Cost of living comparison

compared to

Los Angeles vs. Tokyo Cost of Living Summary

Los Angeles is 87.6% more expensive than Tokyo.

Restaurants: pay 2.7 times more in Los Angeles
Groceries: pay 41.6% more in Los Angeles
Transportation: pay 9.9% more in Los Angeles
Housing: pay 2.2 times more in Los Angeles
Childcare: pay 2.6 times more in Los Angeles
Entertainment and Sports: pay 73.1% more in Los Angeles
Clothing: pay 35.6% more in Los Angeles

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

Los Angeles vs. Tokyo Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Los Angeles instead of Tokyo, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 2.7 times more for restaurants

	Tokyo	Los Angeles
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.02 ¥1,252	$25.00	+211.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.01 ¥783	$13.00	+159.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.16 ¥181	$2.83	+143.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.84 ¥132	$2.26	+168.7%
Average			+170.8%

Tokyo vs. Los Angeles - Cost of restaurants

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pay 41.6% more for groceries

	Tokyo	Los Angeles
Bread 1 loaf	$1.55 ¥243	$4.52	+190.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.21 ¥1,126	$6.67	-7.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.71 ¥892	$4.71	-17.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.33 ¥364	$7.43	+218.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.52 ¥550	$7.55	+114.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.38 ¥371	$2.60	+9.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.18 ¥184	$1.27	+7.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.48 ¥387	$2.00	-19.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.64 ¥412	$2.17	-18.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.43 ¥223	$1.38	-3.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.48 ¥231	$1.22	-17.6%
Average			+41.6%

Tokyo vs. Los Angeles - Cost of groceries

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pay 9.9% more for transportation

	Tokyo	Los Angeles
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.50 ¥703	$4.78	+6.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$73.51 ¥11,479	$93.48	+27.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$22,332.63 ¥3,487,575	$32,727.50	+46.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$30.07 ¥4,696	$18.01	-40.1%
Average			+9.9%

Tokyo vs. Los Angeles - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.2 times more for housing

	Tokyo	Los Angeles
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$33.44 ¥5,223	$74.01	+121.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,071.65 ¥167,355	$2,536.54	+136.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$642.24 ¥100,295	$1,984.71	+209.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$122.16 ¥19,077	$155.53	+27.3%
Average			+123.6%

Tokyo vs. Los Angeles - Cost of housing

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pay 2.6 times more for childcare

	Tokyo	Los Angeles
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$519.69 ¥81,157	$1,762.50	+239.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$15,131.74 ¥2,363,048	$27,000.00	+78.4%
Average			+158.8%

Tokyo vs. Los Angeles - Cost of childcare

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pay 73.1% more for entertainment and sports

	Tokyo	Los Angeles
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.01 ¥626	$8.00	+99.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.43 ¥536	$5.76	+67.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.01 ¥626	$11.50	+186.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$68.19 ¥10,648	$47.45	-30.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$12.70 ¥1,983	$18.00	+41.8%
Average			+73.1%

Tokyo vs. Los Angeles - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 35.6% more for clothing

	Tokyo	Los Angeles
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$56.84 ¥8,876	$61.25	+7.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$40.48 ¥6,322	$44.15	+9.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$62.67 ¥9,787	$100.09	+59.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$90.37 ¥14,113	$149.85	+65.8%
Average			+35.6%

Tokyo vs. Los Angeles - 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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