City comparison
Cost of living in Tokyo vs Barcelona
One person needs about €1,794 a month in Tokyo and €2,105 in Barcelona, rent included — Tokyo is 17% 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 Barcelona the way you live in Tokyo on €3,000, you need
€3,520/ month net
17% more than today (+€520)
- Tokyo today
- Basket €1,794 · left over €1,206 (40%)
- Barcelona at the matched salary
- Basket €2,105 · left over €1,415 (40%)
Local pay context: average tech net pay covers the basket 133% over in Barcelona (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
🇪🇸 Barcelona
Beach-and-metro city with the deepest startup scene in southern Europe — and rents that now reflect it.
Monthly budget: €2,105
Sources: INE Spain + Eurostat, HICP & Encuesta de arrendamientos (2025) · 412 community reports
Should you move to Tokyo or Barcelona?
On salary, Tokyo pays more for tech roles (€3,500 versus €2,800 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 €1,450 in Barcelona. Groceries, transport and utilities move far less between the two.
For remote workers, the nomad index scores Tokyo at 72 and Barcelona at 81 — see the full nomad index and our data methodology.