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Tokyo

Cost of living, housing, groceries, transportation and more.

Cost data reviewed 23 Sep 2026FX snapshot 25 Sep 2026 UTC
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Rent · 1BR non-prime
¥160,000
Monthly planning midpoint
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Groceries
¥45,000
Monthly planning midpoint
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Public transit
¥12,000
Monthly planning midpoint
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Eating out
¥18,000
Monthly planning midpoint

What the numbers suggest

The model midpoint for one person in Tokyo is ¥272,000. At the modeled component midpoint, rent represents roughly 59% of the six-category basket, food about 23%, and public transit about 4%.

This page shows a planning range rather than one “correct” household cost. Actual spending changes with neighbourhood, lease terms, consumption and lifestyle.

What is included

The headline includes rent, utilities/connectivity, groceries, eating out, public transit and household/personal essentials. Healthcare, childcare, car ownership, taxes, savings and discretionary lifestyle spending are separate.

Core monthly cost breakdown

2 of six core planning components for Tokyo have captured numeric calibration evidence: 2 direct component observations and 0 broad calibrations. Broad calibration can come from household or per-person spending evidence and is not the same as a direct category measurement. The displayed midpoint remains a normalized planning estimate, not a quote or guaranteed household spend.

Rent · 1BR non-primeSource-linked model¥160,000
Utilities + connectivityDirect component evidence¥23,000
GroceriesSource-linked model¥45,000
Eating outSource-linked model¥18,000
Public transitDirect component evidence¥12,000
Household + personalSource-linked model¥12,000
Core evidence coverage2 direct · 0 broad · 4 model

Direct component evidence measures the category itself or a closely matched subcomponent. Broad calibration evidence uses a wider household/per-person benchmark. Source-linked model anchors have identified sources but no captured numeric observation yet.

  • Rent · 1BR non-prime: model anchor — AtHome · 2026-07
  • Utilities + connectivity: direct component evidence — Tokyo Metropolitan Government Bureau of Waterworks · reviewed 2026-09-24 — example 20m3 water benchmark: 2,816 JPY/month
  • Groceries: model anchor — Statistics Bureau of Japan · 2025
  • Eating out: model anchor — Statistics Bureau of Japan · 2025
  • Public transit: direct component evidence — Tokyo Metro · 2026 — example regular ticket fare range: 180–330 JPY/ride
  • Household + personal: model anchor — Statistics Bureau of Japan · 2025
Expanded evidence layer

Detailed source-backed profile

25 of 52 fields are public and source-backed for Tokyo. Only verified fields are shown; unresolved work remains in the audit ledger.

Housing & ownership 2
Flat 35 fixed-rate referenceFlat 35 September 2026 rate range for 21–35 year fixed loans; most common rate 3.46%.
3.46–5.69 %
Rental move-in cost rulesOfficial Tokyo relocation/housing guidance.
Tokyo Metropolitan Government guide: deposit commonly 1–3 months rent, key money 0–2 months, brokerage 0–1 month and insurance about ¥10,000–20,000; its worked example totals ¥365,000 initial cost.
Utilities & connectivity 3
Energy/water for baseline dwellingPlanning benchmark combines TEPCO Standard S 30A base and 260kWh usage rates with the September 2026 fuel adjustment (¥6,757.65 before the renewable-energy levy), plus Tokyo 20m³ water (¥2,816) and sewerage (¥2,068) references.
¥11,641.65 /month
Residential broadbandNTT East apartment FLET’S Hikari Plan 2 plus provider starts around ¥3,905/month; apartment plan tier can rise with building conditions.
¥3,905–¥4,455 /month
Mid-tier mobile planDOCOMO Poikatsu 20: <=20GB base ¥7,898/month; qualifying bundle/payment discounts can reduce to ¥4,818 before point redemptions.
¥4,818–¥7,898 /month
Transport 2
Single adult fareTokyo Metro IC-card regular fares span ¥178 to ¥324 by distance.
¥178–¥324 /ride
Taxi base fareTokyo 23-ward standard taxi base fare from April 2026.
¥500 base fare
Health 1
Public healthcare baseline/eligibilityNational statutory health-insurance context used for Tokyo.
Japan’s statutory health-insurance system generally uses patient cost sharing rather than free care at point of use; most insured people under 70 typically face 30% copayment, with age/income exceptions and high-cost protections.
Lifestyle 2
Gym membershipJOYFIT24 Kinshicho National U monthly membership.
¥7,128 /month
Cinema ticketTOHO Cinemas Shinjuku general adult admission.
¥2,200 /ticket
Earnings & tax 4
Official Tokyo regular-earnings benchmarkTokyo Metropolitan Government June 2026 monthly labour-statistics regularly paid wages for establishments with 5+ regular workers across surveyed industries.
¥375,854 /month gross
Core cost divided by earningsCLC six-component monthly core midpoint of JPY 272,000 divided by the official gross monthly earnings benchmark of JPY 375,854.
72.37 % of gross
Income remaining after core spendOfficial gross monthly earnings benchmark less the existing six-component CLC core midpoint of JPY 272,000.
¥103,854 /month before tax
Tax structureOfficial national and Tokyo resident-tax structure.
Japan national individual income-tax rates are 5%–45%. Tokyo resident income tax adds 4% metropolitan + 6% municipal income-based tax, plus fixed per-capita levies/forest-environment tax; actual liability depends on deductions and circumstances.
City context 5
Home fibre-use contextTokyo FY2025 resident internet survey home fibre-use share; this is usage/adoption, not availability.
52.5 % respondents using fibre at home
Air quality — PM2.5Tokyo FY2024 PM2.5 annual mean across general monitoring stations.
8.8 µg/m³ PM2.5 annual mean
Official crime-count contextTokyo Metropolitan Police recognized Penal Code offences in 2025.
99,349 recognized cases/year
Climate normalsJapan Meteorological Agency Tokyo station climate normals.
Tokyo 1991–2020 normals: January mean 5.4°C, July 25.7°C and August 26.9°C; annual mean is about 15.8°C.
Healthcare access contextNational health-insurance access/cost-sharing context used for Tokyo.
Tokyo residents use Japan’s statutory health-insurance framework, generally with copayments (commonly 30% for insured people under 70) plus income/age rules and high-cost protections.
Detailed evidence sources

Cities with a similar core-budget scale

Using the site's bundled 2026-09-25 FX snapshot only to put model midpoints on a common scale, these covered cities sit closest to Tokyo's six-category midpoint. This is a cost-model similarity, not a claim that the cities have the same housing market, wages or lifestyle.

Source and dates

Data model CLC-v5.9-global-detail-1 · site V7.1 · evidence granularity reviewed 2026-09-29 · core evidence mix 2 direct / 0 broad / 4 model. Missing fields are omitted; modeled anchors are labeled and may differ by neighbourhood and lifestyle.