Cost of living comparison
compared to
Tokyo vs. Los Angeles Cost of Living Summary
Tokyo is 32.7% cheaper than Los Angeles.
Tokyo vs. Los Angeles Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Tokyo instead of Los Angeles, you would:
pay 62.8% less for restaurants
|
Los Angeles
|
Tokyo
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$25.00
|
$8.02
¥1,284
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$13.00
|
$5.01
¥802
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.83
|
$1.16
¥186
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.26
|
$0.84
¥135
|
|
Los Angeles vs. Tokyo - Cost of restaurants
pay 9.4% less for groceries
|
Los Angeles
|
Tokyo
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$4.52
|
$1.55
¥249
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$6.67
|
$7.21
¥1,154
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$4.71
|
$5.71
¥915
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$7.43
|
$2.33
¥373
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$7.55
|
$3.52
¥564
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$2.60
|
$2.38
¥381
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$1.27
|
$1.18
¥189
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$2.00
|
$2.48
¥396
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$2.17
|
$2.64
¥423
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.38
|
$1.43
¥228
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.22
|
$1.48
¥237
|
|
Los Angeles vs. Tokyo - Cost of groceries
pay 2.0% more for transportation
|
Los Angeles
|
Tokyo
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$4.78
|
$4.50
¥720
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$93.48
|
$73.51
¥11,767
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$32,727.50
|
$22,332.63
¥4M
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$18.01
|
$30.07
¥4,814
|
|
Los Angeles vs. Tokyo - Cost of transportation
pay 50.4% less for housing
|
Los Angeles
|
Tokyo
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$74.01
|
$33.44
¥5,354
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$2,536.54
|
$1,071.65
¥172K
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$1,984.71
|
$642.24
¥103K
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$155.53
|
$122.16
¥19,556
|
|
Los Angeles vs. Tokyo - Cost of housing
pay 57.2% less for childcare
|
Los Angeles
|
Tokyo
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$1,762.50
|
$519.69
¥83,194
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$27,000.00
|
$15,131.74
¥2M
|
|
Los Angeles vs. Tokyo - Cost of childcare
pay 28.2% less for entertainment and sports
|
Los Angeles
|
Tokyo
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$8.00
|
$4.01
¥642
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$5.76
|
$3.43
¥549
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$11.50
|
$4.01
¥642
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$47.45
|
$68.19
¥10,916
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$18.00
|
$12.70
¥2,033
|
|
Los Angeles vs. Tokyo - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 23.2% less for clothing
|
Los Angeles
|
Tokyo
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$61.25
|
$56.84
¥9,099
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$44.15
|
$40.48
¥6,481
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$100.09
|
$62.67
¥10,033
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$149.85
|
$90.37
¥14,467
|
|
Los Angeles vs. Tokyo - Cost of clothing
The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you.
We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world.
Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: August 2026
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Compare further: Los Angeles vs. Tokyo
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cost of living in United States vs. Japan.
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