I have seen many new grad posts offering around 3 million to 4 million JPY annually as a salary at the new grad position.
Right now, I am a student and at the most spend around 70k jpy every month (includes, rent, groceries and some self indulgence if I have enough left over for the month).
I do live in the university dormitory now, so my living costs are lower, but after consulting with others about rent where I'm living (prices are much cheaper than tokyo), I came to the conclusion that at the most, my living cost will rise to 100k jpy per month when I rent an apartment.
If I move to Tokyo for a job after graduation and receive the new grad salary(3-4mil jpy), would it be enough for me to live? I ask this because I have heard that living costs in Tokyo are pretty high. How much would I be saving after all my expenditures are taken care of? (expenditures include groceries, rent, internet and mobile plans, insurance, transport and other basic necessities)
by depresseddaigakusei
24 comments
Japan:
[https://blog.gaijinpot.com/what-is-the-average-salary-in-japan/](https://blog.gaijinpot.com/what-is-the-average-salary-in-japan/)
Tokyo:
[https://blog.gaijinpot.com/what-is-the-average-salary-in-tokyo/](https://blog.gaijinpot.com/what-is-the-average-salary-in-tokyo/)
4M is around 330k which is doable, and given what you’ve just explained if 70k covers most of your expenses I suppose you are paying something like 30k rent with maybe amenities included and then 40k for food and other expenses. If you keep up your lifestyle like that then yes you can manage in Tokyo as a single person and even save some money for retirement and emergency expenses.
You can do fine even with 3 million a year, as long as you avoid temptations of course. I started with 2.7 million a year while splitting rent with my wife and still was able to save like 50k a month (this was before the inflation wave, but still it was more than manageable).
Try to do as much as you can to reduce fixed costs (apartment, mobile plan, etc.) and then focus on getting paid BETTER in the following 5 years. Making sure you build a good salary will help you in the long run even after you change jobs, since they usually make offers based on it.
The data is always a lie. The average pay is 2.5mil and you will starve. 4mil is livable IF they are not asking you to work 10 hours a day and travel 2 more.
Bare minimum is a 20-25minute commute and 4.5-5mil salary if you intend not to burn out in 6 months of eating only ramen in a closet for sleeping.
I make 18M and I dont live in Tokyo but the countryside.
Really depends on your job? As a software engineer with a ML specialty I started at 5.5M and it was comfortable as a young single guy.
I was making 3 million in Tokyo after graduating and had a very comfortable life: living in a good part of Saitama with only 35 minutes door-to-door commute to Tokyo, could take almost a month of vacation every year, had enough money and holidays to travel inside Japan twice a year and abroad once a year, and could save enough money to have a comfortable safety net if things went south. If you are still fresh with those student’s money saving skills, it won’t be a problem. Give priority to places with good work conditions, nice bosses, no overtime, and flexible vacations, rather than higher salaries. You will not regret it.
Of course, you should still expect small yearly raises from the first year and a promotion within 3 to 5 years maximum. After 5 years those 3 million became 5.6 million.
600k JPY from work a month after taxes. Live near Minato Mirai for 3LDK, 170k a month.
I wouldn’t touch Tokyo for me
I’d say at 3m, you’re ok if you have no bills and a very small social life/cheap hobbies. 4m, you can pay some bills and maybe shop a little and have some fun. 5m+ you’d be in the adult bracket where a vacation, a car, and other things start to become viable. For Tokyo, I’d chop 1m off each category so 3m will feel poor, 4m, will feel very basic, and so on.
Really the most effective plan for creating savings is getting married early, living modestly, and waiting a bit to have kids. Otherwise, unless you have an awesome job, you’re not going to be saving much as a poor bachelor in a high CoL city like Tokyo.
For a new grad 5m would be considered high. But 3m to 4m would be pretty standard and livable even in Tokyo. You will need to make compromises to reduce spending though.
If 3m, it probably would be best to live outside of Tokyo, unless you’re fine with sharing toilets and showers.
I’ll be moving to Japan next month for a job offer of 7,5M/year, in Sendai. You can have a pretty low cost life in Japan without sacrificing much. My goal will be to save as much as I can.
