Cost of living comparison

Japan

compared to

Minnesota, USA

Minnesota vs. Japan Cost of Living Summary

Minnesota is 67.2% more expensive than Japan overall.

Restaurants: pay 2.5 times more in Minnesota
Groceries: pay 19.7% more in Minnesota
Transportation: pay 10.8% more in Minnesota
Housing: pay 2.2 times more in Minnesota
Childcare: pay 2.3 times more in Minnesota
Entertainment and Sports: pay 51.9% more in Minnesota
Clothing: pay 26.1% more in Minnesota

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

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Minnesota vs. Japan Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 2.5 times more for restaurants

	Japan	Minnesota
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$6.75 ¥1,064	$18.95	+180.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.10 ¥803	$11.15	+118.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.13 ¥179	$2.61	+130.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.76 ¥119	$2.03	+167.4%
Average			+151.0%

Japan vs. Minnesota - Cost of restaurants

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pay 19.7% more for groceries

	Japan	Minnesota
Bread 1 loaf	$1.53 ¥240	$3.16	+107.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.55 ¥875	$5.06	-8.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.56 ¥877	$3.46	-37.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.01 ¥317	$3.53	+75.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.85 ¥449	$5.11	+79.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.16 ¥341	$2.47	+14.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.08 ¥170	$0.70	-35.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.54 ¥242	$2.22	+44.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.92 ¥302	$1.91	-0.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.10 ¥174	$1.43	+29.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.08 ¥170	$1.51	+40.6%
Average			+19.7%

Japan vs. Minnesota - Cost of groceries

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pay 10.8% more for transportation

	Japan	Minnesota
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.11 ¥647	$3.59	-12.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$63.20 ¥9,959	$81.54	+29.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$21,047.50 ¥3M	$33,254.22	+58.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$24.65 ¥3,884	$14.67	-40.5%
Average			+10.8%

Japan vs. Minnesota - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.2 times more for housing

	Japan	Minnesota
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$33.54 ¥5,285	$65.49	+95.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$546.58 ¥86,129	$1,239.20	+126.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$360.78 ¥56,851	$979.66	+171.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$113.26 ¥17,848	$146.33	+29.2%
Average			+122.3%

Japan vs. Minnesota - Cost of housing

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pay 2.3 times more for childcare

	Japan	Minnesota
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$417.01 ¥65,712	$1,233.72	+195.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$11,300.14 ¥2M	$19,863.23	+75.8%
Average			+128.0%

Japan vs. Minnesota - Cost of childcare

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pay 51.9% more for entertainment and sports

	Japan	Minnesota
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.57 ¥405	$5.65	+119.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.06 ¥481	$5.37	+75.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.83 ¥603	$11.34	+196.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$53.31 ¥8,401	$54.26	+1.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$11.73 ¥1,848	$13.47	+14.9%
Average			+51.9%

Japan vs. Minnesota - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 26.1% more for clothing

	Japan	Minnesota
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$46.32 ¥7,300	$53.46	+15.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$31.33 ¥4,937	$44.59	+42.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$59.45 ¥9,368	$82.69	+39.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$81.04 ¥12,770	$89.81	+10.8%
Average			+26.1%

Japan vs. Minnesota - 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. Minnesota

Salary Calculator · Free tool

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Quality of Life Comparison · 3 statistics

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Size Comparison · See true size

Japan is about 1.8 times bigger than Minnesota.

Moving from Japan to Minnesota · Cost, visas & climate

Compare cost of living, salary and climate.

City Size Comparison · See true size

Compare the size of Tokyo vs Minneapolis

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