Cost of living comparison

Japan

compared to

Switzerland

Bern vs. Tokyo Cost of Living Summary

Bern is 83.3% more expensive than Tokyo.

Restaurants: pay 3.8 times more in Bern
Groceries: pay 22.1% more in Bern
Transportation: pay 87.2% more in Bern
Housing: pay 74.0% more in Bern
Childcare: pay 97.2% more in Bern
Entertainment and Sports: pay 89.3% more in Bern
Clothing: pay 2.4 times more in Bern

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

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Bern vs. Tokyo Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 3.8 times more for restaurants

	Tokyo	Bern
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$7.59 ¥1,200	$28.80 CHF23.79	+279.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.06 ¥800	$15.60 CHF12.88	+208.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.64 ¥259	$6.23 CHF5.15	+280.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.89 ¥140	$6.97 CHF5.76	+686.9%
Average			+279.5%

Tokyo vs. Bern - Cost of restaurants

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pay 22.1% more for groceries

	Tokyo	Bern
Bread 1 loaf	$1.71 ¥270	$2.95 CHF2.43	+72.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.29 ¥836	$12.12 CHF10.01	+129.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.75 ¥909	$8.18 CHF6.75	+42.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.26 ¥358	$7.71 CHF6.37	+240.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.08 ¥487	$13.20 CHF10.90	+328.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.15 ¥340	$1.76 CHF1.46	-18.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.07 ¥170	$0.91 CHF0.75	-15.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.96 ¥309	$1.20 CHF0.99	-38.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.39 ¥377	$2.09 CHF1.73	-12.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.53 ¥241	$0.72 CHF0.60	-52.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.46 ¥231	$0.91 CHF0.75	-37.9%
Average			+22.1%

Tokyo vs. Bern - Cost of groceries

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pay 87.2% more for transportation

	Tokyo	Bern
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.08 ¥645	$8.82 CHF7.29	+116.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$63.27 ¥9,997	$98.40 CHF81.27	+55.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$21,725.38 ¥3M	$42,598.89 CHF35,183.79	+96.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$28.47 ¥4,499	$44.64 CHF36.87	+56.8%
Average			+87.2%

Tokyo vs. Bern - Cost of transportation

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pay 74.0% more for housing

	Tokyo	Bern
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$30.33 ¥4,793	$54.60 CHF45.09	+80.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,280.34 ¥202K	$1,861.45 CHF1,537.43	+45.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$692.48 ¥109K	$1,408.46 CHF1,163.29	+103.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$113.45 ¥17,926	$207.74 CHF171.58	+83.1%
Average			+74.0%

Tokyo vs. Bern - Cost of housing

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pay 97.2% more for childcare

	Tokyo	Bern
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,341.43 ¥212K	$3,125.25 CHF2,581.25	+133.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$18,252.10 ¥3M	$30,462.54 CHF25,159.99	+66.9%
Average			+97.2%

Tokyo vs. Bern - Cost of childcare

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pay 89.3% more for entertainment and sports

	Tokyo	Bern
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.80 ¥600	$9.00 CHF7.43	+137.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.56 ¥563	$6.78 CHF5.60	+90.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.92 ¥620	$11.23 CHF9.28	+186.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$66.31 ¥10,478	$88.38 CHF72.99	+33.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$12.65 ¥1,999	$24.00 CHF19.82	+89.7%
Average			+89.3%

Tokyo vs. Bern - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 2.4 times more for clothing

	Tokyo	Bern
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$55.50 ¥8,770	$139.98 CHF115.62	+152.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$32.95 ¥5,207	$60.81 CHF50.22	+84.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$65.04 ¥10,278	$155.71 CHF128.60	+139.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$70.74 ¥11,178	$194.99 CHF161.05	+175.6%
Average			+135.4%

Tokyo vs. Bern - Cost of clothing

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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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Tokyo is about 12 times bigger than Bern.

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