Cost of living comparison

compared to

Sendai vs. Nairobi Cost of Living Summary

Sendai is 47.6% more expensive than Nairobi.

Restaurants
pay 33.0% more in Sendai
Groceries
pay 87.6% more in Sendai
Transportation
pay 4.0% more in Sendai
Housing
pay 96.5% more in Sendai
Childcare
pay 2.1% more in Sendai
Entertainment and Sports
pay 47.6% more in Sendai
Clothing
pay 62.2% more in Sendai

The cost of housing, groceries, clothing, entertainment and sports, restaurants, and transportation in Sendai are more expensive than in Nairobi. Notably, housing and groceries are significantly more expensive in Sendai.

Sendai vs. Nairobi Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Sendai instead of Nairobi, you would:

pay 33.0% more for restaurants

 
Nairobi
Sendai
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $5.80
KES748.32
$6.35
¥1,001
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$6.97
KES897.98
$4.67
¥737
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $0.70
KES90.48
$1.55
¥245

Improve prices ·

pay 87.6% more for groceries

 
Nairobi
Sendai
Bread
1 loaf
$0.55
KES70.44
$1.17
¥184
Local cheese (8 oz) $5.57
KES717.62
$4.84
¥764
Milk (1 gallon) $3.36
KES432.61
$5.31
¥838

Improve prices ·

pay 4.0% more for transportation

 
Nairobi
Sendai
Gasoline (1 gallon) $5.40
KES695.99
$4.24
¥668
Monthly public transit pass $30.96
KES3,991.02
$46.78
¥7,379
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $21,671.83
KES2,793,713.96
$20,047.24
¥3,162,383

Improve prices ·

pay 96.5% more for housing

 
Nairobi
Sendai
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
$39.86
KES5,138.87
$30.07
¥4,744
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $476.96
KES61,484.32
$556.87
¥87,844
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $206.31
KES26,595.33
$317.41
¥50,071

Improve prices ·

pay 2.1% more for childcare

 
Nairobi
Sendai
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $224.14
KES28,893.32
$304.05
¥47,963
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $8,775.09
KES1,131,195.91
$6,014.17
¥948,715

Improve prices ·

pay 47.6% more for entertainment and sports

 
Nairobi
Sendai
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $2.32
KES299.33
$3.34
¥527
Cappuccino in mid-range area $2.37
KES305.50
$3.86
¥609
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$3.10
KES399.10
$4.68
¥738

Improve prices ·

pay 62.2% more for clothing

 
Nairobi
Sendai
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
$19.62
KES2,529.60
$60.14
¥9,487
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
$24.88
KES3,207.07
$37.87
¥5,973
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
$67.92
KES8,755.30
$49.00
¥7,730

Improve prices ·
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: December 2025
Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

See the cost of living in Kenya vs. Japan. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Kenya and Japan.

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Sendai or Nairobi. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.