Saitama vs South Tarawa - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Saitama	South Tarawa
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1073	$538
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2749	$1303
🏠 One person rent	$380	$233
🏘️ Family rent	$627	$392
🍽️ Food expenses	$378	$226
🚐 Transport expenses	$213	$22.7
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1596	$164
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	21 km	20 km
🎓 Higher education	99	1
😀 Quality of life	77	28
🏙️ Population	1.33M	63.4K

The cost of living in Saitama is 99% more expensive than in South Tarawa. Cities ranked 5151st and 8474th ($1073 vs $538) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 152nd and 2nd in Japan and Kiribati, respectively. Check Japan vs Kiribati comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.5 months in Saitama compared to 0.3 months in South Tarawa. Saitama ranked 64th best city to live in Japan vs South Tarawa ranked 1st in Kiribati, while ranked 1177th and 8872nd among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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Prices in Saitama vs South Tarawa

Prices for goods and services in Saitama and South Tarawa are partly crowdsourced by our visitors, just like yourself. Please consider telling us about your city.

	Saitama	South Tarawa
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$5.84	$4
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$32.7	$22.3
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.77	$5.15
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.27	$1.82
☕ Cappuccino	$3.1	$1.93
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.74	$0.63
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$370	$226
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$218	$151
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$673	$412
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$389	$274
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$95.7	$41
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$145	$63.8
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$35.7	$26.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	2.05%	12.43%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5321	$1374
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3021	$845
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$3.53	$0.41
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$72.5	$15.9
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$27.4	$7.47
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.14	$1.01
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.51	$1.22
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.86	$0.76
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.81	$1.21
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.5	$1.73
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11	$7.22
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.74	$4.59
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16.6	$7.22
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.63	$2.38
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.3	$1.25
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.38	$1.67
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.81	$1.16
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.27	$1.04
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.64	$1.04
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.52	$0.39
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.26	$1.24
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$7.62	$8
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.96	$1.46
🚬 Cigarette pack	$4.04	$2.98
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$9.19	$3.96
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.28	$3.05
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.39	$1.6
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.58	$1.27
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$64.3	$24.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$11.5	$4.49
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$41	$19.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$17.5	$4.22
👖 Brand Jeans	$36	$31.4
👟 Brand Sneakers	$57.5	$65.8
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$308	$131
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$15321	$4200

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Saitama

Distance	City	Cost of living
5.1 km or 3.1 mi	Warabi	$979
5.7 km or 3.6 mi	Toda	$993
6.5 km or 4 mi	Shiki	$1011
8.5 km or 5.3 mi	Asaka	$1056
8.7 km or 5.4 mi	Fujimi	$1013
9.3 km or 5.8 mi	Kawaguchi	$1050
9.6 km or 6 mi	Wako	$1074
10 km or 6.5 mi	Niiza	$1072
11 km or 7 mi	Miyoshi	$1038
11 km or 7.1 mi	Fujimino	$1005
14 km or 8.4 mi	Koshigaya	$1116
14 km or 8.5 mi	Kiyose	$1063
14 km or 8.5 mi	Ageo	$1046
15 km or 9.2 mi	Hasuda	$1039
15 km or 9.3 mi	Soka	$1089
16 km or 9.6 mi	Ina	$1033
16 km or 9.7 mi	Higashikurume	$1088
16 km or 9.9 mi	Kasukabe	$1077
17 km or 10 mi	Kawagoe	$987
17 km or 10 mi	Matsubushi	$1066
17 km or 11 mi	Tokorozawa	$1090
18 km or 11 mi	Musashino	$1155
18 km or 11 mi	Okegawa	$1023
18 km or 11 mi	Shiraoka	$1042
18 km or 11 mi	Nishitokyo	$1144
18 km or 11 mi	Yoshikawa	$1070
18 km or 11 mi	Yashio	$1048
19 km or 12 mi	Miyashiro	$1049
20 km or 12 mi	Tokyo	$1698
20 km or 12 mi	Higashimurayama	$1086
20 km or 12 mi	Sugito	$1047
21 km or 13 mi	Misato	$1046
21 km or 13 mi	Sayama	$1048
21 km or 13 mi	Kitamoto	$1029
21 km or 13 mi	Kodaira	$1115
21 km or 13 mi	Mitaka	$1176
22 km or 14 mi	Koganei	$1116
22 km or 14 mi	Kuki	$1058
23 km or 14 mi	Iruma	$1066
23 km or 14 mi	Noda	$1102

Cities near South Tarawa

Distance	City	Cost of living
658 km or 409 mi	Majuro	$1507
661 km or 411 mi	Djarrit	$1510
706 km or 439 mi	Yaren	$783
1302 km or 809 mi	Vaiaku	$714
1302 km or 809 mi	Funafuti	$718
1768 km or 1099 mi	Auki	$1422
1879 km or 1167 mi	Honiara	$1422
1988 km or 1235 mi	Luganville	$2062
2172 km or 1349 mi	Lautoka	$633
2190 km or 1361 mi	Nadi	$1039
2190 km or 1361 mi	Port Vila	$2068
2248 km or 1397 mi	Nasinu	$857
2253 km or 1400 mi	Suva	$879
2310 km or 1435 mi	Manase	$790
2382 km or 1480 mi	Apia	$791
2712 km or 1685 mi	Dumbea	$1865
2713 km or 1686 mi	Paita	$1865
2725 km or 1693 mi	Noumea	$1928
2817 km or 1750 mi	Nukualofa	$1035
2825 km or 1756 mi	Mua	$1033
3022 km or 1878 mi	Lae	$558
3104 km or 1929 mi	Port Moresby	$572
3286 km or 2042 mi	London	$539
3357 km or 2086 mi	Saipan	$1415
3375 km or 2097 mi	Dededo	$2401
3383 km or 2102 mi	Hagatna	$3009
3611 km or 2244 mi	Cairns	$1695
3612 km or 2244 mi	Jayapura	$506
3658 km or 2273 mi	Gladstone	$1640
3665 km or 2277 mi	Townsville	$1839
3668 km or 2279 mi	Bundaberg	$1727
3672 km or 2282 mi	Hervey Bay	$1864
3673 km or 2282 mi	Rockhampton	$1635
3762 km or 2338 mi	Kauai	$2821
3779 km or 2348 mi	Sunshine Coast	$1835
3788 km or 2354 mi	Caloundra	$1864
3822 km or 2375 mi	Caboolture	$1988
3851 km or 2393 mi	Waipahu	$2700
3854 km or 2395 mi	Brisbane	$2269
3855 km or 2396 mi	Pearl	$2610