Living in Matsushima
An unemployment rate of 6.26% was measured at the end of 2020. The city recorded a population density of 248.7 people per km² at the end of 2020.
Higher unemployment than 97% of Japanese cities that publish it and cleaner air than 75% of Japanese cities that publish it.
Which Japan-wide rules apply when you move to Matsushima?
National rules stay on the country page instead of being relabelled as city data.
Housing and cost
Japan's Housing and Land Survey monthly-rent measure excludes security deposits, key money/right money and common-area charges. The Ministry of Land says deposit terms vary by regional custom; these sources provide context, not a comparable city-level distribution. Statistics Bureau glossary (2018) · MLIT rental-housing Q&A.
No city-level rent figure is published for Matsushima. The available city-level cost figures remain below.
| Metric | Value | Period | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Internet, 60 Mbps unlimited | 31.61 EUR/month | 30 Sept 2026 | ドコモ光 月額料金 — NTTドコモ8Official · national market |
| Mobile plan, 10 GB | 21.56 EUR/month | 30 Sept 2026 | docomo mini 10GB2Official · national market |
| Average monthly rent (whole dwelling) | 343 EUR/month | 31 Dec 2023 | 2023 Housing and Land Survey, table 112-3-2: average one-month rent of exclusive dwellings1Official · regional context |
Is Matsushima a good place to live?
There is no universal answer. The profile scores below show who the available published evidence may suit; they are a decision aid, not a personal recommendation.
Work and income
Matsushima 6.3%
Unemployment rate (%)
| Metric | Value | Period | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average gross earnings | 1,884 EUR/month | 30 Jun 2025 | MHLW / e-Stat — Basic Survey on Wage Structure 2025, 47-prefecture scheduled earnings reference table3Official · regional context |
| Unemployment rate | 6.26 %country median 3.8% | 31 Dec 2020 | 総務省統計局 (e-Stat, 国勢調査2020 就業状態等基本集計 第1-2表)11Official |
What does a salary buy in Matsushima?
Take-home pay after tax, minus rent and the everyday bills this city publishes. Each line names its source.
RentInternetMobileLeft over
Line-by-line breakdown and sources
| Each month | € |
|---|---|
| Take-home payOECD Taxing Wages 2025, single, no children. Includes central and local income tax and employee social contributions; euro amounts at the ECB average for 2026-08. | €1,412 |
| Rentaverage rent of a whole dwelling · official · 2023 Housing and Land Survey, table 112-3-2: average one-month rent of exclusive dwellings · 2023-12-31 | − €343 |
| Internet€32 · official · ドコモ光 月額料金 · 2026-09-30 | − €32 |
| Mobile plan€22 · official · docomo mini 10GB · 2026-09-30 | − €22 |
| Other everyday billsnot published for this city: public transport pass, utilities | — |
| Left overbefore the bills this city does not publish | €1,016 |
Public employment service
No exact public employment office is currently linked to Matsushima. The verified national service may still offer online registration, job search or an official office finder.
Hello Work — Public employment service
Country-level service information is not treated as proof of a physical office in Matsushima. Sources checked through 10 Aug 2026.
Safety
| Metric | Value | Period | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Recorded incidents per 100,000 residents | 500.9 incidents per 100,000 | 31 Dec 2025 | 令和７年の犯罪情勢 / 令和７年の犯罪情勢 統計表, 図表1-5-29Official · regional context |
Mobility and administration
Matsushima's nearest airport was SDJ, 29 km away and offered 14 direct destinations.
Language courses and integration
No exact city-level course record is currently published for Matsushima. These verified national programmes may still apply; use the official programme page to check local availability.
Japanese Language Education Program for Foreigners Living in Japan — State Language Course
Agency for Cultural Affairs
For foreigners living in Japan.
Climate and air quality
Matsushima's monthly mean temperatures were 2°C in January and 22.9°C in July. Matsushima's monthly precipitation totalled 42.3 mm in January and 178.4 mm in July. Average monthly sunshine totalled 149 hours in January and 126.3 hours in July.
Night-time low to daytime high
mm
hours
Within WHO 2021 guidelineAbove WHO, within EU limitAbove EU legal limitCity annual mean · µg/m³
City values from the published air-quality observations. WHO 2021 guidelines and EU limit values are published constants.
