Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Tokyo and Lisbon

For one person, living is cheaper in Tokyo: $1,663 a month against $2,223 in Lisbon, rent and utilities included – about $6,700 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

80

Cost of Living Index in Tokyo
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Tokyo Living Index
107

Cost of Living Index in Lisbon
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Lisbon Living Index

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Tokyo

🇯🇵 Japan

$1,663

/mo nomad

Lisbon

🇵🇹 Portugal

$2,223

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Tokyo and in Lisbon

Real prices from locals and on-the-ground checks – rent, groceries, transit and the daily extras. Here's what a month in Tokyo and in Lisbon actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,663 in Tokyo versus $2,223 in Lisbon.

Tokyo $1,663
Lisbon $2,223

Estimated couple costs with rent: $2,592 in Tokyo versus $3,271 in Lisbon.

Tokyo $2,592
Lisbon $3,271

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $3,521 in Tokyo versus $4,319 in Lisbon.

Tokyo $3,521
Lisbon $4,319

Living in Tokyo costs roughly 25% less than in Lisbon, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

Both cities are pricier than the global median: Tokyo 23% above, Lisbon 65% above.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$7.47 ¥1,180

$16.50 €14.67

-54.73%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$37.48 ¥5,921

$61.3 €54.5

-38.81%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$4.90 ¥774

$11.27 €10.03

-56.52%

Cappuccino

$3.62 ¥571

$3.06 €2.72

18.30%

Coke/Pepsi/Fanta/Sprite (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.66 ¥262

$2.26 €2.01

-26.55%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.84 ¥133

$1.73 €1.54

-51.45%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.69 ¥582

$3.39 €3.02

8.85%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$5.24 ¥829

$3.40 €3.02

54.12%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.49 ¥236

$1.12 €1.00

33.04%

White Bread (500g)

$1.75 ¥276

$1.86 €1.65

-5.91%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$5.63 ¥889

$1.53 €1.36

267.97%

Eggs

$2.20 ¥348

$3.96 €3.53

-44.44%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$11.19 ¥1,767

$12.76 €11.35

-12.30%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$6.84 ¥1,081

$7.90 €7.02

-13.42%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$16.61 ¥2,624

$16.97 €15.09

-2.12%

Apples (1kg)

$4.80 ¥759

$2.27 €2.02

111.45%

Banana (1kg)

$2.24 ¥354

$1.75 €1.55

28.00%

Oranges (1kg)

$4.22 ¥666

$1.85 €1.64

128.11%

Tomato (1kg)

$5.20 ¥821

$2.57 €2.28

102.33%

Potato (1kg)

$3.29 ¥520

$1.86 €1.65

76.88%

Onion (1kg)

$3.05 ¥481

$2.02 €1.80

50.99%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.19 ¥188

$1.44 €1.28

-17.36%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.81 ¥129

$0.82 €0.73

-1.22%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$3.92 ¥619

$6.56 €5.83

-40.24%

Wine (Bottle)

$9.65 ¥1,524

$5.62 €5.00

71.71%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.63 ¥258

$1.28 €1.14

27.34%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.70 ¥426

$2.07 €1.84

30.43%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$1.25 ¥197

$2.35 €2.09

-46.81%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$63.9 ¥10.1K

$44.18 €39.30

44.59%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$3.13 ¥494

$3.99 €3.55

-21.55%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$3.21 ¥507

$1.09 €0.97

194.50%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$18.55 ¥2,931

$16.64 €14.81

11.48%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.05 ¥166

$2.28 €2.03

-53.95%

Midsize Hatchback 1.4l (Volkswagen Golf, Toyota Prius, Honda Civic, etc)

$21.5K ¥3.4M

$33.7K €30.0K

-36.01%

Compact Sedan 1.6l (Toyota Corolla, Mazda3, Kia K4, Hyundai Elantra, etc)

$15.2K ¥2.4M

$39.3K €35.0K

-61.41%

Utilities for 2 People in 2-bedroom Apartment (Heating, Electricity, Gas, Water, Garbage) (85m2)

$149 ¥23.5K

$167 €149

-11.33%

SIM Card Monthly Plan (Calls and 10GB+ Data)

$21.59 ¥3,412

$18.80 €16.72

14.84%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$30.62 ¥4,837

$33.09 €29.43

-7.46%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$66.7 ¥10.5K

$46.01 €40.93

44.90%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$25.58 ¥4,042

$19.19 €17.07

33.30%

Cinema Ticket

$12.68 ¥2,004

$9.84 €8.75

28.86%

Preschool or Kindergarten, Full Day, Private, 1 Child (Monthly)

