Cost of living comparison
compared to
Charlotte vs. Tokyo Cost of Living Summary
Charlotte is 55.6% more expensive than Tokyo.
Charlotte vs. Tokyo Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Charlotte instead of Tokyo, you would:
pay 2.2 times more for restaurants
|
Tokyo
|
Charlotte
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$8.02
¥1,266
|
$18.00
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$5.01
¥791
|
$10.00
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$1.16
¥183
|
$2.48
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$0.84
¥133
|
$2.03
|
|
Tokyo vs. Charlotte - Cost of restaurants
pay 27.4% more for groceries
|
Tokyo
|
Charlotte
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$1.55
¥245
|
$3.89
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$7.21
¥1,138
|
$8.68
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$5.71
¥902
|
$4.06
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$2.33
¥368
|
$4.52
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$3.52
¥556
|
$8.44
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$2.38
¥375
|
$2.36
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$1.18
¥186
|
$0.62
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$2.48
¥391
|
$2.67
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$2.64
¥417
|
$1.94
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.43
¥225
|
$1.47
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.48
¥234
|
$1.32
|
|
Tokyo vs. Charlotte - Cost of groceries
pay 1.0% more for transportation
|
Tokyo
|
Charlotte
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$4.50
¥710
|
$3.09
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$73.51
¥11,602
|
$88.00
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$22,332.63
¥4M
|
$34,844.68
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$30.07
¥4,746
|
$17.91
|
|
Tokyo vs. Charlotte - Cost of transportation
pay 76.6% more for housing
|
Tokyo
|
Charlotte
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$33.44
¥5,279
|
$72.45
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$1,071.65
¥169K
|
$1,799.58
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$642.24
¥101K
|
$1,475.31
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$122.16
¥19,281
|
$112.89
|
|
Tokyo vs. Charlotte - Cost of housing
pay 2.1 times more for childcare
|
Tokyo
|
Charlotte
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$519.69
¥82,025
|
$1,314.40
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$15,131.74
¥2M
|
$24,700.00
|
|
Tokyo vs. Charlotte - Cost of childcare
pay 32.7% more for entertainment and sports
|
Tokyo
|
Charlotte
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$4.01
¥633
|
$5.00
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$3.43
¥541
|
$4.90
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$4.01
¥633
|
$8.05
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$68.19
¥10,762
|
$52.58
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$12.70
¥2,004
|
$15.00
|
|
Tokyo vs. Charlotte - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 23.4% more for clothing
|
Tokyo
|
Charlotte
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$56.84
¥8,971
|
$46.89
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$40.48
¥6,390
|
$36.00
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$62.67
¥9,892
|
$100.71
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$90.37
¥14,264
|
$146.00
|
|
Tokyo vs. Charlotte - Cost of clothing
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: October 2026
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Compare further: Tokyo vs. Charlotte
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cost of living in Japan vs. United States.
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