Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Wakayama and Lisbon

For one person, living is cheaper in Wakayama: $1,265 a month against $2,210 in Lisbon, rent and utilities included – about $11,300 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

62

Cost of Living Index in Wakayama
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Wakayama Living Index
107

Cost of Living Index in Lisbon
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Lisbon Living Index

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Wakayama

🇯🇵 Japan

$1,265

/mo nomad

Lisbon

🇵🇹 Portugal

$2,210

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Wakayama 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 Wakayama and in Lisbon actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,265 in Wakayama versus $2,210 in Lisbon.

Wakayama $1,265
Lisbon $2,210

Estimated couple costs with rent: $2,078 in Wakayama versus $3,275 in Lisbon.

Wakayama $2,078
Lisbon $3,275

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $2,890 in Wakayama versus $4,341 in Lisbon.

Wakayama $2,890
Lisbon $4,341

Living in Wakayama costs roughly 43% less than in Lisbon, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

The two cities straddle the global median: Wakayama is 7% below, Lisbon is 62% above.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$6.32 ¥998

$16.65 €14.95

-62.04%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$32.23 ¥5,089

$61.7 €55.5

-47.80%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$5.22 ¥824

$11.36 €10.20

-54.05%

Cappuccino

$2.61 ¥412

$2.97 €2.67

-12.12%

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

$1.30 ¥205

$2.29 €2.06

-43.23%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.95 ¥150

$1.74 €1.56

-45.40%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.12 ¥493

$3.40 €3.06

-8.24%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.89 ¥298

$3.31 €2.97

-42.90%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.52 ¥240

$1.16 €1.04

31.03%

White Bread (500g)

$1.54 ¥243

$1.91 €1.72

-19.37%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$4.06 ¥641

$1.51 €1.36

168.87%

Eggs

$2.21 ¥348

$4.02 €3.61

-45.02%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$15.58 ¥2,460

$12.94 €11.62

20.40%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$6.93 ¥1,095

$7.77 €6.98

-10.81%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$16.97 ¥2,680

$17.76 €15.95

-4.45%

Apples (1kg)

$8.61 ¥1,359

$2.30 €2.07

274.35%

Banana (1kg)

$2.99 ¥472

$1.73 €1.56

72.83%

Oranges (1kg)

$5.15 ¥813

$1.86 €1.67

176.88%

Tomato (1kg)

$7.67 ¥1,211

$2.59 €2.33

196.14%

Potato (1kg)

$3.91 ¥617

$1.82 €1.64

114.84%

Onion (1kg)

$4.57 ¥721

$1.97 €1.77

131.98%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.18 ¥186

$1.47 €1.32

-19.73%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.94 ¥148

$0.72 €0.65

30.56%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$3.87 ¥611

$6.58 €5.91

-41.19%

Wine (Bottle)

$9.65 ¥1,524

$5.61 €5.04

72.01%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$2.52 ¥398

$1.36 €1.22

85.29%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.11 ¥333

$2.14 €1.92

-1.40%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$1.61 ¥254

$2.33 €2.10

-30.90%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$63.7 ¥10.1K

$44.68 €40.14

42.59%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$3.22 ¥509

$3.85 €3.46

-16.36%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$2.93 ¥462

$1.07 €0.96

173.83%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$15.82 ¥2,498

$16.46 €14.79

-3.89%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.10 ¥174

$2.20 €1.98

-50.00%

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

$22.2K ¥3.5M

$34.2K €30.7K

-35.17%

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

$15.0K ¥2.4M

$38.7K €34.8K

-61.22%

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

$118 ¥18.6K

$161 €145

-26.75%

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

$23.84 ¥3,764

$18.41 €16.54

29.49%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$31.84 ¥5,027

$32.74 €29.41

-2.75%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$49.43 ¥7,804

$44.55 €40.02

10.95%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$19.10 €17.16

Cinema Ticket

$12.61 ¥1,991

$9.60 €8.62

31.35%

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

$685 ¥108.2K

$668 €600

2.66%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$15.0K ¥2.4M

$17.6K €15.8K

-14.86%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$50.3 ¥7,942

$102 €91.6

-50.70%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$35.61 ¥5,622

$44.46 €39.94

-19.91%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$60.8 ¥9,593

$98.5 €88.5

-38.32%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$99.4 ¥15.7K

$124 €111

-19.64%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$475 ¥75.0K

$1,608 €1,445

-70.48%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$311 ¥49.1K

$1,190 €1,069

-73.86%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,147 ¥181.0K

$2,812 €2,526

-59.23%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$810 ¥127.8K

$2,013 €1,808

-59.79%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$4,633 ¥731.5K

$7,839 €7,042

-40.90%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$2,252 ¥355.6K

$4,576 €4,110

-50.78%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$3,949 ¥623.5K

$1,575 €1,415

150.73%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

1.67

3.85

-56.62%

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

Last update for Wakayama: October 25, 2026

Last update for Lisbon: October 27, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Groceries & Markets

Wakayama

$381 30.1%

Lisbon

$272 12.3% 28.5% $109

Accommodation & Living

Wakayama

$311 24.6%

Lisbon

$1.2K 53.8% 283% $879

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Wakayama

$174 13.7%

Lisbon

$212 9.6% 22.2% $39

Eating Out

Wakayama

$126 10%

Lisbon

$243 11% 92.7% $117

Clothing & Footwear

Wakayama

$111 8.8%

Lisbon

$166 7.5% 49.8% $55

Getting Around

Wakayama

$88 7%

Lisbon

$63 2.9% 28.2% $25

Sport & Entertainment

Wakayama

$75 5.9%

Lisbon

$64 2.9% 14.6% $11

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $475 in Wakayama and $1,608 in Lisbon. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Wakayama pays about 2.5 times more on average while also being the cheaper of the two. The combined effect is a noticeably stronger local purchasing power.

Dining out: $32 in Wakayama vs $62 in Lisbon. Groceries flip the comparison at $381 vs $272, with Lisbon cheaper for home cooking.

Good to know

🇯🇵 Wakayama

🇵🇹 Lisbon

🕒 Local time

03:41 3:41 AM

18:41 6:41 PM

9 h behind Wakayama

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

362,163

545,923 Capital

💱 Currency

Japanese Yen JPY ¥

Euro EUR €

📈 Exchange rate

1,000 JPY = 6.33 USD

1,000 JPY = 5.69 EUR

1 EUR = 1.11 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 28, 2026: 1 USD = 158 JPY (1,000 JPY = 6.33 USD). 1 EUR = 176 JPY (1,000 JPY = 5.69 EUR).

Euro exchange rates as of October 28, 2026: 1 USD = 0.898 EUR (1 EUR = 1.11 USD).

USD to JPY in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Wakayama Lisbon 11,110 km ≈ 14 h nonstop flight

From you

Wakayama
Lisbon

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

Wakayama vs Lisbon: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Wakayama and Lisbon differ by about 75% in total monthly costs ($1,265 vs $2,210 including rent). Wakayama is meaningfully more affordable – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

Average pay in Wakayama is about 2.5 times higher, 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: $475 in Wakayama versus $1,608 in Lisbon. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $685 in Wakayama versus $668 in Lisbon. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Shoppers in Lisbon pay roughly 28% less for everyday groceries. It’s an unusual reversal that partly offsets higher costs elsewhere.

At $1,265 in Wakayama versus $2,210 in Lisbon, a $1,500 budget is realistic in Wakayama but tight or insufficient in Lisbon. The gap between the two cities makes Wakayama 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.