Cost of living comparison

compared to

Budapest vs. Tokyo Cost of Living Summary

Budapest is 4.5% more expensive than Tokyo.

Restaurants: pay 61.5% more in Budapest
Groceries: pay 26.6% less in Budapest
Transportation: pay 10.5% less in Budapest
Housing: pay 18.8% less in Budapest
Childcare: pay 13.5% less in Budapest
Entertainment and Sports: pay 1.7% more in Budapest
Clothing: pay 37.8% more in Budapest

The cost of restaurants, clothing, and entertainment and sports in Budapest are more expensive than in Tokyo. Expenses including groceries, housing, childcare, and transportation are lower in Budapest.

Budapest vs. Tokyo Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 61.5% more for restaurants

	Tokyo	Budapest
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.02 ¥1,252	$11.93 HUF3,923.95	+48.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.01 ¥783	$8.94 HUF2,942.96	+78.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.16 ¥181	$1.83 HUF603.19	+57.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.84 ¥132	$1.36 HUF445.97	+60.9%
Average			+61.5%

Tokyo vs. Budapest - Cost of restaurants

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pay 26.6% less for groceries

	Tokyo	Budapest
Bread 1 loaf	$1.55 ¥243	$1.83 HUF601.08	+17.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.21 ¥1,126	$5.49 HUF1,805.96	-23.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.71 ¥892	$4.73 HUF1,557.60	-17.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.33 ¥364	$3.28 HUF1,078.68	+40.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.52 ¥550	$3.05 HUF1,004.88	-13.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.38 ¥371	$0.95 HUF311.32	-60.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.18 ¥184	$0.94 HUF308.66	-20.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.48 ¥387	$1.01 HUF332.20	-59.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.64 ¥412	$1.68 HUF554.07	-36.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.43 ¥223	$0.56 HUF184.10	-60.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.48 ¥231	$0.60 HUF197.30	-59.5%
Average			-26.6%

Tokyo vs. Budapest - Cost of groceries

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pay 10.5% less for transportation

	Tokyo	Budapest
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.50 ¥703	$7.01 HUF2,306.37	+55.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$73.51 ¥11,479	$26.83 HUF8,828.89	-63.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$22,332.63 ¥3,487,575	$26,801.65 HUF8,819,082.72	+20.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$30.07 ¥4,696	$13.77 HUF4,532.16	-54.2%
Average			-10.5%

Tokyo vs. Budapest - Cost of transportation

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pay 18.8% less for housing

	Tokyo	Budapest
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$33.44 ¥5,223	$22.10 HUF7,270.55	-33.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,071.65 ¥167,355	$762.27 HUF250,825.02	-28.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$642.24 ¥100,295	$595.85 HUF196,065.05	-7.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$122.16 ¥19,077	$115.90 HUF38,136.53	-5.1%
Average			-18.8%

Tokyo vs. Budapest - Cost of housing

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pay 13.5% less for childcare

	Tokyo	Budapest
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$519.69 ¥81,157	$464.58 HUF152,870.64	-10.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$15,131.74 ¥2,363,048	$12,648.55 HUF4,162,005.04	-16.4%
Average			-13.5%

Tokyo vs. Budapest - Cost of childcare

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pay 1.7% more for entertainment and sports

	Tokyo	Budapest
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.01 ¥626	$2.98 HUF980.99	-25.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.43 ¥536	$2.96 HUF973.10	-13.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.01 ¥626	$7.16 HUF2,354.37	+78.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$68.19 ¥10,648	$66.02 HUF21,724.32	-3.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$12.70 ¥1,983	$9.24 HUF3,041.06	-27.2%
Average			+1.7%

Tokyo vs. Budapest - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 37.8% more for clothing

	Tokyo	Budapest
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$56.84 ¥8,876	$95.35 HUF31,375.00	+67.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$40.48 ¥6,322	$41.51 HUF13,657.55	+2.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$62.67 ¥9,787	$100.47 HUF33,059.05	+60.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$90.37 ¥14,113	$108.87 HUF35,822.98	+20.5%
Average			+37.8%

Tokyo vs. Budapest - Cost of clothing

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The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: December 2025

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