Cost of living comparison

compared to

Japan vs. South Carolina Cost of Living Summary

Japan is 29.2% cheaper than South Carolina.

Restaurants: pay 59.1% less in Japan
Groceries: pay 5.8% less in Japan
Transportation: pay 14.8% more in Japan
Housing: pay 54.1% less in Japan
Childcare: pay 63.6% less in Japan
Entertainment and Sports: pay 9.1% less in Japan
Clothing: pay 27.4% less in Japan

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

Japan vs. South Carolina Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Japan instead of South Carolina, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 59.1% less for restaurants

	South Carolina	Japan
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$17.57	$6.44 ¥1,017	-63.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.40	$4.94 ¥780	-52.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.41	$0.97 ¥153	-59.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.86	$0.73 ¥116	-60.6%
Average			-59.1%

South Carolina vs. Japan - Cost of restaurants

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pay 5.8% less for groceries

	South Carolina	Japan
Bread 1 loaf	$3.02	$1.52 ¥240	-49.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.99	$5.72 ¥903	+14.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.25	$5.46 ¥861	+67.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.94	$2.02 ¥319	-31.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.81	$2.73 ¥431	-43.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.50	$2.17 ¥343	-13.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.81	$1.02 ¥162	+25.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.11	$1.64 ¥259	-22.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.90	$2.04 ¥321	+7.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.25	$1.26 ¥200	+1.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.37	$1.08 ¥171	-21.2%
Average			-5.8%

South Carolina vs. Japan - Cost of groceries

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pay 14.8% more for transportation

	South Carolina	Japan
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.08	$4.22 ¥667	+37.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$49.00	$57.82 ¥9,128	+18.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$30,676.82	$22,042.19 ¥3,479,889	-28.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$19.29	$25.42 ¥4,014	+31.8%
Average			+14.8%

South Carolina vs. Japan - Cost of transportation

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pay 54.1% less for housing

	South Carolina	Japan
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$63.14	$31.09 ¥4,908	-50.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,510.93	$500.38 ¥78,996	-66.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,398.21	$325.42 ¥51,375	-76.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$144.70	$113.04 ¥17,846	-21.9%
Average			-54.1%

South Carolina vs. Japan - Cost of housing

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pay 63.6% less for childcare

	South Carolina	Japan
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,335.89	$288.10 ¥45,484	-78.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$21,679.50	$11,095.30 ¥1,751,660	-48.8%
Average			-63.6%

South Carolina vs. Japan - Cost of childcare

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pay 9.1% less for entertainment and sports

	South Carolina	Japan
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.79	$2.71 ¥427	-43.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$5.08	$2.78 ¥439	-45.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$7.37	$3.98 ¥629	-46.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$29.76	$57.72 ¥9,112	+93.9%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$12.57	$11.97 ¥1,890	-4.8%
Average			-9.1%

South Carolina vs. Japan - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 27.4% less for clothing

	South Carolina	Japan
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$45.07	$40.54 ¥6,401	-10.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$39.58	$26.82 ¥4,234	-32.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$89.11	$54.08 ¥8,537	-39.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$113.24	$81.66 ¥12,893	-27.9%
Average			-27.4%

South Carolina vs. Japan - Cost of clothing

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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: December 2024

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