City comparison
Cost of living in Tokyo vs Athens
One person needs about €1,794 a month in Tokyo and €1,236 in Athens, rent included — Athens is 31% cheaper overall.
Salary you'd need to keep the same lifestyle
Enter your current net monthly pay. We scale it by the full cost basket — rent, groceries, transport, utilities, eating out and internet.
To live in Athens the way you live in Tokyo on €3,000, you need
€2,067/ month net
31% less than today (-€933)
- Tokyo today
- Basket €1,794 · left over €1,206 (40%)
- Athens at the matched salary
- Basket €1,236 · left over €831 (40%)
Local pay context: average tech net pay covers the basket 138% over in Athens (adequate) vs 195% in Tokyo. Purchasing power index · How we calculate this
🇯🇵 Tokyo
Astonishing value for a mega-city: cheap food, cheap transport, tiny apartments.
Monthly budget: €1,794
Sources: Eurostat, Harmonised price indices (2025) · 0 community reports
🇬🇷 Athens
Cheapest euro-zone big city here, with the widest gap between local pay and expat pay.
Monthly budget: €1,236
Sources: ELSTAT + Eurostat, HICP & household budget survey (2025) · 164 community reports
Should you move to Tokyo or Athens?
On salary, Tokyo pays more for tech roles (€3,500 versus €1,700 a month), so the money left over after costs is €1,706 in Tokyo at the top end.
Rent drives most of the gap: €1,150 in Tokyo against €700 in Athens. Groceries, transport and utilities move far less between the two.
For remote workers, the nomad index scores Tokyo at 72 and Athens at 71 — see the full nomad index and our data methodology.