Cost of living comparison
compared to
Kyoto vs. Tokyo Cost of Living Summary
Kyoto is 26.1% cheaper than Tokyo.
Kyoto vs. Tokyo Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Kyoto instead of Tokyo, you would:
pay 1.4% more for restaurants
|
Tokyo
|
Kyoto
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$7.59
¥1,196
|
$9.49
¥1,495
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$5.06
¥798
|
$5.06
¥798
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$1.64
¥258
|
$0.85
¥135
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$0.89
¥140
|
$0.71
¥112
|
|
Tokyo vs. Kyoto - Cost of restaurants
pay 13.2% less for groceries
|
Tokyo
|
Kyoto
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$1.71
¥269
|
$1.62
¥255
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$5.29
¥834
|
$4.32
¥681
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$5.75
¥906
|
$5.81
¥915
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$2.26
¥357
|
$2.14
¥337
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$3.08
¥485
|
$3.55
¥560
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$2.15
¥339
|
$2.30
¥362
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$1.07
¥169
|
$1.05
¥166
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$1.96
¥308
|
$2.30
¥362
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$2.39
¥376
|
$1.63
¥256
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.53
¥241
|
$0.86
¥136
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.46
¥230
|
$0.77
¥121
|
|
Tokyo vs. Kyoto - Cost of groceries
pay 1.8% more for transportation
|
Tokyo
|
Kyoto
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$4.08
¥643
|
$4.10
¥646
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$63.27
¥9,969
|
$63.27
¥9,969
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$21,725.38
¥3M
|
$21,725.38
¥3M
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$28.47
¥4,486
|
$33.69
¥5,309
|
|
Tokyo vs. Kyoto - Cost of transportation
pay 49.4% less for housing
|
Tokyo
|
Kyoto
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$30.33
¥4,780
|
$30.84
¥4,860
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$1,280.34
¥202K
|
$564.23
¥88,911
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$692.48
¥109K
|
$327.84
¥51,661
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$113.45
¥17,877
|
$78.16
¥12,317
|
|
Tokyo vs. Kyoto - Cost of housing
pay 58.3% less for childcare
|
Tokyo
|
Kyoto
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$1,341.43
¥211K
|
$649.00
¥102K
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$18,252.10
¥3M
|
$6,550.09
¥1M
|
|
Tokyo vs. Kyoto - Cost of childcare
pay 10.9% less for entertainment and sports
|
Tokyo
|
Kyoto
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$3.80
¥598
|
$3.16
¥498
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$3.56
¥562
|
$3.30
¥520
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$3.92
¥618
|
$3.92
¥618
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$66.31
¥10,449
|
$52.76
¥8,314
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$12.65
¥1,994
|
$12.34
¥1,944
|
|
Tokyo vs. Kyoto - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 21.8% more for clothing
|
Tokyo
|
Kyoto
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$55.50
¥8,746
|
$56.15
¥8,848
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$32.95
¥5,192
|
$45.86
¥7,227
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$65.04
¥10,250
|
$69.69
¥10,982
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$70.74
¥11,148
|
$103.33
¥16,283
|
|
Tokyo vs. Kyoto - 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 November 2026). How we calculate this
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