South Tarawa vs Tokyo - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	South Tarawa	Tokyo
🚶 Cost of living one person	$526	$1679
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1270	$4119
🏠 One person rent	$226	$813
🏘️ Family rent	$370	$1422
🍽️ Food expenses	$222	$448
🚐 Transport expenses	$22.1	$307
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$181	$2429
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	20 km	15 km
🎓 Higher education	1	100
😀 Quality of life	30	96
🏙️ Population	63.4K	14.3M

The cost of living in South Tarawa is 69% less expensive than in Tokyo. Cities ranked 8528th and 3273rd ($526 vs $1679) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 2nd 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 1.4 months in Tokyo. South Tarawa ranked 1st best city to live in Kiribati vs Tokyo ranked 1st in Japan, while ranked 8796th and 9th among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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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	$3.8	$7.52
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$21.7	$43.8
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.11	$4.99
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.82	$3.71
☕ Cappuccino	$1.95	$3.41
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.63	$1.41
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$214	$1130
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$146	$583
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$385	$2080
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$256	$1045
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$41.3	$90.6
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$63.1	$140
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$25.1	$30.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	12.34%	1.87%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1342	$10558
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$823	$5002
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.38	$1.3
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$15.3	$76.1
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$7.19	$28.2
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.03	$1.08
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.22	$1.51
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.74	$1.58
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.19	$5.4
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.7	$2.27
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.3	$11.7
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.45	$7.38
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.14	$19.9
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.34	$4.99
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.25	$2.61
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.62	$4.41
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.14	$6.21
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.03	$3.64
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.03	$3.43
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.38	$0.56
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.2	$1.3
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$7.9	$9.42
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.42	$1.76
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.16	$3.89
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$3.85	$10.4
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.01	$3.17
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.51	$1.37
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.24	$1.36
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$23.6	$63.9
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.41	$12.5
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$18.5	$40.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$4.15	$21
👖 Brand Jeans	$31	$49.2
👟 Brand Sneakers	$65.3	$56.3
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$139	$688
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$4506	$17493

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	$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

Cities near Tokyo

Distance	City	Cost of living
12 km or 7.3 mi	Musashino	$1131
12 km or 7.4 mi	Komae	$1133
12 km or 7.5 mi	Mitaka	$1144
13 km or 8 mi	Wako	$1073
13 km or 8.4 mi	Kawaguchi	$1045
14 km or 8.5 mi	Hirai	$1074
14 km or 8.9 mi	Toda	$985
14 km or 8.9 mi	Chofu	$1128
14 km or 9 mi	Nishitokyo	$1123
15 km or 9.3 mi	Asaka	$1051
15 km or 9.4 mi	Warabi	$973
16 km or 10 mi	Niiza	$1068
17 km or 10 mi	Higashikurume	$1086
17 km or 11 mi	Koganei	$1087
18 km or 11 mi	Kawasaki-ku	$1199
18 km or 11 mi	Inagi	$1070
18 km or 11 mi	Soka	$1075
18 km or 11 mi	Kiyose	$1064
19 km or 12 mi	Shiki	$1004
19 km or 12 mi	Kawasaki	$1358
19 km or 12 mi	Urayasu	$1080
20 km or 12 mi	Fuchu	$1105
20 km or 12 mi	Saitama	$1055
20 km or 12 mi	Kodaira	$1101
20 km or 12 mi	Yashio	$1037
21 km or 13 mi	Kokubunji	$1075
21 km or 13 mi	Higashimurayama	$1085
21 km or 13 mi	Miyoshi	$1033
22 km or 14 mi	Ichikawa	$1005
22 km or 14 mi	Matsudo	$1084
23 km or 14 mi	Misato	$1038
23 km or 14 mi	Fujimi	$1009
23 km or 14 mi	Kunitachi	$1070
23 km or 14 mi	Tama	$1047
24 km or 15 mi	Tokorozawa	$1091
24 km or 15 mi	Koshigaya	$1107
25 km or 15 mi	Tachikawa	$1094
25 km or 15 mi	Higashiyamato	$1077
26 km or 16 mi	Yoshikawa	$1053
26 km or 16 mi	Fujimino	$1006