Cost of living comparison

compared to

Kyoto vs. Washington Cost of Living Summary

Kyoto vs. Washington Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Kyoto instead of Washington, you would:

pay 65.0% less for restaurants

 
Washington
Kyoto
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $25.00
 
$10.02
¥1,596
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$12.00
 
$5.35
¥851
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $3.20
 
$0.92
¥147

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pay 23.0% less for groceries

 
Washington
Kyoto
Bread
1 loaf
$4.43
 
$1.70
¥271
Local cheese (8 oz) $8.04
 
$4.57
¥727
Milk (1 gallon) $4.19
 
$6.67
¥1,063

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pay 8.7% more for transportation

 
Washington
Kyoto
Gasoline (1 gallon) $3.53
 
$4.43
¥706
Monthly public transit pass $77.50
 
$66.82
¥10,641
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $35,699.74
 
$22,332.63
¥4M

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pay 64.8% less for housing

 
Washington
Kyoto
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
$69.41
 
$32.58
¥5,187
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $2,568.48
 
$570.06
¥90,774
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $2,088.16
 
$318.25
¥50,677

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pay 85.2% less for childcare

 
Washington
Kyoto
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $2,650.00
 
$434.36
¥69,165
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $40,166.67
 
$5,345.93
¥851K

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pay 49.0% less for entertainment and sports

 
Washington
Kyoto
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $8.00
 
$3.34
¥532
Cappuccino in mid-range area $6.07
 
$3.20
¥509
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$13.00
 
$4.01
¥638

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pay 40.8% less for clothing

 
Washington
Kyoto
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
$76.00
 
$44.33
¥7,058
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
$48.40
 
$30.91
¥4,921
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
$104.31
 
$50.12
¥7,981

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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: March 2026
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