$280,000 in Seattle ≈ ¥38,154,015 in Tokyo
Moving to Tokyo from Seattle with a family
Equivalence is solved so household net cash matches across both cities, with taxes, housing, childcare, healthcare, food, and travel all included.
What changes: Seattle → Tokyo
- ▾ 5 fewer vacation days per year in Tokyo
- ▴ 28 more paid parental-leave weeks (35 vs 7)
- ▴ Universal healthcare in Tokyo (no premium / minimal OOP)
- ▴ Childcare drops ~$27k/yr in Tokyo (subsidized)
- ▾ Income + payroll tax runs 39.1% in Tokyo vs 19.8% in Seattle
- ▴ Housing runs about 54% less in Tokyo
- ▴ Groceries and dining runs about 39% less in Tokyo
The headline math
| Seattle household gross | $280,000 |
| Seattle taxes (19.8%) | −$55,425 |
| Seattle living costs | −$129,552 |
| Seattle net cash | $95,024 |
| ≈ | |
| Tokyo household gross needed | ¥38,154,015($235,693) |
| Tokyo taxes (39.1%) | −¥14,903,611 |
| Tokyo living costs | −¥7,868,000 |
| Tokyo net cash | ¥15,382,405 |
Computed at the city-median tech-worker salary, Seattle (a family with two kids) · effective tax rates: 19.8% vs 39.1%
The bottom line
- →$280,000 in Seattle leaves about the same net cash as ¥38,154,015 in Tokyo for this scenario, after real taxes and living costs.
- →Taxes take 19.8% of gross in Seattle versus 39.1% in Tokyo.
- →The biggest non-cash swing: 5 fewer vacation days per year in Tokyo.
These numbers use one scenario's assumptions. Plug in your own salary, family size, and lifestyle.
Open the interactive calculator to run your own →No signup. Your salary stays in your browser — we never see it.
Moving from Seattle to Tokyo for a family
For a family of four, this comparison produces a different answer than a single-person look at the same cities. Childcare costs, parental leave policy, and the second earner's tax treatment all push the number. With a partner at 60% of the primary salary and two kids in daycare, a $280,000 household in Seattle needs ¥38,154,015 in Tokyo to keep the same net cash.
Childcare runs higher in Tokyo (¥480,000) than in Seattle ($30,000). It's worth checking whether subsidized daycare or after-school programs apply to your specific situation.
Parental leave: Tokyo provides 35 weeks paid vs 7 in Seattle. A new child in the first year of the move is exactly the scenario where that gap shows up as real money (and real stress avoided).
With kids in the house, healthcare is the line that quietly compounds. Tokyo runs a universal system, so a rough year doesn't turn into a billing event. The Seattle side carries $10,640 a year in premiums and out-of-pocket costs, exposure that simply doesn't follow you across.
K-12 schools score higher on PISA 2022 in Japan (533 (math 536, reading 516, science 547)) than in USA (489 (math 465, reading 504, science 499)), a 44-point gap on the OECD's standardized 15-year-old assessment. PISA is one signal; local school choice and curriculum philosophy matter at least as much.
Vacation entitlement is lower in Tokyo (10 days vs 15 in Seattle).
The second-earner question is worth running separately. In high-childcare-cost cities, full-time daycare can eat most of a partner's after-tax income. In Tokyo, subsidized childcare changes that math entirely: both salaries actually make it to the household. Use the "Partner works in" toggle in the calculator to see what that shift does to your specific numbers.
Understand what's behind these numbers
Common questions
How much do you need to earn in Tokyo to match a $280,000 salary in Seattle?
About ¥38,154,015. cityparity solves for the Tokyo gross salary whose net cash (after taxes, housing, childcare, healthcare, and the rest) equals what you keep in Seattle. It's an equivalence, not a raw conversion.
How much is childcare in Tokyo compared with Seattle?
Childcare is one of the biggest swings for a family moving from Seattle to Tokyo. cityparity nets each city's daycare cost against any government child allowance, so the figure reflects what you'd actually pay out of pocket.
Is healthcare free in Tokyo?
Tokyo has universal healthcare, so there are no US-style premiums or large deductibles. cityparity counts that as real money you don't spend, which is part of why the equivalent salary is lower than the raw number suggests.
How much vacation and parental leave do you get in Tokyo?
Tokyo has about 26 paid days off a year (vacation plus public holidays) and 52 weeks of parental leave. cityparity surfaces these as deltas rather than dollars, because time off is part of the real comparison.
Run your own numbers in the interactive calculator →