Cost of living comparison

 Tennessee, USA
compared to
 Japan
Japan vs. Tennessee Cost of Living Summary
Japan vs. Tennessee Cost Breakdown

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

pay 59.5% less for restaurants

 
Tennessee
Japan
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $17.86
 
$6.44
¥917
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$9.51
 
$4.94
¥704
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $2.54
 
$0.97
¥138

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pay 11.5% less for groceries

 
Tennessee
Japan
Bread
1 loaf
$2.90
 
$1.52
¥217
Local cheese (8 oz) $5.63
 
$5.72
¥814
Milk (1 gallon) $3.62
 
$5.46
¥777

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pay 29.6% more for transportation

 
Tennessee
Japan
Gasoline (1 gallon) $3.06
 
$4.22
¥602
Monthly public transit pass $41.50
 
$57.82
¥8,233
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $31,466.25
 
$22,042.19
¥3,138,651

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pay 52.7% less for housing

 
Tennessee
Japan
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
$66.90
 
$31.09
¥4,427
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $1,303.80
 
$500.38
¥71,250
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $1,173.17
 
$325.42
¥46,337

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pay 53.9% less for childcare

 
Tennessee
Japan
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $1,030.34
 
$288.10
¥41,024
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $17,284.00
 
$11,095.30
¥1,579,893

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pay 15.2% less for entertainment and sports

 
Tennessee
Japan
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $5.95
 
$2.71
¥386
Cappuccino in mid-range area $5.12
 
$2.78
¥396
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$7.10
 
$3.98
¥567

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pay 30.9% less for clothing

 
Tennessee
Japan
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
$53.07
 
$40.54
¥5,773
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
$43.48
 
$26.82
¥3,819
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
$85.12
 
$54.08
¥7,700

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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: April 2025
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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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