Cost of living comparison
compared to
Kobe vs. San Francisco Cost of Living Summary
Kobe is 62.0% cheaper than San Francisco.
Kobe vs. San Francisco Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Kobe instead of San Francisco, you would:
pay 70.4% less for restaurants
|
San Francisco
|
Kobe
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$27.15
|
$7.59
¥1,200
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$15.00
|
$4.87
¥770
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$3.16
|
$1.17
¥184
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.70
|
$0.60
¥95
|
|
San Francisco vs. Kobe - Cost of restaurants
pay 22.0% less for groceries
|
San Francisco
|
Kobe
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$5.31
|
$1.29
¥204
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$8.16
|
$6.33
¥1,000
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$6.63
|
$5.78
¥913
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$4.93
|
$2.05
¥325
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$6.99
|
$3.16
¥499
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$2.78
|
$3.53
¥558
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$1.30
|
$1.36
¥215
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$2.00
|
$2.28
¥360
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$3.11
|
$3.54
¥559
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.34
|
$1.72
¥272
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.67
|
$1.58
¥249
|
|
San Francisco vs. Kobe - Cost of groceries
pay 31.1% less for transportation
|
San Francisco
|
Kobe
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$5.78
|
$4.10
¥648
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$95.00
|
$63.27
¥9,997
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$36,998.00
|
$20,061.49
¥3M
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$20.39
|
$28.47
¥4,499
|
|
San Francisco vs. Kobe - Cost of transportation
pay 77.1% less for housing
|
San Francisco
|
Kobe
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$76.29
|
$31.16
¥4,923
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$3,735.00
|
$687.49
¥109K
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$2,618.75
|
$463.95
¥73,311
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$164.32
|
$111.27
¥17,583
|
|
San Francisco vs. Kobe - Cost of housing
pay 87.4% less for childcare
|
San Francisco
|
Kobe
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$2,942.94
|
$322.65
¥50,984
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$42,562.50
|
$6,149.41
¥972K
|
|
San Francisco vs. Kobe - Cost of childcare
pay 60.8% less for entertainment and sports
|
San Francisco
|
Kobe
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$8.00
|
$2.06
¥326
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$5.97
|
$2.34
¥370
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$12.00
|
$3.48
¥550
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$121.54
|
$46.39
¥7,331
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$18.00
|
$11.39
¥1,799
|
|
San Francisco vs. Kobe - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 47.6% less for clothing
|
San Francisco
|
Kobe
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$76.17
|
$50.30
¥7,948
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$47.67
|
$25.31
¥3,999
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$101.08
|
$45.97
¥7,264
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$138.64
|
$65.37
¥10,330
|
|
San Francisco vs. Kobe - 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 October 2026). How we calculate this
Change currency:
Compare further: San Francisco vs. Kobe
Compare countries by overall cost of living
See the
cost of living in United States vs. Japan.
This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within United States 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 Kobe or San Francisco. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.