Matsushima 7.4
Annual PM2.5 (µg/m³)
| Metric | Value | Period | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| PM2.5 — annual mean | 7.4 µg/m³country median 8.4 | 31 Dec 2023 | tenbou.nies.go.jp6Official |
| Average daytime high by month | Jan 5.6 · Feb 6.5 · Mar 10 · Apr 15.5 · May 20.2 · Jun 23.1 · Jul 26.6 · Aug 28.2 · Sep 25 · Oct 19.8 · Nov 14.1 · Dec 8.3 °C | 1991–2020 | WMO Climatological Normals 1991-2020 — station SENDAI7Official · parent municipality |
| Average night-time low by month | Jan -1.3 · Feb -1.1 · Mar 1.4 · Apr 6.3 · May 11.7 · Jun 16.1 · Jul 20.2 · Aug 21.6 · Sep 18 · Oct 11.9 · Nov 5.6 · Dec 0.9 °C | 1991–2020 | WMO Climatological Normals 1991-2020 — station SENDAI7Official · parent municipality |
| Average temperature by month | Jan 2 · Feb 2.4 · Mar 5.5 · Apr 10.7 · May 15.6 · Jun 19.2 · Jul 22.9 · Aug 24.4 · Sep 21.2 · Oct 15.7 · Nov 9.8 · Dec 4.5 °C | 1991–2020 | WMO Climatological Normals 1991-2020 — station SENDAI7Official · parent municipality |
| Average precipitation by month | Jan 42.3 · Feb 33.9 · Mar 74.4 · Apr 90.2 · May 110.2 · Jun 143.7 · Jul 178.4 · Aug 157.8 · Sep 192.6 · Oct 150.6 · Nov 58.7 · Dec 44.1 mm | 1991–2020 | WMO Climatological Normals 1991-2020 — station SENDAI7Official · parent municipality |
| Average sunshine by month | Jan 149 · Feb 154.7 · Mar 178.6 · Apr 193.7 · May 191.9 · Jun 143.7 · Jul 126.3 · Aug 144.5 · Sep 128 · Oct 147 · Nov 143.4 · Dec 136.3 hours | 1991–2020 | WMO Climatological Normals 1991-2020 — station SENDAI7Official · parent municipality |
Similar climate. In Japan: Hitachi-Naka ±1.4 °C. Elsewhere: Reims (France) ±2.9 °C, Werl (Germany) ±3.0 °C, Murfreesboro (United States) ±3.1 °C, Cottbus (Germany) ±3.2 °C, Bremerhaven (Germany) ±3.3 °C. Twenty closest, compared month by month
Monthly highs and lows against the 1991–2020 station normals of the nearest station; ± is the average monthly difference.
Population and city profile
| Metric | Value | Period | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| City area | 53.5 km² | 3 Aug 2026 | 国土地理院 (Geospatial Information Authority of Japan)10Official |
| Foreign-resident share | 0.954 % | 3 Aug 2026 | 総務省自治行政局 (住民基本台帳, 外国人住民 ÷ 総計)13Official |
| Foreign residents | 121 people | 3 Aug 2026 | 総務省自治行政局 (住民基本台帳, 外国人住民)13Official |
| Population density | 248.7 people/km² | 31 Dec 2020 | 総務省統計局 (e-Stat, 国勢調査2020 第1-1表)12Official |
Alternatives for people set on Matsushima
Three places for the three reasons people leave a city on the shortlist: stay in the region, stay in the country, or keep the budget and change the country. A percentage appears only where both cities publish that metric from the same source, period and grain. Distances are straight lines — travel times are not collected yet.
Minamiuonuma as a Matsushima alternative in the same country
Better on 3 of 3 metrics measured the same way, worse on 0.
- Foreign residents: 3.0% Minamiuonuma vs 1.0% Matsushima+215%
- Unemployment: 3.3% Minamiuonuma vs 6.3% Matsushima−47%
- Recorded crime, per 100k: 463 Minamiuonuma vs 501 Matsushima−8%
How does Matsushima compare?
Pick a city. The answer appears here and the address bar keeps it, so the comparison can be shared; the page stays Matsushima's.
Yes — migrants can receive medical care in Matsushima when the national insurance or residence conditions are met.
Healthcare access follows the country-wide insurance rules; local capacity facts remain city data and are not used as proof of eligibility.
