South Tarawa vs Tokyo - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	South Tarawa	Tokyo
🚶 Cost of living one person	$533	$1698
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1272	$4089
🏠 One person rent	$235	$829
🏘️ Family rent	$392	$1453
🍽️ Food expenses	$220	$435
🚐 Transport expenses	$22.3	$322
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$181	$2574
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	20 km	15 km
🎓 Higher education	1	100
😀 Quality of life	25	99
🏙️ Population	63.4K	14.3M

The cost of living in South Tarawa is 69% less expensive than in Tokyo. Cities ranked 8428th and 3130th ($533 vs $1698) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 3rd in Kiribati and Japan, respectively. Check Kiribati vs Japan comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.3 months in South Tarawa compared to 1.5 months in Tokyo. South Tarawa ranked 1st best city to live in Kiribati vs Tokyo ranked 1st in Japan, while ranked 8954th and 4th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in South Tarawa vs Tokyo infographic

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Prices in South Tarawa vs Tokyo

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

	South Tarawa	Tokyo
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$3.73	$7.1
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$21.8	$39.8
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.03	$5.04
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.8	$3.96
☕ Cappuccino	$1.9	$3.41
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.61	$1.19
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$226	$1001
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$155	$631
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$405	$1794
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$280	$1151
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$39.7	$93.7
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$61.5	$143
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$26.2	$30.8
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	12.18%	1.61%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1457	$10581
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$926	$5243
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.42	$1.45
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$16.3	$75.3
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$6.92	$30.3
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.07	$1.14
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.21	$1.51
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.74	$1.53
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.21	$4.16
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.7	$2.27
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.34	$14.5
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.41	$7.33
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.25	$20.8
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.21	$5.05
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.24	$2.57
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.63	$5.39
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.12	$5.06
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.03	$3.15
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.04	$3.2
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.36	$0.59
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.23	$1.7
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$7.85	$9.55
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.43	$2.13
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.9	$4.02
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$3.83	$10.4
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$2.92	$3.32
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.54	$1.44
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.27	$1.43
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$24.1	$60.9
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.54	$13
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$18.2	$29.8
💇 Haircut, simple	$3.66	$22.5
👖 Brand Jeans	$30.8	$55
👟 Brand Sneakers	$66.5	$63.8
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$113	$518
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$3644	$14795

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near South Tarawa

Distance	City	Cost of living
658 km or 409 mi	Majuro	$1496
661 km or 411 mi	Djarrit	$1502
706 km or 439 mi	Yaren	$733
1302 km or 809 mi	Vaiaku	$684
1302 km or 809 mi	Funafuti	$683
1768 km or 1099 mi	Auki	$1417
1879 km or 1167 mi	Honiara	$1419
1988 km or 1235 mi	Luganville	$1882
2172 km or 1349 mi	Lautoka	$596
2190 km or 1361 mi	Nadi	$997
2190 km or 1361 mi	Port Vila	$1884
2248 km or 1397 mi	Nasinu	$818
2253 km or 1400 mi	Suva	$836
2310 km or 1435 mi	Manase	$751
2382 km or 1480 mi	Apia	$753
2712 km or 1685 mi	Dumbea	$1811
2713 km or 1686 mi	Paita	$1807
2725 km or 1693 mi	Noumea	$1878
2817 km or 1750 mi	Nukualofa	$1024
2825 km or 1756 mi	Mua	$1022
3022 km or 1878 mi	Lae	$548
3104 km or 1929 mi	Port Moresby	$566
3286 km or 2042 mi	London	$532
3357 km or 2086 mi	Saipan	$1437
3375 km or 2097 mi	Dededo	$2406
3383 km or 2102 mi	Hagatna	$2786
3611 km or 2244 mi	Cairns	$1513
3612 km or 2244 mi	Jayapura	$507
3658 km or 2273 mi	Gladstone	$1503
3665 km or 2277 mi	Townsville	$1683
3668 km or 2279 mi	Bundaberg	$1595
3672 km or 2282 mi	Hervey Bay	$1712
3673 km or 2282 mi	Rockhampton	$1482
3762 km or 2338 mi	Kauai	$2825
3779 km or 2348 mi	Sunshine Coast	$1697
3788 km or 2354 mi	Caloundra	$1710
3822 km or 2375 mi	Caboolture	$1798
3851 km or 2393 mi	Waipahu	$2700
3854 km or 2395 mi	Brisbane	$2065
3855 km or 2396 mi	Pearl	$2637

Cities near Tokyo

Distance	City	Cost of living
12 km or 7.3 mi	Musashino	$1110
12 km or 7.4 mi	Komae	$1115
12 km or 7.5 mi	Mitaka	$1125
13 km or 8 mi	Wako	$1035
13 km or 8.4 mi	Kawaguchi	$1025
14 km or 8.5 mi	Hirai	$1055
14 km or 8.9 mi	Toda	$961
14 km or 8.9 mi	Chofu	$1113
14 km or 9 mi	Nishitokyo	$1094
15 km or 9.3 mi	Asaka	$1020
15 km or 9.4 mi	Warabi	$945
16 km or 10 mi	Niiza	$1033
17 km or 10 mi	Higashikurume	$1049
17 km or 11 mi	Koganei	$1066
18 km or 11 mi	Kawasaki-ku	$1198
18 km or 11 mi	Inagi	$1058
18 km or 11 mi	Soka	$1047
18 km or 11 mi	Kiyose	$1025
19 km or 12 mi	Shiki	$972
19 km or 12 mi	Kawasaki	$1354
19 km or 12 mi	Urayasu	$1068
20 km or 12 mi	Fuchu	$1088
20 km or 12 mi	Saitama	$1037
20 km or 12 mi	Kodaira	$1066
20 km or 12 mi	Yashio	$1002
21 km or 13 mi	Kokubunji	$1050
21 km or 13 mi	Higashimurayama	$1040
21 km or 13 mi	Miyoshi	$997
22 km or 14 mi	Ichikawa	$1041
22 km or 14 mi	Matsudo	$1024
23 km or 14 mi	Misato	$1005
23 km or 14 mi	Fujimi	$975
23 km or 14 mi	Kunitachi	$1050
23 km or 14 mi	Tama	$1040
24 km or 15 mi	Tokorozawa	$1061
24 km or 15 mi	Koshigaya	$1078
25 km or 15 mi	Tachikawa	$1073
25 km or 15 mi	Higashiyamato	$1044
26 km or 16 mi	Yoshikawa	$1031
26 km or 16 mi	Fujimino	$961