0.71
¥112

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pay 12.1% less for groceries

 
Hillsboro
Saitama
Bread
1 loaf
$3.67
 
$1.70
¥268
Local cheese (8 oz) $5.02
 
$5.18
¥816
Milk (1 gallon) $3.92
 
$5.37
¥846

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pay 8.9% more for transportation

 
Hillsboro
Saitama
Gasoline (1 gallon) $4.43
 
$4.11
¥648
Monthly public transit pass $100.00
 
??
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $18,500.00
 
$21,434.36
¥3M

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pay 75.8% less for housing

 
Hillsboro
Saitama
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
$48.33
 
$32.16
¥5,068
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $1,900.00
 
$411.23
¥64,801
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $1,625.00
 
$237.25
¥37,385

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pay 21.1% less for childcare

 
Hillsboro
Saitama
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $1,222.22
 
$632.30
¥99,638
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $12,250.00
 
$14,725.05
¥2M

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pay 28.6% less for entertainment and sports

 
Hillsboro
Saitama
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $5.00
 
$2.53
¥399
Cappuccino in mid-range area $4.69
 
$3.01
¥474
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$10.00
 
$3.80
¥598

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pay 27.9% less for clothing

 
Hillsboro
Saitama
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
$37.50
 
$34.80
¥5,483
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
$38.33
 
$25.31
¥3,988
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
$93.33
 
$55.36
¥8,723

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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 November 2026). How we calculate this

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