Cost of living comparison

Japan

compared to

United States

Traverse City vs. Tokyo Cost of Living Summary

Traverse City is 30.5% more expensive than Tokyo.

Restaurants: pay 2.4 times more in Traverse City
Groceries: pay 11.3% more in Traverse City
Transportation: pay 6.9% less in Traverse City
Housing: pay 59.6% more in Traverse City
Childcare: pay 31.6% less in Traverse City
Entertainment and Sports: pay 7.1% more in Traverse City
Clothing: pay 26.8% more in Traverse City

The cost of restaurants, housing, clothing, groceries, and entertainment and sports in Traverse City are more expensive than in Tokyo. Expenses including childcare and transportation are lower in Traverse City. Notably, restaurants is significantly more expensive in Traverse City.

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Traverse City vs. Tokyo Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Traverse City instead of Tokyo, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 2.4 times more for restaurants

	Tokyo	Traverse City
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$7.59 ¥1,196	$21.60	+184.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.06 ¥798	$11.38	+124.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.64 ¥258	$2.51	+53.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.89 ¥140	$2.14	+141.6%
Average			+142.3%

Tokyo vs. Traverse City - Cost of restaurants

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pay 11.3% more for groceries

	Tokyo	Traverse City
Bread 1 loaf	$1.71 ¥269	$2.94	+71.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.29 ¥834	$9.55	+80.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.75 ¥906	$2.82	-50.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.26 ¥357	$2.79	+23.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.08 ¥485	$7.46	+142.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.15 ¥339	$3.03	+40.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.07 ¥169	$0.60	-44.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.96 ¥308	$1.75	-10.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.39 ¥376	$3.08	+28.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.53 ¥241	$1.21	-20.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.46 ¥230	$1.45	-1.0%
Average			+11.3%

Tokyo vs. Traverse City - Cost of groceries

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pay 6.9% less for transportation

	Tokyo	Traverse City
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.08 ¥643	$3.76	-7.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$63.27 ¥9,969	$30.00	-52.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$21,725.38 ¥3M	$35,866.37	+65.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$28.47 ¥4,486	??
Average			-6.9%

Tokyo vs. Traverse City - Cost of transportation

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pay 59.6% more for housing

	Tokyo	Traverse City
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$30.33 ¥4,780	$67.50	+122.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,280.34 ¥202K	$1,983.33	+54.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$692.48 ¥109K	$1,418.00	+104.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$113.45 ¥17,877	$90.12	-20.6%
Average			+59.6%

Tokyo vs. Traverse City - Cost of housing

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pay 31.6% less for childcare

	Tokyo	Traverse City
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,341.43 ¥211K	$1,030.00	-23.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$18,252.10 ¥3M	$11,136.00	-39.0%
Average			-31.6%

Tokyo vs. Traverse City - Cost of childcare

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pay 7.1% more for entertainment and sports

	Tokyo	Traverse City
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.80 ¥598	$5.00	+31.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.56 ¥562	$4.67	+30.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.92 ¥618	$6.00	+53.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$66.31 ¥10,449	$63.33	-4.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$12.65 ¥1,994	$9.50	-24.9%
Average			+7.1%

Tokyo vs. Traverse City - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 26.8% more for clothing

	Tokyo	Traverse City
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$55.50 ¥8,746	$59.33	+6.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$32.95 ¥5,192	$41.67	+26.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$65.04 ¥10,250	$101.67	+56.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$70.74 ¥11,148	$86.67	+22.5%
Average			+26.8%

Tokyo vs. Traverse City - 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 November 2026). How we calculate this

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