Sendai vs South Tarawa - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Sendai	South Tarawa
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1007	$526
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2414	$1270
🏠 One person rent	$414	$226
🏘️ Family rent	$669	$370
🍽️ Food expenses	$354	$222
🚐 Transport expenses	$141	$22.1
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1115	$181
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	15 km	20 km
🎓 Higher education	73	1
😀 Quality of life	74	30
🏙️ Population	1.06M	63.4K

The cost of living in Sendai is 92% more expensive than in South Tarawa. Cities ranked 5531st and 8528th ($1007 vs $526) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 360th and 2nd in Japan and Kiribati, respectively. Check Japan vs Kiribati comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.1 months in Sendai compared to 0.3 months in South Tarawa. Sendai ranked 228th best city to live in Japan vs South Tarawa ranked 1st in Kiribati, while ranked 2040th and 8796th among best cities to live in the world.

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

Prices in Sendai vs South Tarawa

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

	Sendai	South Tarawa
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$5.41	$3.8
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$31.9	$21.7
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.33	$5.11
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.24	$1.82
☕ Cappuccino	$3.41	$1.95
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.5	$0.63
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$471	$214
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$265	$146
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$705	$385
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$476	$256
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$75.8	$41.3
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$116	$63.1
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$31.4	$25.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	2.71%	12.34%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2654	$1342
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1391	$823
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.58	$0.38
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$48	$15.3
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$20.8	$7.19
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.01	$1.03
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.39	$1.22
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.13	$0.74
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.77	$1.19
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.94	$1.7
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.31	$7.3
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.22	$4.45
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.68	$7.14
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.75	$2.34
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.11	$1.25
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.65	$1.62
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.96	$1.14
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.21	$1.03
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.89	$1.03
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.59	$0.38
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.23	$1.2
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$7.69	$7.9
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.68	$1.42
🚬 Cigarette pack	$4.09	$3.16
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$10.5	$3.85
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.34	$3.01
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.26	$1.51
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.25	$1.24
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$49.5	$23.6
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$10.1	$4.41
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$61.7	$18.5
💇 Haircut, simple	$13.6	$4.15
👖 Brand Jeans	$42.5	$31
👟 Brand Sneakers	$37.7	$65.3
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$224	$139
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$4242	$4506

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Sendai

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 6.8 mi	Natori	$935
12 km or 7.2 mi	Rifu	$934
12 km or 7.5 mi	Tagajo	$936
14 km or 8.7 mi	Tomiya	$939
14 km or 8.9 mi	Shiogama	$936
18 km or 11 mi	Iwanuma	$937
20 km or 12 mi	Taiwa	$943
25 km or 16 mi	Shibata	$937
26 km or 16 mi	Watari	$943
27 km or 17 mi	Ogawara	$938
33 km or 21 mi	Kakuda	$941
34 km or 21 mi	Kami	$957
35 km or 21 mi	Higashimatsushima	$960
35 km or 22 mi	Misato	$964
35 km or 22 mi	Osaki	$964
37 km or 23 mi	Shiroishi	$924
42 km or 26 mi	Ishinomaki	$975
44 km or 27 mi	Tendo	$928
45 km or 28 mi	Higashine	$944
47 km or 29 mi	Yamagata	$924
49 km or 30 mi	Murayama	$949
53 km or 33 mi	Soma	$954
53 km or 33 mi	Kurihara	$980
53 km or 33 mi	Sagae	$933
54 km or 34 mi	Kaminoyama	$919
55 km or 34 mi	Tome	$982
57 km or 35 mi	Date	$904
66 km or 41 mi	Fukushima	$914
66 km or 41 mi	Takahata	$932
67 km or 42 mi	Nan'yo	$935
70 km or 44 mi	Minamisoma	$974
74 km or 46 mi	Shinjo	$994
75 km or 46 mi	Nagai	$950
77 km or 48 mi	Yonezawa	$942
77 km or 48 mi	Ichinoseki	$1004
85 km or 53 mi	Nihonmatsu	$932
94 km or 58 mi	Kesennuma	$1007
94 km or 58 mi	Motomiya	$956
96 km or 59 mi	Tamura	$978
100 km or 62 mi	Oshu	$1014

Cities near South Tarawa

Distance	City	Cost of living
658 km or 409 mi	Majuro	$1499
661 km or 411 mi	Djarrit	$1497
706 km or 439 mi	Yaren	$788
1302 km or 809 mi	Vaiaku	$714
1302 km or 809 mi	Funafuti	$714
1768 km or 1099 mi	Auki	$1491
1879 km or 1167 mi	Honiara	$1502
1988 km or 1235 mi	Luganville	$2020
2172 km or 1349 mi	Lautoka	$680
2190 km or 1361 mi	Nadi	$1095
2190 km or 1361 mi	Port Vila	$2036
2248 km or 1397 mi	Nasinu	$910
2253 km or 1400 mi	Suva	$891
2310 km or 1435 mi	Manase	$790
2382 km or 1480 mi	Apia	$789
2712 km or 1685 mi	Dumbea	$1844
2713 km or 1686 mi	Paita	$1851
2725 km or 1693 mi	Noumea	$1911
2817 km or 1750 mi	Nukualofa	$1032
2825 km or 1756 mi	Mua	$1033
3022 km or 1878 mi	Lae	$546
3104 km or 1929 mi	Port Moresby	$562
3286 km or 2042 mi	London	$526
3357 km or 2086 mi	Saipan	$1435
3375 km or 2097 mi	Dededo	$2409
3383 km or 2102 mi	Hagatna	$3243
3611 km or 2244 mi	Cairns	$1851
3612 km or 2244 mi	Jayapura	$492
3658 km or 2273 mi	Gladstone	$1643
3665 km or 2277 mi	Townsville	$2015
3668 km or 2279 mi	Bundaberg	$1720
3672 km or 2282 mi	Hervey Bay	$1883
3673 km or 2282 mi	Rockhampton	$1642
3762 km or 2338 mi	Kauai	$2888
3779 km or 2348 mi	Sunshine Coast	$1838
3788 km or 2354 mi	Caloundra	$1863
3822 km or 2375 mi	Caboolture	$1992
3851 km or 2393 mi	Waipahu	$2760
3854 km or 2395 mi	Brisbane	$2323
3855 km or 2396 mi	Pearl	$2649