Cost of living comparison

Japan

compared to

Illinois, USA

Illinois vs. Japan Cost of Living Summary

Illinois is 74.1% more expensive than Japan overall.

Restaurants: pay 2.3 times more in Illinois
Groceries: pay 18.1% more in Illinois
Transportation: pay 12.1% more in Illinois
Housing: pay 2.5 times more in Illinois
Childcare: pay 2.6 times more in Illinois
Entertainment and Sports: pay 47.2% more in Illinois
Clothing: pay 37.4% more in Illinois

The cost of childcare, housing, restaurants, entertainment and sports, clothing, and groceries in Illinois are more expensive than in Japan. Notably, childcare, housing, and restaurants are significantly more expensive in Illinois.

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Illinois vs. Japan Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Illinois instead of Japan, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 2.3 times more for restaurants

	Japan	Illinois
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$6.75 ¥1,064	$16.90	+150.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.10 ¥803	$10.89	+113.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.13 ¥179	$2.49	+119.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.76 ¥119	$1.93	+154.9%
Average			+134.2%

Japan vs. Illinois - Cost of restaurants

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pay 18.1% more for groceries

	Japan	Illinois
Bread 1 loaf	$1.53 ¥240	$3.10	+103.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.55 ¥875	$6.14	+10.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.56 ¥877	$3.46	-37.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.01 ¥317	$3.85	+91.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.85 ¥449	$5.41	+90.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.16 ¥341	$2.35	+8.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.08 ¥170	$0.76	-29.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.54 ¥242	$2.10	+36.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.92 ¥302	$2.00	+4.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.10 ¥174	$1.07	-2.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.08 ¥170	$1.25	+15.8%
Average			+18.1%

Japan vs. Illinois - Cost of groceries

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pay 12.1% more for transportation

	Japan	Illinois
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.11 ¥647	$3.94	-4.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$63.20 ¥9,959	$72.27	+14.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$21,047.50 ¥3M	$33,124.22	+57.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$24.65 ¥3,884	$16.42	-33.4%
Average			+12.1%

Japan vs. Illinois - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.5 times more for housing

	Japan	Illinois
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$33.54 ¥5,285	$71.42	+112.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$546.58 ¥86,129	$1,397.04	+155.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$360.78 ¥56,851	$1,090.29	+202.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$113.26 ¥17,848	$164.01	+44.8%
Average			+148.7%

Japan vs. Illinois - Cost of housing

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pay 2.6 times more for childcare

	Japan	Illinois
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$417.01 ¥65,712	$1,217.84	+192.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$11,300.14 ¥2M	$25,292.64	+123.8%
Average			+155.7%

Japan vs. Illinois - Cost of childcare

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pay 47.2% more for entertainment and sports

	Japan	Illinois
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.57 ¥405	$5.30	+106.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.06 ¥481	$5.19	+70.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.83 ¥603	$11.30	+195.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$53.31 ¥8,401	$52.78	-1.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$11.73 ¥1,848	$13.24	+12.9%
Average			+47.2%

Japan vs. Illinois - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 37.4% more for clothing

	Japan	Illinois
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$46.32 ¥7,300	$57.56	+24.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$31.33 ¥4,937	$41.90	+33.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$59.45 ¥9,368	$91.76	+54.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$81.04 ¥12,770	$112.64	+39.0%
Average			+37.4%

Japan vs. Illinois - 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 November 2026). How we calculate this

Compare further: Japan vs. Illinois

Salary Calculator · Free tool

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Quality of Life Comparison · 3 statistics

Make 96.6% more money in Illinois

Size Comparison · See true size

Japan is about 2.6 times bigger than Illinois.

Moving from Japan to Illinois · Cost, visas & climate

Compare cost of living, salary and climate.

City Size Comparison · See true size

Compare the size of Tokyo vs Chicago

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