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Purchasing Power Parity · Japan

Cost of living in 🇯🇵 Japan vs the United States

Japan has a US-relative price level of 0.63 (US = 1.0) — about 37% cheaper than the United States. Reference year 2025.

What US salaries are worth in Japan

US income Feels like (US-equivalent) Cost of a US lifestyle
$50,000 $79,365 $31,500
$80,000 $126,984 $50,400
$120,000 $190,476 $75,600
$180,000 $285,714 $113,400
$250,000 $396,825 $157,500

“Feels like” = income ÷ price level; “cost of a US lifestyle” = income × price level. Try your own number in the interactive calculator.

How the sources compare

Each provider measures Japan's price level slightly differently; a tight spread means high confidence.

Consensus (median) 0.630 2025
World Bank — GDP 0.624 2024
IMF (WEO) 0.622 2024
OECD 0.635 2025
Penn World Table 0.690 2023
World Bank — Consumption 0.657 2024
Big Mac Index 0.495 2026
Eurostat (observed prices) 0.597 2024

Cost of living around the world

Every country shaded by its price level relative to the US (darker = more expensive). Japan is outlined.

Canada: price level 0.846 (US = 1.0) United States: price level 1 (US = 1.0) Indonesia: price level 0.299 (US = 1.0) Argentina: price level 0.459 (US = 1.0) Chile: price level 0.481 (US = 1.0) Norway: price level 0.841 (US = 1.0) South Africa: price level 0.41 (US = 1.0) Mexico: price level 0.548 (US = 1.0) Brazil: price level 0.462 (US = 1.0) Colombia: price level 0.362 (US = 1.0) France: price level 0.749 (US = 1.0) Nigeria: price level 0.119 (US = 1.0) United Arab Emirates: price level 0.634 (US = 1.0) Thailand: price level 0.296 (US = 1.0) Vietnam: price level 0.288 (US = 1.0) South Korea: price level 0.573 (US = 1.0) India: price level 0.244 (US = 1.0) Sweden: price level 0.821 (US = 1.0) Poland: price level 0.486 (US = 1.0) Hungary: price level 0.508 (US = 1.0) Germany: price level 0.789 (US = 1.0) Greece: price level 0.584 (US = 1.0) Türkiye: price level 0.367 (US = 1.0) Switzerland: price level 1.101 (US = 1.0) Netherlands: price level 0.829 (US = 1.0) Portugal: price level 0.603 (US = 1.0) Spain: price level 0.642 (US = 1.0) Ireland: price level 0.821 (US = 1.0) New Zealand: price level 0.891 (US = 1.0) Australia: price level 0.923 (US = 1.0) China: price level 0.491 (US = 1.0) Italy: price level 0.672 (US = 1.0) Denmark: price level 0.899 (US = 1.0) United Kingdom: price level 0.863 (US = 1.0) Philippines: price level 0.338 (US = 1.0) Malaysia: price level 0.306 (US = 1.0) Czechia: price level 0.574 (US = 1.0) Japan: price level 0.63 (US = 1.0) Saudi Arabia: price level 0.493 (US = 1.0) Egypt: price level 0.138 (US = 1.0)
Cheaper → pricier · click a country to open its page

Countries with a similar cost of living

Relocating for work? See the fair salary from the US to Japan or use the Fair Pay Localizer.

Frequently asked questions

How expensive is Japan compared to the United States?
Japan has a price level of 0.63 relative to the US baseline of 1.0 (about 37% cheaper than the United States), based on the median of World Bank, IMF, OECD and Penn World Table figures with reference year 2025.
What is a $100,000 salary worth in Japan?
In purchasing-power terms, $100,000 stretches to about $158,730 of US-equivalent lifestyle in Japan; conversely, sustaining a $100,000 US lifestyle there costs about $63,000.
Where does the Japan cost-of-living data come from?
Real price-level figures from the World Bank, IMF World Economic Outlook, OECD and Penn World Table, blended as a per-country median and refreshed at build time.