Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Tsukuba and Singapore

For one person, living is cheaper in Tsukuba: $1,104 a month against $3,500 in Singapore, rent and utilities included – about $28,800 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

54

Cost of Living Index in Tsukuba
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Tsukuba Living Index
169

Cost of Living Index in Singapore
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Singapore Living Index

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Tsukuba

🇯🇵 Japan

$1,104

/mo nomad

Singapore

🇸🇬 Singapore

$3,500

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Tsukuba and in Singapore

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 Singapore actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,104 in Tsukuba versus $3,500 in Singapore.

Tsukuba $1,104
Singapore $3,500

Estimated couple costs with rent: $1,754 in Tsukuba versus $5,265 in Singapore.

Tsukuba $1,754
Singapore $5,265

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $2,404 in Tsukuba versus $7,030 in Singapore.

Tsukuba $2,404
Singapore $7,030

Living in Tsukuba costs roughly 68% less than in Singapore, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in groceries.

The two cities straddle the global median: Tsukuba is 18% below, Singapore is 159% above.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$6.48 ¥1,024

$11.76 SGD 15.05

-44.90%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$33.35 ¥5,269

$70.6 SGD 90.4

-52.78%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$5.01 ¥791

$8.55 SGD 10.94

-41.40%

Cappuccino

$2.74 ¥433

$5.20 SGD 6.66

-47.31%

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

$1.03 ¥162

$1.77 SGD 2.27

-41.81%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.74 ¥118

$1.23 SGD 1.58

-39.84%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$2.19 ¥347

$8.26 SGD 10.58

-73.49%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.21 ¥506

$10.17 SGD 13.01

-68.44%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.45 ¥229

$3.04 SGD 3.89

-52.30%

White Bread (500g)

$1.67 ¥264

$2.55 SGD 3.26

-34.51%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$3.09 ¥488

$2.86 SGD 3.66

8.04%

Eggs

$2.09 ¥330

$3.53 SGD 4.51

-40.79%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$10.21 ¥1,614

$21.12 SGD 27.02

-51.66%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$6.03 ¥952

$9.90 SGD 12.67

-39.09%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$14.35 ¥2,267

$25.42 SGD 32.53

-43.55%

Apples (1kg)

$5.83 ¥921

$4.57 SGD 5.85

27.57%

Banana (1kg)

$2.82 ¥445

$3.13 SGD 4.00

-9.90%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.80 ¥443

$4.72 SGD 6.04

-40.68%

Tomato (1kg)

$4.12 ¥650

$2.23 SGD 2.85

84.75%

Potato (1kg)

$2.63 ¥416

$2.57 SGD 3.29

2.33%

Onion (1kg)

$2.56 ¥405

$2.29 SGD 2.93

11.79%

Lettuce (1 head)

$0.85 ¥134

$1.87 SGD 2.39

-54.55%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.81 ¥128

$1.44 SGD 1.84

-43.75%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$3.76 ¥594

$13.97 SGD 17.88

-73.09%

Wine (Bottle)

