City comparison
Cost of living in Tokyo vs Lisbon
One person needs about €1,794 a month in Tokyo and €1,874 in Lisbon, rent included — Tokyo is 4% 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 Lisbon the way you live in Tokyo on €3,000, you need
€3,134/ month net
4% more than today (+€134)
- Tokyo today
- Basket €1,794 · left over €1,206 (40%)
- Lisbon at the matched salary
- Basket €1,874 · left over €1,260 (40%)
Local pay context: average tech net pay covers the basket 128% over in Lisbon (tight) 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
🇵🇹 Lisbon
Visa-friendly and well connected, but local salaries lag far behind expat-driven rents.
Monthly budget: €1,874
Sources: Statistics Portugal (INE) + Eurostat, HICP & house-rent statistics (2025) · 331 community reports
Should you move to Tokyo or Lisbon?
On salary, Tokyo pays more for tech roles (€3,500 versus €2,400 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 €1,300 in Lisbon. Groceries, transport and utilities move far less between the two.
For remote workers, the nomad index scores Tokyo at 72 and Lisbon at 83 — see the full nomad index and our data methodology.