Cost of living comparison

Washington (DC), United States

compared to

Tokyo, Japan

Tokyo vs. Washington Cost of Living Summary

Tokyo is 40.5% cheaper than Washington.

Restaurants: pay 64.2% less in Tokyo
Groceries: pay 13.9% less in Tokyo
Transportation: pay 5.8% less in Tokyo
Housing: pay 47.1% less in Tokyo
Childcare: pay 69.3% less in Tokyo
Entertainment and Sports: pay 45.9% less in Tokyo
Clothing: pay 37.5% less in Tokyo

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

Tokyo vs. Washington Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 64.2% less for restaurants

	Washington	Tokyo
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$25.00	$6.51 ¥936	-73.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$12.00	$5.21 ¥749	-56.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.78	$1.12 ¥160	-59.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.22	$0.75 ¥107	-66.4%
Average			-64.2%

Washington vs. Tokyo - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 13.9% less for groceries

	Washington	Tokyo
Bread 1 loaf	$4.34	$1.63 ¥235	-62.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.84	$7.01 ¥1,008	-10.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.14	$5.89 ¥846	+42.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.91	$2.09 ¥300	-46.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$6.73	$3.26 ¥469	-51.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.70	$2.38 ¥342	-11.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.85	$1.06 ¥153	+25.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.46	$2.65 ¥381	+7.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.59	$2.42 ¥347	-6.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.55	$1.29 ¥185	-16.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.61	$1.26 ¥181	-21.5%
Average			-13.9%

Washington vs. Tokyo - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 5.8% less for transportation

	Washington	Tokyo
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.66	$4.42 ¥635	+20.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$75.00	$58.62 ¥8,422	-21.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,699.74	$21,767.76 ¥3,127,482	-39.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$23.88	$27.88 ¥4,005	+16.7%
Average			-5.8%

Washington vs. Tokyo - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 47.1% less for housing

	Washington	Tokyo
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$66.46	$31.86 ¥4,578	-52.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$2,582.95	$1,120.28 ¥160,956	-56.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$2,028.70	$582.98 ¥83,760	-71.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$146.65	$134.03 ¥19,257	-8.6%
Average			-47.1%

Washington vs. Tokyo - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 69.3% less for childcare

	Washington	Tokyo
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$2,273.25	$533.29 ¥76,621	-76.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$38,250.00	$14,506.96 ¥2,084,286	-62.1%
Average			-69.3%

Washington vs. Tokyo - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 45.9% less for entertainment and sports

	Washington	Tokyo
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$8.00	$3.26 ¥468	-59.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$5.55	$3.40 ¥489	-38.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$11.75	$3.91 ¥561	-66.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$106.36	$67.16 ¥9,649	-36.9%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$17.18	$12.38 ¥1,778	-28.0%
Average			-45.9%

Washington vs. Tokyo - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 37.5% less for clothing

	Washington	Tokyo
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$74.13	$52.60 ¥7,557	-29.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$50.77	$36.87 ¥5,297	-27.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$105.47	$63.41 ¥9,111	-39.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$178.48	$82.89 ¥11,909	-53.6%
Average			-37.5%

Washington vs. Tokyo - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

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

More cost comparisons

Washington vs.

Algiers

Washington vs.

Prague

Washington vs.

Wellington

Washington vs.

London

Washington vs.

Ottawa

Washington vs.

Kiev

Washington vs.

Mexico City

Washington vs.

Lima

Share this

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.

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Add prices for Washington

Add prices for Tokyo

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Tokyo or Washington. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.