Cost of living comparison
compared to
Japan vs. Palau Cost of Living Summary
Japan is 21.3% more expensive than Palau overall.
- Restaurants
-
pay 36.2% less in Japan
- Groceries
-
pay 35.0% less in Japan
- Transportation
-
pay 2.9% less in Japan
- Housing
-
pay 45.7% less in Japan
- Childcare
-
pay 4.2 times more in Japan
- Entertainment and Sports
-
pay 2.3% less in Japan
- Clothing
-
pay 45.9% less in Japan
Expenses including clothing, housing, restaurants, groceries, transportation, and entertainment and sports are lower in Japan. Notably, childcare is significantly more expensive in Japan.
Japan vs. Palau Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Japan instead of Palau, you would:
pay 36.2% less for restaurants
|
Palau
|
Japan
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$12.00
|
$6.60
¥1,029
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$10.00
|
$5.10
¥794
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$1.37
|
$1.07
¥166
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$1.07
|
$0.76
¥118
|
|
Palau vs. Japan - Cost of restaurants
pay 35.0% less for groceries
|
Palau
|
Japan
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$3.44
|
$1.50
¥234
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$5.00
|
$5.07
¥789
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$9.97
|
$5.67
¥883
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$5.97
|
$2.08
¥324
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$6.30
|
$2.93
¥456
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$2.40
|
$2.14
¥333
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$1.00
|
$1.12
¥174
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$2.50
|
$1.69
¥264
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$7.50
|
$2.13
¥332
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$2.09
|
$1.22
¥190
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.50
|
$1.15
¥180
|
|
Palau vs. Japan - Cost of groceries
pay 2.9% less for transportation
|
Palau
|
Japan
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$6.75
|
$4.39
¥684
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass | ?? |
$59.14
¥9,212
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$17,500.00
|
$22,599.51
¥3,519,986
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) | ?? |
$25.32
¥3,944
|
|
Palau vs. Japan - Cost of transportation
pay 45.7% less for housing
|
Palau
|
Japan
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$129.50
|
$33.91
¥5,282
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$750.00
|
$543.18
¥84,603
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$550.00
|
$353.61
¥55,077
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
?? |
$118.72
¥18,491
|
|
Palau vs. Japan - Cost of housing
pay 4.2 times more for childcare
|
Palau
|
Japan
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$200.00
|
$296.89
¥46,241
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$1,920.00
|
$13,159.48
¥2,049,655
|
|
Palau vs. Japan - Cost of childcare
pay 2.3% less for entertainment and sports
|
Palau
|
Japan
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$1.50
|
$2.60
¥406
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$4.08
|
$3.03
¥471
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$11.25
|
$3.89
¥605
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$55.00
|
$59.54
¥9,274
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema | ?? |
$12.46
¥1,941
|
|
Palau vs. Japan - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 45.9% less for clothing
|
Palau
|
Japan
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$62.50
|
$44.79
¥6,977
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$52.50
|
$32.04
¥4,990
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$147.50
|
$57.37
¥8,936
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$195.00
|
$87.37
¥13,609
|
|
Palau vs. Japan - 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: December 2025
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