Cost of living comparison

Nicaragua

compared to

Japan

Tokyo vs. Managua Cost of Living Summary

Tokyo is 84.4% more expensive than Managua.

Restaurants: pay 16.7% less in Tokyo
Groceries: pay 33.8% more in Tokyo
Transportation: pay 75.6% more in Tokyo
Housing: pay 3.2 times more in Tokyo
Childcare: pay 4.1 times more in Tokyo
Entertainment and Sports: pay 70.2% more in Tokyo
Clothing: pay 40.9% less in Tokyo

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

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Tokyo vs. Managua Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Tokyo instead of Managua, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 16.7% less for restaurants

	Managua	Tokyo
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$10.00 NIO368.55	$7.59 ¥1,200	-24.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.61 NIO280.46	$5.06 ¥800	-33.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.88 NIO32.54	$1.64 ¥259	+85.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.71 NIO26.22	$0.89 ¥140	+24.5%
Average			-16.7%

Managua vs. Tokyo - Cost of restaurants

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pay 33.8% more for groceries

	Managua	Tokyo
Bread 1 loaf	$2.37 NIO87.46	$1.71 ¥270	-28.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.80 NIO213.64	$5.29 ¥836	-8.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.68 NIO172.61	$5.75 ¥909	+22.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.37 NIO87.18	$2.26 ¥358	-4.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.87 NIO105.79	$3.08 ¥487	+7.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.82 NIO67.08	$2.15 ¥340	+18.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.27 NIO10.03	$1.07 ¥170	+294.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.82 NIO30.09	$1.96 ¥309	+139.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.11 NIO41.05	$2.39 ¥377	+114.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.79 NIO65.90	$1.53 ¥241	-14.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.01 NIO37.13	$1.46 ¥231	+45.0%
Average			+33.8%

Managua vs. Tokyo - Cost of groceries

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pay 75.6% more for transportation

	Managua	Tokyo
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.06 NIO186.38	$4.08 ¥645	-19.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$6.01 NIO221.41	$63.27 ¥9,997	+953.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$22,973.64 NIO847K	$21,725.38 ¥3M	-5.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$14.69 NIO541.39	$28.47 ¥4,499	+93.8%
Average			+75.6%

Managua vs. Tokyo - Cost of transportation

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pay 3.2 times more for housing

	Managua	Tokyo
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$32.47 NIO1,196.57	$30.33 ¥4,793	-6.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$256.40 NIO9,449.50	$1,280.34 ¥202K	+399.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$181.00 NIO6,670.67	$692.48 ¥109K	+282.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$115.83 NIO4,268.74	$113.45 ¥17,926	-2.1%
Average			+223.3%

Managua vs. Tokyo - Cost of housing

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pay 4.1 times more for childcare

	Managua	Tokyo
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$235.82 NIO8,690.94	$1,341.43 ¥212K	+468.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$6,060.00 NIO223K	$18,252.10 ¥3M	+201.2%
Average			+313.9%

Managua vs. Tokyo - Cost of childcare

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pay 70.2% more for entertainment and sports

	Managua	Tokyo
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.50 NIO55.28	$3.80 ¥600	+153.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.60 NIO95.82	$3.56 ¥563	+37.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.73 NIO100.51	$3.92 ¥620	+43.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$34.79 NIO1,282.16	$66.31 ¥10,478	+90.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$9.00 NIO331.69	$12.65 ¥1,999	+40.6%
Average			+70.2%

Managua vs. Tokyo - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 40.9% less for clothing

	Managua	Tokyo
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$59.88 NIO2,206.90	$55.50 ¥8,770	-7.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$65.00 NIO2,395.54	$32.95 ¥5,207	-49.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$122.64 NIO4,519.99	$65.04 ¥10,278	-47.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$144.83 NIO5,337.49	$70.74 ¥11,178	-51.2%
Average			-40.9%

Managua vs. Tokyo - 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

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