$1,350 ¥213.3K

$677 €602

99.40%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$17.9K ¥2.8M

$16.9K €15.1K

5.74%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$56.0 ¥8,853

$101 €90.1

-44.66%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$33.14 ¥5,236

$45.76 €40.70

-27.58%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$64.3 ¥10.2K

$100.0 €88.9

-35.72%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$70.2 ¥11.1K

$123 €109

-42.87%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,253 ¥197.9K

$1,614 €1,436

-22.37%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$700 ¥110.6K

$1,197 €1,065

-41.53%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$2,502 ¥395.3K

$2,862 €2,545

-12.55%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,430 ¥225.9K

$1,990 €1,770

-28.15%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$9,428 ¥1.5M

$7,577 €6,740

24.44%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$4,236 ¥669.3K

$4,307 €3,831

-1.64%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$2,998 ¥473.7K

$1,588 €1,412

88.84%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

2.25

3.85

-41.56%

CityCost data is based on AI and user input – minor inaccuracies may occur.

Last update for Tokyo: October 12, 2026

Last update for Lisbon: October 11, 2026

Monthly budget structure

Share of the monthly basket for one person, rent included.

Accommodation & Living

Tokyo

$700 42.1%

Lisbon

$1.2K 53.9% 71% $497

Groceries & Markets

Tokyo

$325 19.5%

Lisbon

$269 12.1% 17.1% $56

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Tokyo

$201 12.1%

Lisbon

$219 9.9% 9.3% $19

Eating Out

Tokyo

$157 9.4%

Lisbon

$242 10.9% 54.5% $85

Clothing & Footwear

Tokyo

$101 6.1%

Lisbon

$166 7.5% 65.4% $66

Sport & Entertainment

Tokyo

$92 5.5%

Lisbon

$66 3% 28.6% $26

Getting Around

Tokyo

$88 5.3%

Lisbon

$63 2.8% 28.5% $25

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $1,253 in Tokyo and $1,614 in Lisbon. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Tokyo pays 89% more on average while also being the cheaper of the two. The combined effect is a noticeably stronger local purchasing power.

Dining out: $37.00 in Tokyo vs $61.0 in Lisbon. Groceries flip the comparison at $325 vs $269, with Lisbon cheaper for home cooking.

Good to know

🇯🇵 Tokyo

🇵🇹 Lisbon

🕒 Local time

21:37 9:37 PM

13:37 1:37 PM

8 h behind Tokyo

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

13,613,660 Capital

545,923 Capital

💱 Currency

Japanese Yen JPY ¥

Euro EUR €

📈 Exchange rate

1,000 JPY = 6.33 USD

1,000 JPY = 5.63 EUR

1 EUR = 1.12 USD

Exchange rates and currency converter

EUR, USD to JPY – Japanese Yen Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇯🇵 Japanese Yen (¥)

Japanese Yen exchange rates as of October 19, 2026: 1 USD = 158 JPY (1,000 JPY = 6.33 USD). 1 EUR = 178 JPY (1,000 JPY = 5.63 EUR).

Euro exchange rates as of October 19, 2026: 1 USD = 0.889 EUR (1 EUR = 1.12 USD).

USD to JPY in detail →

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City Median Internet Speeds Comparison (Updated April 2026)

The chart highlights the Precision Threshold for mobile and fixed broadband internet speeds, updated quarterly.

Digital Nomad Cost of Living Index

Tokyo vs Lisbon: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Tokyo and Lisbon differ by about 34% in total monthly costs ($1,663 vs $2,223 including rent). Tokyo is meaningfully more affordable – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

Average pay runs 89% higher in Tokyo, which matters when comparing affordability. Whether that higher income actually nets you more depends on your spending habits and housing choices.

Rent for a central apartment: $1,253 in Tokyo versus $1,614 in Lisbon. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $1,350 in Tokyo versus $677 in Lisbon. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Shoppers in Lisbon pay roughly 21% less for everyday groceries. It's an unusual reversal that partly offsets higher costs elsewhere.

At $1,663 in Tokyo versus $2,223 in Lisbon, a $3,000 budget is realistic in Tokyo but tight or insufficient in Lisbon. The gap between the two cities makes Tokyo the clear choice for anyone on this budget.

Both cities offer a good standard of living with different trade-offs. Neither is objectively better – the right pick depends on what matters most: affordability, career, cultural scene, or climate.

Safety-wise, Tokyo and Lisbon are on par. Petty crime is typical for cities this size, and most residents feel comfortable going about their daily routines in either place.

Expats usually find Tokyo gentler on the wallet – expenses run 34% less than in Lisbon. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.