A UNITED States citizen had decided to pack his bags and move across the globe to a country in East Asia, drawn to its affordability and safety.
He ditched his pricey lifestyle in California in favor of the low cost-of-living of Japan, saving up to $2,300 each month on rent and stacking up the savings on food costs.
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The US has a relatively high cost of living compared to many other countries, ranking as one of the more expensive nations around the world.
High housing prices, healthcare costs, education expenses, and food prices all contribute to the US ranking within the top 20 most expensive countries to live in.
The cost of living varies greatly within the US, however, with residents in major cities and states dishing out significantly more cash than those in less populated areas.
For example, while Arkansas, Mississippi, and Alabama have a relatively low cost of living, states such as New York, Hawaii, and California are very pricey.
Read More on Cost of Living
US citizen Graham Hill decided to pack up his life in California and move to Japan in 2019, in part because the East Asian country has a much lower cost of living.
While America ranks as the 13th most expensive country in the world, Japan is much cheaper, taking the 44th spot in terms of cost of living in 2025.
PACK YOUR BAGS
Hill left the US behind six years ago, moving to Sapporo, Japan, he exclusively told The U.S. Sun.
Sapporo ranks as the fifth largest city in Japan, with nearly two million residents.
The city – the capital of Hokkaido, the second largest island of Japan – is considered low cost.
Sapporo is “certainly much lower-cost than California,” said Hill.
He explained that some pricing was relatively consistent from the US to Japan, such as the $2 cost of riding the subway.
However, savings can stack up in other areas.
For example, Hill noted that a $12 sandwich in the US would cost just $7 in Japan.
Rent is also much cheaper in the latter country.
2025 Cost of Living Index by Country
- US Virgin Islands: 98.4
- Switzerland: 98.4
- Iceland: 83.4
- Bahamas: 81.4
- Singapore: 79.1
- Hong Kong (China): 73.6
- Barbados: 70.0
- Norway: 69.0
- Papua New Guinea: 67.4
- Denmark: 66.9
- Guernsey: 66.1
- Israel: 65.2
- United States: 64.9
- Luxembourg: 64.8
- Australia: 60.9
- Austria: 60.7
- Netherlands: 60.5
- Ireland: 59.8
- United Kingdom: 59.2
- Puerto Rico: 58.7
- Finland: 58.7
- Canada: 58.7
- Germany: 58.4
- France: 58.0
- Macao (China): 56.8
- South Korea: 56.5
- Belgium: 56.5
- New Zealand: 55.3
- Sweden: 54.2
- United Arab Emirates: 54.1
- Italy: 51.0
- Jamaica: 50.3
- Costa Rica: 50.1
- Cyprus: 49.5
- Estonia: 49.4
- Trinidad and Tobago: 48.9
- Yemen: 48.4
- Bahrain: 48.3
- Malta: 48.0
- Qatar: 47.5
- Greece: 46.5
- Uruguay: 46.3
- Slovenia: 46.2
- Japan: 45.6
- Maldives: 45.3
- Brunei: 44.4
- Taiwan: 44.4
- Lithuania: 44.0
- Panama: 43.9
- Spain: 43.5
Source: Numbeo
It costs roughly $700 each month to live in Sapporo, compared to the high rent prices in California of around $2,500 to $3,000 in cities like San Francisco, Hill shared.
In addition to being significantly less expensive than the US, he noted that Sapporo is also much safer and cleaner than almost anywhere in America.
“It’s a great little city,” said the expat.
MOVING MADNESS
While living in Japan offers many benefits, there is one major obstacle to making the move.
The biggest struggle for most Americans in search of moving to a low-cost country is obtaining a long-stay visa, Hill explained.
“There are a lot of countries that will let Americans stay for three months as tourists, or maybe six months as ‘digital nomads’, but if you want to really stay, that is much harder,” he said.
In order to secure his stay in Japan, Hill started his own businesses and was able to secure a business manager visa.
One of his companies, a restaurant review website in Sapporo called Ichiban No Machi, offers food reviews in English from a local perspective.
Hill’s other company, Find Hokkaido Agents, is real estate focused and helps foreigners to manage renting and buying in Sapporo.
His interest in real estate partly pushed him to move to Sapporo in the first place due to investment potential.
“This is a great city and I can afford to buy real estate here, while the prices are mostly too high in the US,” said Hill, who still owns his home in California.
This is a great city and I can afford to buy real estate here, while the prices are mostly too high in the US.”
Graham Hill
The price of a home in Sapporo is impacted mainly by three factors: property age, material, and location, according to Find Hokkaido Agents.
While housing costs in the city vary greatly, the average cost to buy a home in Sapporo is roughly $188,537, per the website’s 2023 analysis.
On the other hand, a house in Los Angeles runs for on average $650,000, highlighting how Sapporo offers a lower entry cost for real estate.
“Both my real estate work and my restaurant reviews put me in touch with foreigners, including many Americans, some of whom are trying to figure out how to stay,” said Hill.
Americans seeking to lower their cost of living without moving out of the country can turn to a housing alternative rising in popularity: tiny homes.
You can now buy a tiny ranch home for $15,699 on Wayfair – it has a massive porch and comes in four sizes.
Plus, Amazon is selling a self-sufficient tiny home for $13,000 that fits in the back of the garden – it’s cheaper than a house.
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