Sapporo vs Sendai - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Sapporo	Sendai
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1204	$1055
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2904	$2676
🏠 One person rent	$530	$435
🏘️ Family rent	$905	$823
🍽️ Food expenses	$415	$380
🚐 Transport expenses	$163	$123
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1450	$1888
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	7 km	15 km
🎓 Higher education	73	72
😀 Quality of life	87	90
🏙️ Population	1.96M	1.06M

The cost of living in Sapporo is 14% more expensive than in Sendai. Cities ranked 4470th and 5132nd ($1204 vs $1055) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 39th and 324th in Japan.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.2 months in Sapporo compared to 1.8 months in Sendai. Ranked 9th vs 7th best cities to live in Japan, and 262nd vs 156th among the best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Sapporo vs Sendai infographic

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<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/sapporo/sendai.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Sapporo vs Sendai infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/sapporo/sendai" target="_blank">Sapporo vs Sendai - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Sapporo vs Sendai

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

	Sapporo	Sendai
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$9.41	$6.36
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$26.6	$33.7
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.01	$4.66
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.85	$3.32
☕ Cappuccino	$3.65	$3.87
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.92	$1.57
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$451	$394
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$266	$285
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$723	$805
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$537	$606
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$185	$96.5
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$288	$146
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$42.1	$31.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	1.84%	3.01%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2347	$2230
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1657	$1285
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.65	$1.65
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$49.7	$46.8
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$18.3	$15.9
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.16	$1.09
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.49	$1.38
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.25	$1.35
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.36	$3.13
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.76	$1.77
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.4	$9.14
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.95	$7.31
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$20.1	$11.6
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.32	$5.26
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.94	$2.17
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.04	$4.84
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.76	$3.54
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.71	$2.48
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.17	$1.96
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.5	$0.57
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.57	$1.31
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.72	$8.05
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.02	$2.04
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.95	$4.73
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$8.14	$10.4
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$8.03	$4.73
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.51	$1.33
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.5	$1.34
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$52	$52.9
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$11.9	$12.7
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$26.8	$66.4
💇 Haircut, simple	$20.1	$14.4
👖 Brand Jeans	$42.2	$60.2
👟 Brand Sneakers	$53.4	$52.2
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$265	$303
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$10781	$5986

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Sapporo

Distance	City	Cost of living
13 km or 8.4 mi	Ishikari	$1071
15 km or 9.6 mi	Ebetsu	$1070
19 km or 12 mi	Kitahiroshima	$1068
27 km or 17 mi	Eniwa	$1068
32 km or 20 mi	Otaru	$1067
36 km or 23 mi	Chitose	$1061
37 km or 23 mi	Iwamizawa	$1048
50 km or 31 mi	Bibai	$1014
52 km or 32 mi	Tomakomai	$1073
71 km or 44 mi	Takikawa	$966
75 km or 47 mi	Noboribetsu	$1069
77 km or 48 mi	Date	$1073
89 km or 55 mi	Muroran	$1078
89 km or 55 mi	Furano	$954
93 km or 58 mi	Fukagawa	$933
100 km or 62 mi	Rumoi	$966
113 km or 70 mi	Asahikawa	$933
115 km or 72 mi	Shinhidaka	$1039
141 km or 87 mi	Nanae	$1083
149 km or 93 mi	Hokuto	$1081
150 km or 93 mi	Otofuke	$972
151 km or 94 mi	Obihiro	$988
152 km or 95 mi	Hakodate	$1119
164 km or 102 mi	Makubetsu	$976
169 km or 105 mi	Nayoro	$941
197 km or 123 mi	Mutsu	$1082
216 km or 134 mi	Monbetsu	$947
220 km or 137 mi	Kushiro	$971
221 km or 137 mi	Kitami	$953
254 km or 158 mi	Aomori	$1114
258 km or 160 mi	Abashiri	$958
261 km or 162 mi	Wakkanai	$976
262 km or 163 mi	Goshogawara	$1065
263 km or 164 mi	Tsugaru	$1064
265 km or 164 mi	Misawa	$1082
273 km or 169 mi	Towada	$1085
274 km or 170 mi	Oirase	$1090
276 km or 172 mi	Kuroishi	$1079
283 km or 176 mi	Hirakawa	$1082
283 km or 176 mi	Hirosaki	$1088

Cities near Sendai

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 6.8 mi	Natori	$986
12 km or 7.2 mi	Rifu	$984
12 km or 7.5 mi	Tagajo	$984
14 km or 8.7 mi	Tomiya	$984
14 km or 8.9 mi	Shiogama	$985
18 km or 11 mi	Iwanuma	$988
20 km or 12 mi	Taiwa	$990
25 km or 16 mi	Shibata	$988
26 km or 16 mi	Watari	$991
27 km or 17 mi	Ogawara	$986
33 km or 21 mi	Kakuda	$992
34 km or 21 mi	Kami	$1001
35 km or 21 mi	Higashimatsushima	$1002
35 km or 22 mi	Misato	$1002
35 km or 22 mi	Osaki	$1002
37 km or 23 mi	Shiroishi	$984
42 km or 26 mi	Ishinomaki	$1013
44 km or 27 mi	Tendo	$973
45 km or 28 mi	Higashine	$983
47 km or 29 mi	Yamagata	$978
49 km or 30 mi	Murayama	$988
53 km or 33 mi	Soma	$1009
53 km or 33 mi	Kurihara	$1018
53 km or 33 mi	Sagae	$980
54 km or 34 mi	Kaminoyama	$969
55 km or 34 mi	Tome	$1021
57 km or 35 mi	Date	$985
66 km or 41 mi	Fukushima	$1008
66 km or 41 mi	Takahata	$987
67 km or 42 mi	Nan'yo	$986
70 km or 44 mi	Minamisoma	$1024
74 km or 46 mi	Shinjo	$1022
75 km or 46 mi	Nagai	$997
77 km or 48 mi	Yonezawa	$1002
77 km or 48 mi	Ichinoseki	$1028
85 km or 53 mi	Nihonmatsu	$1003
94 km or 58 mi	Kesennuma	$1035
94 km or 58 mi	Motomiya	$1016
96 km or 59 mi	Tamura	$1029
100 km or 62 mi	Oshu	$1034