Cost of living comparison

compared to

Japan is 42.1% cheaper than Massachusetts.

If you lived in Japan instead of Massachusetts, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 61.8% less for restaurants

 
Massachusetts
Japan
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $21.71
 
$6.59
¥1,008
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$10.88
 
$4.91
¥752
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $2.61
 
$1.01
¥155

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pay 26.0% less for groceries

 
Massachusetts
Japan
Bread
1 loaf
$3.85
 
$1.40
¥215
Local cheese (8 oz) $7.56
 
$5.54
¥848
Milk (1 gallon) $4.49
 
$5.14
¥786

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pay 4.5% more for transportation

 
Massachusetts
Japan
Gasoline (1 gallon) $3.53
 
$4.17
¥639
Monthly public transit pass $71.60
 
$60.62
¥9,277
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $31,382.05
 
$21,439.97
¥3,280,852

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pay 58.0% less for housing

 
Massachusetts
Japan
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
$64.71
 
$33.46
¥5,120
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $2,028.56
 
$480.50
¥73,528
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $1,906.23
 
$321.68
¥49,225

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pay 76.5% less for childcare

 
Massachusetts
Japan
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $1,823.67
 
$240.59
¥36,817
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $32,000.00
 
$10,805.94
¥1,653,579

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pay 44.9% less for entertainment and sports

 
Massachusetts
Japan
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $6.55
 
$2.60
¥398
Cappuccino in mid-range area $5.10
 
$2.74
¥420
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$12.54
 
$3.86
¥591

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pay 32.2% less for clothing

 
Massachusetts
Japan
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
$50.35
 
$38.65
¥5,915
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
$42.98
 
$25.96
¥3,972
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
$84.65
 
$52.99
¥8,109

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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: November 2024
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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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