Cost of living comparison

 Washington (DC), United States
compared to
 Tokyo, Japan
Tokyo vs. Washington Cost of Living Summary
Tokyo vs. Washington Cost Breakdown

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

pay 64.2% less for restaurants

 
Washington
Tokyo
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $25.00
 
$6.51
¥985
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$12.00
 
$5.21
¥788
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $2.78
 
$1.12
¥169

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pay 13.9% less for groceries

 
Washington
Tokyo
Bread
1 loaf
$4.34
 
$1.63
¥247
Local cheese (8 oz) $7.84
 
$7.01
¥1,061
Milk (1 gallon) $4.14
 
$5.89
¥891

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pay 5.8% less for transportation

 
Washington
Tokyo
Gasoline (1 gallon) $3.66
 
$4.42
¥669
Monthly public transit pass $75.00
 
$58.62
¥8,869
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $35,699.74
 
$21,767.76
¥3,293,353

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pay 47.1% less for housing

 
Washington
Tokyo
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
$66.46
 
$31.86
¥4,820
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $2,582.95
 
$1,120.28
¥169,492
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $2,028.70
 
$582.98
¥88,202

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pay 69.3% less for childcare

 
Washington
Tokyo
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $2,273.25
 
$533.29
¥80,685
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $38,250.00
 
$14,506.96
¥2,194,829

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pay 45.9% less for entertainment and sports

 
Washington
Tokyo
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $8.00
 
$3.26
¥493
Cappuccino in mid-range area $5.55
 
$3.40
¥515
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$11.75
 
$3.91
¥591

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pay 37.5% less for clothing

 
Washington
Tokyo
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
$74.13
 
$52.60
¥7,958
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
$50.77
 
$36.87
¥5,578
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
$105.47
 
$63.41
¥9,594

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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: February 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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