Open the official coverage guideCommon questions
Answered from the published values on this page, each with its source and date.
What is the unemployment rate in Matsushima?
The unemployment rate is 6.26 %. Source: 総務省統計局 (e-Stat, 国勢調査2020 就業状態等基本集計 第1-2表).
Is the air quality good in Matsushima?
The annual PM2.5 mean is 7.4 µg/m³. The WHO 2021 guideline is 5 µg/m³ and the EU limit value is 25 µg/m³, so this reading is above the WHO guideline but within the EU limit. Source: tenbou.nies.go.jp.
How safe is Matsushima?
Police recorded 500.9 incidents per 100,000. This counts all offences, so it is not comparable with a violent-crime-only rate from another source. Source: 令和７年の犯罪情勢 / 令和７年の犯罪情勢 統計表, 図表1-5-2.
How many foreign residents live in Matsushima?
121 residents hold a foreign nationality. Source: 総務省自治行政局 (住民基本台帳, 外国人住民).
Is Matsushima a good place to live?
Matsushima may suit different people for different reasons. The page's profile scores compare published cost, work, housing, safety, healthcare and other available factors; they are a decision aid, not a universal recommendation.
Cite this page
Open a format to select or copy this ImmigrationDB compilation citation. The native disclosure and text fallback work without JavaScript.
APA citation
ImmigrationDB. (2026, October 16). Matsushima, Japan: rent, salary, cost of living, jobs [ImmigrationDB compilation; version ebbfe4b5458e599e442cf75df486df76]. ImmigrationDB. https://immigrationdb.com/cities/jp/matsushima/ Retrieved 2026-10-16. Compilation license: CC BY 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/BibTeX citation
@misc{immigrationdb_immigrationdb_matsushima-japan-rent-salary-cost-of-living-jobs_e3104a023be8,
author = {ImmigrationDB},
title = {Matsushima, Japan: rent, salary, cost of living, jobs},
publisher = {ImmigrationDB},
year = {2026},
date = {2026-10-16},
version = {ebbfe4b5458e599e442cf75df486df76},
url = {https://immigrationdb.com/cities/jp/matsushima/},
note = {Retrieved 2026-10-16. ImmigrationDB compilation. Compilation license: CC BY 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/},
}Markdown citation
[Matsushima, Japan: rent, salary, cost of living, jobs](https://immigrationdb.com/cities/jp/matsushima/) — ImmigrationDB; ImmigrationDB; version ebbfe4b5458e599e442cf75df486df76; retrieved 2026-10-16; built 2026-10-16.This citation identifies the ImmigrationDB compilation/page. Underlying source publishers and datasets retain their own terms; inspect the Sources section and cite those records separately. View the underlying source records.
Sources
- 2023 Housing and Land Survey, table 112-3-2: average one-month rent of exclusive dwellings e-stat.go.jp · checked 2026-09-23
- docomo mini 10GB docomo.ne.jp · checked 2026-09-15
- MHLW / e-Stat — Basic Survey on Wage Structure 2025, 47-prefecture scheduled earnings reference table MHLW / e-Stat · e-stat.go.jp · checked 2026-09-23
- OpenFlights raw.githubusercontent.com · checked 2026-08-03
- OurAirports davidmegginson.github.io · checked 2026-08-03
- tenbou.nies.go.jp tenbou.nies.go.jp · checked 2026-08-26
- WMO Climatological Normals 1991-2020 — station SENDAI WMO Climatological Normals 1991-2020 · ncei.noaa.gov · checked 2026-07-31
- ドコモ光 月額料金 — NTTドコモ ドコモ光 月額料金 · docomo.ne.jp · checked 2026-09-19
- 令和７年の犯罪情勢 / 令和７年の犯罪情勢 統計表, 図表1-5-2 npa.go.jp · checked 2026-09-23
- 国土地理院 (Geospatial Information Authority of Japan) gsi.go.jp · checked 2026-08-03
Show 3 more sources
- 総務省統計局 (e-Stat, 国勢調査2020 就業状態等基本集計 第1-2表) e-stat.go.jp · checked 2026-08-03
- 総務省統計局 (e-Stat, 国勢調査2020 第1-1表) e-stat.go.jp · checked 2026-08-03
- 総務省自治行政局 (住民基本台帳, 外国人住民) soumu.go.jp · checked 2026-08-03
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