Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Tsukuba and Phuket

For one person, living is cheaper in Tsukuba: $1,103 a month against $1,208 in Phuket, rent and utilities included – about $1,300 less a year. Higher rent and utilities in Phuket outweigh lower spending on other living expenses.

54

Cost of Living Index in Tsukuba
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Tsukuba Living Index
59

Cost of Living Index in Phuket
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Phuket Living Index

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Tsukuba

🇯🇵 Japan

$1,103

/mo nomad

Phuket

🇹🇭 Thailand

$1,208

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Tsukuba and in Phuket

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,103 in Tsukuba versus $1,208 in Phuket.

Tsukuba $1,103
Phuket $1,208

Estimated couple costs with rent: $1,755 in Tsukuba versus $2,027 in Phuket.

Tsukuba $1,755
Phuket $2,027

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $2,407 in Tsukuba versus $2,845 in Phuket.

Tsukuba $2,407
Phuket $2,845

Living in Tsukuba costs roughly 9% less than in Phuket, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in clothing.

Both cities sit below the global median: Tsukuba 19% lower, Phuket 11% lower.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$6.47 ¥1,023

$4.40 ฿147

47.05%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$32.71 ¥5,168

$32.26 ฿1,078

1.39%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$4.92 ¥777

$8.76 ฿293

-43.84%

Cappuccino

$2.70 ¥427

$2.83 ฿94.5

-4.59%

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

$0.99 ¥157

$0.90 ฿30.14

10.00%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.79 ¥124

$0.47 ฿15.56

68.09%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$2.18 ¥345

$2.55 ฿85.2

-14.51%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.17 ¥500

$3.83 ฿128

-17.23%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.40 ¥221

$1.73 ฿57.7

-19.08%

White Bread (500g)

$1.71 ¥269

$1.47 ฿49.11

16.33%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$3.07 ¥484

$1.51 ฿50.6

103.31%

Eggs

$2.08 ¥328

$2.17 ฿72.7

-4.15%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$10.43 ¥1,647

$19.70 ฿658

-47.06%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$5.93 ¥936

$3.34 ฿112

77.54%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$14.41 ¥2,277

$11.16 ฿373

29.12%

Apples (1kg)

$5.55 ¥877

$2.85 ฿95.1

94.74%

Banana (1kg)

$2.81 ¥444

$1.70 ฿56.9

65.29%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.92 ¥461

$2.19 ฿73.3

33.33%

Tomato (1kg)

$4.07 ¥643

$2.05 ฿68.4

98.54%

Potato (1kg)

$2.50 ¥396

$1.45 ฿48.57

72.41%

Onion (1kg)

$2.62 ¥413

$1.38 ฿46.16

89.86%

Lettuce (1 head)

$0.79 ¥125

$1.07 ฿35.69

-26.17%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.82 ¥129

$0.51 ฿16.91

60.78%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$3.70 ¥584

$4.26 ฿142

-13.15%

Wine (Bottle)

