Cost of living comparison

compared to

Tokyo vs. Ulaanbaatar Cost of Living Summary

Tokyo is 2.1 times more expensive than Ulaanbaatar.

Restaurants: pay 45.5% more in Tokyo
Groceries: pay 90.5% more in Tokyo
Transportation: pay 4.2 times more in Tokyo
Housing: pay 2.1 times more in Tokyo
Childcare: pay 2.7 times more in Tokyo
Entertainment and Sports: pay 2.0 times more in Tokyo
Clothing: pay 36.4% less in Tokyo

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

Tokyo vs. Ulaanbaatar Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 45.5% more for restaurants

	Ulaanbaatar	Tokyo
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$5.56 MNT19,842.51	$8.02 ¥1,265	+44.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.41 MNT19,296.85	$5.01 ¥791	-7.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.72 MNT2,579.53	$1.16 ¥183	+60.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.46 MNT1,631.61	$0.84 ¥133	+84.2%
Average			+45.5%

Ulaanbaatar vs. Tokyo - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 90.5% more for groceries

	Ulaanbaatar	Tokyo
Bread 1 loaf	$0.92 MNT3,292.62	$1.55 ¥245	+68.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.86 MNT20,933.85	$7.21 ¥1,138	+22.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.29 MNT18,887.94	$5.71 ¥902	+8.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.05 MNT7,303.99	$2.33 ¥368	+13.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.65 MNT9,450.45	$3.52 ¥556	+33.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.34 MNT4,769.81	$2.38 ¥375	+77.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.03 MNT3,690.17	$1.18 ¥186	+14.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.87 MNT6,660.31	$2.48 ¥391	+32.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.17 MNT4,162.70	$2.64 ¥417	+126.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.31 MNT1,102.55	$1.43 ¥225	+362.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.44 MNT1,575.07	$1.48 ¥234	+235.9%
Average			+90.5%

Ulaanbaatar vs. Tokyo - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 4.2 times more for transportation

	Ulaanbaatar	Tokyo
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.78 MNT13,507.66	$4.50 ¥710	+18.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$8.34 MNT29,763.77	$73.51 ¥11,598	+781.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$28,628.61 MNT102M	$22,332.63 ¥4M	-22.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.00 MNT17,858.26	$30.07 ¥4,745	+501.0%
Average			+319.9%

Ulaanbaatar vs. Tokyo - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 2.1 times more for housing

	Ulaanbaatar	Tokyo
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$13.74 MNT49,027.55	$33.44 ¥5,277	+143.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$503.97 MNT2M	$1,071.65 ¥169K	+112.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$394.69 MNT1M	$642.24 ¥101K	+62.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$58.01 MNT207K	$122.16 ¥19,275	+110.6%
Average			+107.3%

Ulaanbaatar vs. Tokyo - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 2.7 times more for childcare

	Ulaanbaatar	Tokyo
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$166.77 MNT595K	$519.69 ¥81,999	+211.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$6,632.97 MNT24M	$15,131.74 ¥2M	+128.1%
Average			+169.8%

Ulaanbaatar vs. Tokyo - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 2.0 times more for entertainment and sports

	Ulaanbaatar	Tokyo
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.95 MNT6,944.88	$4.01 ¥633	+106.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.42 MNT8,644.72	$3.43 ¥541	+41.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.71 MNT6,120.90	$4.01 ¥633	+133.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$69.49 MNT248K	$68.19 ¥10,759	-1.9%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.89 MNT13,889.76	$12.70 ¥2,003	+226.3%
Average			+101.2%

Ulaanbaatar vs. Tokyo - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 36.4% less for clothing

	Ulaanbaatar	Tokyo
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$81.91 MNT292K	$56.84 ¥8,968	-30.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$65.60 MNT234K	$40.48 ¥6,388	-38.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$98.97 MNT353K	$62.67 ¥9,889	-36.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$150.55 MNT537K	$90.37 ¥14,259	-40.0%
Average			-36.4%

Ulaanbaatar vs. Tokyo - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

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: March 2026

More cost comparisons

Ulaanbaatar vs.

Bangkok

Ulaanbaatar vs.

Hong Kong

Ulaanbaatar vs.

Athens

Ulaanbaatar vs.

Canberra

Ulaanbaatar vs.

Warsaw

Ulaanbaatar vs.

Quito

Ulaanbaatar vs.

Phnom Penh

Ulaanbaatar vs.

Kiev

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

See the cost of living in Mongolia vs. Japan. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Mongolia and Japan.

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Add prices for Ulaanbaatar

Add prices for Tokyo

Ask the Elsewhere Community

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Tokyo or Ulaanbaatar. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.