Cost of living comparison
compared to
Japan vs. Samoa Cost of Living Summary
Japan is 64.9% more expensive than Samoa overall.
Japan vs. Samoa Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Japan instead of Samoa, you would:
pay 74.0% less for restaurants
|
Samoa
|
Japan
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$47.26
WST130.00
|
$6.75
¥1,070
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$14.54
WST40.00
|
$5.10
¥808
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$1.82
WST5.00
|
$1.13
¥180
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$1.36
WST3.75
|
$0.76
¥120
|
|
Samoa vs. Japan - Cost of restaurants
pay 42.3% more for groceries
|
Samoa
|
Japan
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$0.82
WST2.25
|
$1.53
¥242
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$0.45
WST1.25
|
$5.55
¥880
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$6.88
WST18.93
|
$5.56
¥882
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$4.27
WST11.76
|
$2.01
¥319
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$1.65
WST4.54
|
$2.85
¥451
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$2.31
WST6.35
|
$2.16
¥343
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.82
WST2.27
|
$1.08
¥171
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$0.82
WST2.27
|
$1.54
¥244
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$1.98
WST5.44
|
$1.92
¥304
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.65
WST4.54
|
$1.10
¥174
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$0.49
WST1.36
|
$1.08
¥170
|
|
Samoa vs. Japan - Cost of groceries
pay 14.5% less for transportation
|
Samoa
|
Japan
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$4.13
WST11.36
|
$4.11
¥651
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass | ?? |
$63.20
¥10,016
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) | ?? |
$21,047.50
¥3M
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$49.07
WST135.00
|
$24.65
¥3,906
|
|
Samoa vs. Japan - Cost of transportation
pay 4.7 times more for housing
|
Samoa
|
Japan
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$36.35
WST100.00
|
$33.54
¥5,315
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area | ?? |
$546.58
¥86,619
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center | ?? |
$360.78
¥57,174
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$13.90
WST38.24
|
$113.26
¥17,949
|
|
Samoa vs. Japan - Cost of housing
pay (unknown) more for childcare
|
Samoa
|
Japan
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly | ?? |
$417.01
¥66,085
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters | ?? |
$11,300.14
¥2M
|
Samoa vs. Japan - Cost of childcare
pay 17.6% less for entertainment and sports
|
Samoa
|
Japan
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$3.45
WST9.50
|
$2.57
¥407
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$2.91
WST8.00
|
$3.06
¥484
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$6.18
WST17.00
|
$3.83
¥606
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym | ?? |
$53.31
¥8,449
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema | ?? |
$11.73
¥1,859
|
|
Samoa vs. Japan - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay (unknown) more for clothing
|
Samoa
|
Japan
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
?? |
$46.32
¥7,341
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
?? |
$31.33
¥4,965
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
?? |
$59.45
¥9,421
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) | ?? |
$81.04
¥12,843
|
Samoa vs. Japan - Cost of clothing
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
Change currency:
Compare further: Samoa vs. Japan
Salary Calculator · Free tool
What salary would you need in Japan?
→
Quality of Life Comparison · 19 statistics
Make 6.1 times more money in Japan
→
Size Comparison · See true size
Samoa is about 133 times smaller than Japan.
→
Moving from Samoa to Japan · OECD 2023
55 people moved from Samoa to 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 Japan or Samoa. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.