Cost of living comparison

United States

compared to

Japan

Japan vs. United States Cost of Living Summary

Japan is 47.5% cheaper than United States overall.

Restaurants: pay 61.4% less in Japan
Groceries: pay 22.0% less in Japan
Transportation: pay 11.2% less in Japan
Housing: pay 66.0% less in Japan
Childcare: pay 63.5% less in Japan
Entertainment and Sports: pay 33.7% less in Japan
Clothing: pay 25.6% less in Japan

Expenses including housing, childcare, restaurants, entertainment and sports, clothing, and groceries are lower in Japan.

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Japan vs. United States Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Japan instead of United States, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 61.4% less for restaurants

	United States	Japan
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$19.86	$6.75 ¥1,070	-66.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.42	$5.10 ¥808	-55.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.67	$1.13 ¥180	-57.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.05	$0.76 ¥120	-63.1%
Average			-61.4%

United States vs. Japan - Cost of restaurants

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pay 22.0% less for groceries

	United States	Japan
Bread 1 loaf	$3.63	$1.53 ¥242	-57.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.52	$5.55 ¥880	-14.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.98	$5.56 ¥882	+39.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.30	$2.01 ¥319	-53.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$5.46	$2.85 ¥451	-47.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.34	$2.16 ¥343	-7.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.80	$1.08 ¥171	+35.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.02	$1.54 ¥244	-23.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.19	$1.92 ¥304	-12.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.34	$1.10 ¥174	-18.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.39	$1.08 ¥170	-22.4%
Average			-22.0%

United States vs. Japan - Cost of groceries

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pay 11.2% less for transportation

	United States	Japan
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.01	$4.11 ¥651	+2.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$66.70	$63.20 ¥10,016	-5.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$34,164.82	$21,047.50 ¥3M	-38.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$18.02	$24.65 ¥3,906	+36.7%
Average			-11.2%

United States vs. Japan - Cost of transportation

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pay 66.0% less for housing

	United States	Japan
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$70.22	$33.54 ¥5,315	-52.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,681.01	$546.58 ¥86,619	-67.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,404.28	$360.78 ¥57,174	-74.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$157.64	$113.26 ¥17,949	-28.2%
Average			-66.0%

United States vs. Japan - Cost of housing

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pay 63.5% less for childcare

	United States	Japan
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,450.99	$417.01 ¥66,085	-71.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$24,361.50	$11,300.14 ¥2M	-53.6%
Average			-63.5%

United States vs. Japan - Cost of childcare

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pay 33.7% less for entertainment and sports

	United States	Japan
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$6.00	$2.57 ¥407	-57.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$5.31	$3.06 ¥484	-42.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$10.42	$3.83 ¥606	-63.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$50.68	$53.31 ¥8,449	+5.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$13.95	$11.73 ¥1,859	-15.9%
Average			-33.7%

United States vs. Japan - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 25.6% less for clothing

	United States	Japan
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$53.15	$46.32 ¥7,341	-12.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$41.88	$31.33 ¥4,965	-25.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$89.76	$59.45 ¥9,421	-33.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$114.01	$81.04 ¥12,843	-28.9%
Average			-25.6%

United States vs. Japan - 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

Compare further: United States vs. Japan

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