Cost of living comparison
compared to
Tokyo vs. San Diego Cost of Living Summary
Tokyo is 47.9% cheaper than San Diego.
Tokyo vs. San Diego Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Tokyo instead of San Diego, you would:
pay 65.1% less for restaurants
|
San Diego
|
Tokyo
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$25.00
|
$7.59
¥1,203
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$13.50
|
$5.06
¥802
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$3.11
|
$1.64
¥260
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.65
|
$0.89
¥140
|
|
San Diego vs. Tokyo - Cost of restaurants
pay 23.1% less for groceries
|
San Diego
|
Tokyo
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$5.64
|
$1.71
¥271
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$8.60
|
$5.29
¥839
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$5.12
|
$5.75
¥912
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$6.96
|
$2.26
¥359
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$6.42
|
$3.08
¥488
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$2.12
|
$2.15
¥341
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.85
|
$1.07
¥170
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$1.99
|
$1.96
¥310
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$2.25
|
$2.39
¥379
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.45
|
$1.53
¥242
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.20
|
$1.46
¥232
|
|
San Diego vs. Tokyo - Cost of groceries
pay 25.1% less for transportation
|
San Diego
|
Tokyo
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$5.99
|
$4.08
¥647
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$72.00
|
$63.27
¥10,026
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$36,998.00
|
$21,725.38
¥3M
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$19.48
|
$28.47
¥4,512
|
|
San Diego vs. Tokyo - Cost of transportation
pay 63.3% less for housing
|
San Diego
|
Tokyo
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$85.53
|
$30.33
¥4,807
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$3,232.94
|
$1,280.34
¥203K
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$2,390.67
|
$692.48
¥110K
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$197.48
|
$113.45
¥17,978
|
|
San Diego vs. Tokyo - Cost of housing
pay 41.2% less for childcare
|
San Diego
|
Tokyo
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$1,948.90
|
$1,341.43
¥213K
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$36,280.62
|
$18,252.10
¥3M
|
|
San Diego vs. Tokyo - Cost of childcare
pay 39.0% less for entertainment and sports
|
San Diego
|
Tokyo
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$8.00
|
$3.80
¥602
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$5.92
|
$3.56
¥565
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$11.71
|
$3.92
¥622
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$71.67
|
$66.31
¥10,508
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$20.00
|
$12.65
¥2,005
|
|
San Diego vs. Tokyo - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 38.9% less for clothing
|
San Diego
|
Tokyo
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$67.12
|
$55.50
¥8,796
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$55.50
|
$32.95
¥5,222
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$112.00
|
$65.04
¥10,308
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$144.96
|
$70.74
¥11,211
|
|
San Diego vs. Tokyo - 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
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Compare further: San Diego vs. Tokyo
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cost of living in United States vs. Japan.
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