$6.16 ¥973

$23.48 SGD 30.05

-73.76%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.80 ¥284

$4.54 SGD 5.80

-60.35%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.11 ¥333

$4.44 SGD 5.68

-52.48%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$1.45 ¥230

$1.57 SGD 2.01

-7.64%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$52.8 ¥8,337

$93.8 SGD 120

-43.72%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$3.18 ¥502

$3.64 SGD 4.66

-12.64%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$2.70 ¥426

$0.76 SGD 0.97

255.26%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$20.78 ¥3,282

$16.14 SGD 20.66

28.75%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.05 ¥166

$2.45 SGD 3.14

-57.14%

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

$21.6K ¥3.4M

$155.2K SGD 198.5K

-86.05%

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

$18.5K ¥2.9M

$148.5K SGD 190.0K

-87.55%

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

$129 ¥20.4K

$172 SGD 220

-24.55%

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

$24.48 ¥3,868

$12.39 SGD 15.86

97.58%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$32.65 ¥5,158

$26.21 SGD 33.54

24.57%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$53.6 ¥8,472

$108 SGD 138

-50.36%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$12.31 SGD 15.75

Cinema Ticket

$12.38 ¥1,955

$11.64 SGD 14.90

6.36%

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

$94.2 ¥14.9K

$1,481 SGD 1,895

-93.64%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$14.8K ¥2.3M

$28.3K SGD 36.3K

-47.93%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$46.72 ¥7,382

$80.6 SGD 103

-42.00%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$37.27 ¥5,888

$50.1 SGD 64.1

-25.62%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$38.06 ¥6,013

$112 SGD 143

-65.95%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$41.11 ¥6,495

$129 SGD 165

-68.10%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$466 ¥73.6K

$3,015 SGD 3,858

-84.55%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$281 ¥44.4K

$2,171 SGD 2,778

-87.06%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,081 ¥170.7K

$5,842 SGD 7,475

-81.50%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$629 ¥99.4K

$4,044 SGD 5,174

-84.43%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$4,648 ¥734.4K

$23.8K SGD 30.4K

-80.46%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$1,980 ¥312.8K

$16.8K SGD 21.4K

-88.18%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$1,449 ¥228.8K

$4,385 SGD 5,611

-66.96%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

2.44

-18.03%

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

Last update for Tsukuba: October 11, 2026

Last update for Singapore: October 13, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Groceries & Markets

Tsukuba

$285 25.8%

Singapore

$458 13.1% 60.4% $172

Accommodation & Living

Tsukuba

$281 25.4%

Singapore

$2.2K 62% 673% $1.9K

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Tsukuba

$187 16.9%

Singapore

$210 6% 12.6% $24

Eating Out

Tsukuba

$124 11.3%

Singapore

$256 7.3% 106% $132

Sport & Entertainment

Tsukuba

$78 7.1%

Singapore

$131 3.8% 67.5% $53

Getting Around

Tsukuba

$75 6.8%

Singapore

$107 3.1% 42.8% $32

Clothing & Footwear

Tsukuba

$73 6.7%

Singapore

$167 4.8% 128% $94

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $466 in Tsukuba and $3,015 in Singapore. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Singapore pays 203% more on average. The extra income cushions the higher costs, though housing choices and lifestyle decide how much of the gap is truly closed.

Dining out: $33.00 in Tsukuba vs $71.0 in Singapore for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $285 vs $458 per month, with Tsukuba cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇯🇵 Tsukuba

🇸🇬 Singapore

🕒 Local time

20:38 8:38 PM

19:38 7:38 PM

1 h behind Tsukuba

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

230,398

5,535,002 Capital

💱 Currency

Japanese Yen JPY ¥

Singapore Dollar SGD $

📈 Exchange rate

1,000 JPY = 6.33 USD

1,000 JPY = 5.63 EUR

1 SGD = 0.781 USD

1 SGD = 0.695 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

SGD, USD, EUR to JPY – Japanese Yen Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇯🇵 Japanese Yen (¥)

Japanese Yen exchange rates as of October 18, 2026: 1 USD = 158 JPY (1,000 JPY = 6.33 USD). 1 EUR = 178 JPY (1,000 JPY = 5.63 EUR).

Singapore Dollar exchange rates as of October 18, 2026: 1 USD = 1.28 SGD (1 SGD = 0.781 USD). 1 EUR = 1.44 SGD (1 SGD = 0.695 EUR).

USD to JPY in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Tsukuba Singapore 5,370 km ≈ 7 h nonstop flight

From you

Tsukuba
Singapore

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 Singapore: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Tsukuba is cheaper overall, especially in groceries, eating out, and leisure. The 217% gap adds up to real monthly savings that compound significantly over time.

On paper, salaries run 203% lower in Singapore. That's worth factoring in alongside costs, though remote workers earning in a stronger currency may not notice the difference at all.

Rent for a central apartment: $466 in Tsukuba versus $3,015 in Singapore. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

All in, you'll spend $1,104 per month in Tsukuba versus $3,500 in Singapore – a 217% gap that adds up to real savings over time for anyone picking the cheaper option.

A monthly transit pass in Tsukuba runs roughly 78% less than in Singapore. Both cities have functional networks, but the price difference matters if you're watching your budget.

At $1,104 in Tsukuba versus $3,500 in Singapore, a $2,000 budget is realistic in Tsukuba but tight or insufficient in Singapore. 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 Singapore, and the savings on those two alone free up budget for education, activities, and family trips.

Safety-wise, Tsukuba and Singapore 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 217% less than in Singapore. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.