Tokyo vs. Santiago Cost of Living Summary

Tokyo is 42.2% more expensive than Santiago.

Restaurants
pay 30.4% less in Tokyo
Groceries
pay 53.6% more in Tokyo
Transportation
pay 20.2% more in Tokyo
Housing
pay 82.6% more in Tokyo
Childcare
pay 2.3 times more in Tokyo
Entertainment and Sports
pay 31.3% more in Tokyo
Clothing
pay 2.1% more in Tokyo

The cost of childcare, housing, groceries, entertainment and sports, transportation, and clothing in Tokyo are more expensive than in Santiago. Notably, childcare and housing are significantly more expensive in Tokyo.

Tokyo vs. Santiago Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Tokyo instead of Santiago, you would:

pay 30.4% less for restaurants

 
Santiago
Tokyo
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $10.23
CLF0.2600
$7.59
¥1,200
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$8.70
CLF0.2200
$5.06
¥800
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $1.71
CLF0.0400
$1.64
¥259

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pay 53.6% more for groceries

 
Santiago
Tokyo
Bread
1 loaf
$1.81
CLF0.0500
$1.71
¥270
Local cheese (8 oz) $5.64
CLF0.1400
$5.29
¥836
Milk (1 gallon) $4.81
CLF0.1200
$5.75
¥909

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pay 20.2% more for transportation

 
Santiago
Tokyo
Gasoline (1 gallon) $5.77
CLF0.1400
$4.08
¥645
Monthly public transit pass $40.93
CLF1.0200
$63.27
¥9,997
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $17,743.12
CLF443.5100
$21,725.38
¥3M

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pay 82.6% more for housing

 
Santiago
Tokyo
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
$19.07
CLF0.4800
$30.33
¥4,793
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $552.81
CLF13.8200
$1,280.34
¥202K
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $376.90
CLF9.4200
$692.48
¥109K

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pay 2.3 times more for childcare

 
Santiago
Tokyo
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $432.52
CLF10.8100
$1,341.43
¥212K
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $10,959.69
CLF273.9500
$18,252.10
¥3M

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pay 31.3% more for entertainment and sports

 
Santiago
Tokyo
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $4.09
CLF0.1000
$3.80
¥600
Cappuccino in mid-range area $3.25
CLF0.0800
$3.56
¥563
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$5.22
CLF0.1300
$3.92
¥620

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pay 2.1% more for clothing

 
Santiago
Tokyo
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
$50.25
CLF1.2600
$55.50
¥8,770
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
$28.71
CLF0.7200
$32.95
¥5,207
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
$66.29
CLF1.6600
$65.04
¥10,278

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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

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