The salary for new graduates is almost the same across Japan, around 3 million yen. If you can earn about 5 million yen as a new grad, that’s considered a high salary. Yes, rent in Tokyo is the highest, but you can still find affordable apartments. A 3-million-yen salary becomes about 2.5 million yen after tax, meaning you’ll have around 200,000 yen per month in hand. Monthly expenses might look like this: rent: 50,000–100,000 yen; food: 10,000–40,000 yen; utilities: 10,000 yen; mobile/internet: 5,000 yen or so; plus other expenses. You can calculate those yourself. You can survive on this, but you obviously can’t live an extravagant life. That’s why many Japanese new grads live with their parents.
You ask for “high”, sky is the limit.
Serious speaking, if you want to work in Tokyo and save, don’t live in Tokyo.
Spend 1hour+ commuting from Saitama, Chiba, Kanagawa to city center like every other salarymen will save you some.
70k expense per month is impossible since you pay tax, social insurance, electrics, food and rents. You shall cutdown on rent by living in the suburbs. FYI Tokyo 1 room rent is 95000yen ish on average over 23 wards, meaning you will pay more if you want to live close to center.
High? I’d say anything from 7m+
Good? 5.5+
> What is considered a high salary in Japan?
https://www.statista.com/statistics/614245/distribution-of-annual-household-income-japan/
That is household income which is not the same as salary but it can still give you an idea of what’s “normal” and what’s “high”.
3m to 4m is the standard for new grads. However most mid size and above companies provide housing allowances or even company housing for new grads so that might help reduce your monthly expenses. Usually companies will advertise this as one of the perks of working for them so make sure you ask during the interview or 説明会
You’re thinking like a student. Your costs will increase substantially. Don’t forget to count life insurance, taxes, dating, marriage (if it’s something on the cards for you). You’ll get stressed from working and spend money on hobbies, traveling, eating out and other leisure activities. Life will happen and your costs will increase. Focus on earning more.
To be fair rent if you want to be inside the yamanotr will be the biggest part of your budget. Especially if you want to avoid post 83-84 buildings and share house
Ask former politicians.
When they are done with politics they land in some company that often wins government contracts and their comp 20M cash + 40M expense account.
PS comparing salary to your living costs is a major mistake. There’s a concept of “opportunity cost”: if you work here at comp X, you’re missing out on working there for comp Y.
What is the best you can hypothetically do, globally? Can you land a fresh grad position in the Silicon Valley and how much would that be? If not, then Zurich, Amsterdam, Berlin, Sydney or Singapore?
Average household income is 636,155 yen a month. Foreigners often post here thinking they’re doing brilliantly earning “above average” without considering those on lower incomes are living with parents and saving as they’re not paying rent, utilities and food. Older members of the household will be earning more.
[https://www.stat.go.jp/english/data/kakei/156n.html](https://www.stat.go.jp/english/data/kakei/156n.html)
It will depend on the details.
If your starting salary is only 3m and your rent is ~80K/m (small Tokyo apartment), then you might struggle a little depending on your lifestyle.
3m salary, assuming some of that comes from bonuses, is only around 220K/month pay, of which you would take home less than 200K.
If half of that is going towards rent and utilities then that leaves you with only around 100K to do everything else with. It’s enough if you cook for yourself regularly, don’t own a car, don’t have kids etc but it’s not really enough to live comfortably AND have those things AND still have some left over to save or invest month-to-month. If you eat out every night or need to pay for car insurance or something, then you’ll probably struggle.
However, if you were to live outside of Tokyo, you could probably get a 2LDK or bigger for around 70~80K/m. If your salary is closer to 4m, that’s a significant difference too and would allow you to save a little without changing your spending habits.
For a new graduate I would recommend looking for closer to 4m if you plan to stay in Tokyo. 3m is fine to begin with outside of Tokyo. Either way you’ll need to be cautious of a large chunk of your salary being through promised bonuses, which don’t help pay bills month-to-month and tend to vary wildly in actual value.
You can absolutely live in Tokyo with a 3m salary. There’s cheap apartments everywhere, you just have to look for them. If you’re okay living in an older building you can pay 50-60k for a small room with the basics. I started with less than 3m per year and did perfectly okay.
Living on 3M/year in Tokyo will be tough.
If you can earn at least 4M/yr, you will be able to live moderately.
Earning more than 4M/yr as a new grad is not quite common, but doable.