$6.24 ¥986

$18.58 ฿621

-66.42%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.74 ¥275

$1.78 ฿59.7

-2.25%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.03 ¥321

$2.85 ฿95.2

-28.77%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$1.45 ¥229

$2.26 ฿75.6

-35.84%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$52.4 ¥8,284

$22.10 ฿738

137.24%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$3.22 ¥509

$3.01 ฿101

6.98%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$2.72 ¥430

$1.06 ฿35.34

156.60%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$20.84 ¥3,292

$3.86 ฿129

439.90%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.06 ¥167

$1.45 ฿48.45

-26.90%

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

$21.3K ¥3.4M

$26.3K ฿879.9K

-19.03%

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

$17.9K ¥2.8M

$26.9K ฿900.4K

-33.67%

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

$132 ¥20.9K

$96.4 ฿3,221

36.94%

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

$24.06 ¥3,801

$11.04 ฿369

117.93%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$32.01 ¥5,057

$17.14 ฿573

86.76%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$54.4 ¥8,596

$52.2 ฿1,744

4.27%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$11.16 ฿373

Cinema Ticket

$12.48 ¥1,972

$7.81 ฿261

59.80%

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

$95.9 ¥15.1K

$556 ฿18.6K

-82.76%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$14.8K ¥2.3M

$11.6K ฿387.0K

27.94%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$48.00 ¥7,584

$64.2 ฿2,146

-25.23%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$37.46 ¥5,918

$28.69 ฿959

30.57%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$38.06 ¥6,014

$95.4 ฿3,187

-60.09%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$41.32 ¥6,528

$88.0 ฿2,940

-53.03%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$458 ¥72.4K

$737 ฿24.6K

-37.82%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$279 ¥44.1K

$462 ฿15.5K

-39.60%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,086 ¥171.6K

$2,095 ฿70.0K

-48.14%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$638 ¥100.8K

$1,201 ฿40.1K

-46.86%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$4,177 ¥659.9K

$3,488 ฿116.6K

19.77%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$1,755 ¥277.2K

$2,523 ฿84.3K

-30.45%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$1,420 ¥224.3K

$501 ฿16.7K

183.56%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

5.57

-64.09%

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

Last update for Tsukuba: October 20, 2026

Last update for Phuket: October 19, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Groceries & Markets

Tsukuba

$283 25.7%

Phuket

$269 22.2% 5.2% $15

Accommodation & Living

Tsukuba

$279 25.3%

Phuket

$462 38.3% 65.6% $183

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Tsukuba

$188 17.1%

Phuket

$125 10.3% 33.8% $63

Eating Out

Tsukuba

$123 11.2%

Phuket

$121 10% 1.7% $2.1

Sport & Entertainment

Tsukuba

$79 7.2%

Phuket

$68 5.6% 14.6% $12

Getting Around

Tsukuba

$75 6.8%

Phuket

$39 3.3% 47.5% $36

Clothing & Footwear

Tsukuba

$74 6.7%

Phuket

$124 10.3% 67.6% $50

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $458 in Tsukuba and $737 in Phuket. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Tsukuba pays 184% more on average while also being the cheaper of the two. The combined effect is a noticeably stronger local purchasing power.

Dining out: $33.00 in Tsukuba vs $32.00 in Phuket for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $283 vs $269 per month, with Phuket cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇯🇵 Tsukuba

🇹🇭 Phuket

🕒 Local time

20:36 8:36 PM

18:36 6:36 PM

2 h behind Tsukuba

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

230,398

79,308

💱 Currency

Japanese Yen JPY ¥

Thai Baht THB ฿

📈 Exchange rate

1,000 JPY = 6.33 USD

1,000 JPY = 5.63 EUR

100 THB = 2.99 USD

100 THB = 2.66 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

THB, USD, EUR to JPY – Japanese Yen Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇯🇵 Japanese Yen (¥)

Japanese Yen exchange rates as of October 20, 2026: 1 USD = 158 JPY (1,000 JPY = 6.33 USD). 1 EUR = 178 JPY (1,000 JPY = 5.63 EUR).

Thai Baht exchange rates as of October 20, 2026: 1 USD = 33.42 THB (100 THB = 2.99 USD). 1 EUR = 37.57 THB (100 THB = 2.66 EUR).

USD to JPY in detail →

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Between locations

Tsukuba Phuket 5,260 km ≈ 7 h nonstop flight

From you

Tsukuba
Phuket

Distances are measured in a straight line. Your location is detected approximately.

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

Tsukuba vs Phuket: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Tsukuba is cheaper overall, especially in clothing. The 10% gap adds up to real monthly savings that compound significantly over time.

Average pay runs 184% higher in Tsukuba, 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: $458 in Tsukuba versus $737 in Phuket. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $95.9 in Tsukuba versus $556 in Phuket. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Shoppers in Phuket pay roughly 5% less for everyday groceries. It's an unusual reversal that partly offsets higher costs elsewhere.

At $1,103 in Tsukuba versus $1,208 in Phuket, a $2,000 budget is realistic in Tsukuba but tight or insufficient in Phuket. The gap between the two cities makes Tsukuba the clear choice for anyone on this budget.

For families, Tsukuba is more practical. Housing and childcare are both notably cheaper than in Phuket, and the savings on those two alone free up budget for education, activities, and family trips.

Safety-wise, Tsukuba and Phuket 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 Tsukuba gentler on the wallet – expenses run 10% less than in Phuket. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.