Cost of living comparison
compared to
Japan vs. Washington Cost of Living Summary
Japan is 51.0% cheaper than Washington.
Japan vs. Washington Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Japan instead of Washington, you would:
pay 64.6% less for restaurants
|
Washington
|
Japan
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$22.26
|
$6.75
¥1,064
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$12.24
|
$5.10
¥803
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.75
|
$1.13
¥179
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.18
|
$0.76
¥119
|
|
Washington vs. Japan - Cost of restaurants
pay 23.2% less for groceries
|
Washington
|
Japan
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$4.04
|
$1.53
¥240
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$7.06
|
$5.55
¥875
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$4.15
|
$5.56
¥877
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$4.91
|
$2.01
¥317
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$6.11
|
$2.85
¥449
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$2.34
|
$2.16
¥341
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.83
|
$1.08
¥170
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$1.87
|
$1.54
¥242
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$2.03
|
$1.92
¥302
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.24
|
$1.10
¥174
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.24
|
$1.08
¥170
|
|
Washington vs. Japan - Cost of groceries
pay 18.7% less for transportation
|
Washington
|
Japan
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$4.99
|
$4.11
¥647
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$70.32
|
$63.20
¥9,959
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$34,567.40
|
$21,047.50
¥3M
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$17.13
|
$24.65
¥3,884
|
|
Washington vs. Japan - Cost of transportation
pay 68.7% less for housing
|
Washington
|
Japan
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$77.56
|
$33.54
¥5,285
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$1,772.00
|
$546.58
¥86,129
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$1,547.68
|
$360.78
¥56,851
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$175.22
|
$113.26
¥17,848
|
|
Washington vs. Japan - Cost of housing
pay 70.3% less for childcare
|
Washington
|
Japan
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$1,891.11
|
$417.01
¥65,712
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$28,281.22
|
$11,300.14
¥2M
|
|
Washington vs. Japan - Cost of childcare
pay 38.0% less for entertainment and sports
|
Washington
|
Japan
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$6.38
|
$2.57
¥405
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$5.43
|
$3.06
¥481
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$11.44
|
$3.83
¥603
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$55.23
|
$53.31
¥8,401
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$15.12
|
$11.73
¥1,848
|
|
Washington vs. Japan - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 24.7% less for clothing
|
Washington
|
Japan
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$54.08
|
$46.32
¥7,300
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$40.93
|
$31.33
¥4,937
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$89.87
|
$59.45
¥9,368
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$109.43
|
$81.04
¥12,770
|
|
Washington vs. Japan - Cost of clothing
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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Compare further: Washington vs. Japan
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Compare countries by overall cost of living
See the
cost of living in United States vs. Japan.
This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within United States and Japan.
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