Living in Sendai

In Sendai (Kagoshima Prefecture), tenants pay an average rent of €204 a month (2023).

Sendai's unemployment stood at 4.29% at the end of 2020.

Last checked 2026-09-2312 sources

Average gross salary1,737EUR/month30 Jun 2025Regional figureOfficial source · MHLW / e-Stat — Basic Survey on Wage Structure 2025, 47-prefecture scheduled earnings reference table

Average rent204.2EUR/month31 Oct 2023Official source · Housing and Land Survey 2023, Table 112-3-2: Monthly Rent of Dwelling by Type of Dwelling — Japan, prefecture, shi, ku, machi and mura

Unemployment rate4.29%country median 3.8% — 14% aboveOfficial 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)

Recorded crime551incidents per 100,00031 Dec 2025Regional figureOfficial 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

PM2.5, annual mean10.87µg/m³31 Dec 2023Nearest stationOfficial source · NIES monthly PM2.5 station means annualized to calendar 2023

Higher unemployment than 73% of Japanese cities that publish it and dirtier air than 94% of Japanese cities that publish it.

Which Japan-wide rules apply when you move to Sendai?

National rules stay on the country page instead of being relabelled as city data.

Visa and entry rulesPassport-specific entry and national residence context.BenefitsCountry-wide eligibility and official application routes.Taxes in JapanNational rates and thresholds that apply in Sendai.Healthcare eligibilityCountry-wide insurance and residence conditions.

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 Sendai. The available city-level cost figures remain below.

What recurs every month2 published recurring costs, € per month

€ / month

Internet, 60 Mbps€32

Mobile plan, 10 GB€22

Net rent across major citiesSendai highlighted among comparable cities

net rent, € / m² / month

Kawasaki€13.36

Yokohama€11.97

Osaka€10.65

Sendai€8.85

Hiroshima€8.38

Sapporo€7.56

Show the other 6 cities

Kyoto€10.46

Saitama€10.37

Chiba€9.08

Fukuoka€9.00

Kobe€8.87

Nagoya€8.81

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⁷Official · national market
Mobile plan, 10 GB	21.56 EUR/month	30 Sept 2026	docomo mini 10GB¹Official · national market
Average monthly rent (whole dwelling)	204.2 EUR/month	31 Oct 2023	Housing and Land Survey 2023, Table 112-3-2: Monthly Rent of Dwelling by Type of Dwelling — Japan, prefecture, shi, ku, machi and mura²Official

Is Sendai 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.

Try your profile

Remote worker65%strong on work, weak on air quality · range 55–75%

Skilled employee68%strong on work, weak on education · range 59–77%

Student62%strong on cost, weak on education · range 51–73%

Family62%strong on family, weak on education · range 51–73%

Retirement58%strong on safety, weak on admin · range 45–71%

Work and income

Unemployment across cities in JapanUnemployment in Sendai is 4.3%. Of 1,816 cities with data, 818 have unemployment of 3 to under 4%.

250

818

531

126

0–11–22–33–44–55–66–77–88–99–10

Sendai 4.3%

Unemployment rate (%)

Metric	Value	Period	Source
Average gross earnings	1,737 EUR/month	30 Jun 2025	MHLW / e-Stat — Basic Survey on Wage Structure 2025, 47-prefecture scheduled earnings reference table³Official · regional context
Unemployment rate	4.29 %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)¹⁰Official

What does a salary buy in Sendai?

Take-home pay after tax, minus rent and the everyday bills this city publishes. Each line names its source.

Left over each month€1,155of €1,412 take-home

Rent
Internet
Mobile
Left 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 · Housing and Land Survey 2023, Table 112-3-2: Monthly Rent of Dwelling by Type of Dwelling · 2023-10-31	− €204
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	€1,155

Take-home pay for other salaries and households Compare with another city Check a job offer in Sendai Salary needed to live in Sendai

Public employment service

No exact public employment office is currently linked to Sendai. The verified national service may still offer online registration, job search or an official office finder.

Country-level information

Hello Work — Public employment service

Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Japan

Job Search

Search jobs

Open the Japan service overview

Country-level service information is not treated as proof of a physical office in Sendai. Sources checked through 10 Aug 2026.

Safety

Metric	Value	Period	Source
Recorded incidents per 100,000 residents	551 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1-5-2⁸Official · regional context

Mobility and administration

Sendai's nearest airport was KOJ, 40 km away and offered 12 direct destinations.

Metric	Value	Period	Source
Direct destinations from the nearest major airport	12 count	3 Aug 2026	OpenFlights⁵Official
Distance to the nearest major airport	40 km	3 Aug 2026	OurAirports⁶Official
Nearest major airport (IATA code)	KOJ	3 Aug 2026	OurAirports⁶Official

Language courses and integration

No exact city-level course record is currently published for Sendai. These verified national programmes may still apply; use the official programme page to check local availability.

Country-level information

Japanese Language Education Program for Foreigners Living in Japan — State Language Course

Agency for Cultural Affairs

For foreigners living in Japan.

JapaneseIn Person, Online

Open official information

Open the full Japan section

National programme information is not treated as proof of a course location in Sendai.

Find courses near Sendai

Climate and air quality

Air quality vs health guidelinesAnnual means against WHO 2021 guidelines and EU legal limits

Within WHO 2021 guidelineAbove WHO, within EU limitAbove EU legal limitCity annual mean · µg/m³

PM2.510.9WHO 5 · EU 25

City values from the published air-quality observations. WHO 2021 guidelines and EU limit values are published constants.

PM2.5 across cities in JapanAnnual PM2.5 in Sendai is 10.9 µg/m³. Of 804 cities with data, 209 have annual PM2.5 of 8 to under 9 µg/m³.

183

209

167

4–55–66–77–88–99–1010–1111–1212–1313–14

Sendai 10.9

Annual PM2.5 (µg/m³)

Metric	Value	Period	Source
PM2.5 — annual mean	10.87 µg/m³	31 Dec 2023	NIES monthly PM2.5 station means annualized to calendar 2023⁴Official · nearest-station reading

Population and city profile

The city recorded a population density of 135.3 people per km² at the end of 2020.

Metric	Value	Period	Source
City area	682.9 km²	3 Aug 2026	国土地理院 (Geospatial Information Authority of Japan)⁹Official
Foreign-resident share	0.889 %	3 Aug 2026	総務省自治行政局 (住民基本台帳, 外国人住民 ÷ 総計)¹²Official
Foreign residents	792 people	3 Aug 2026	総務省自治行政局 (住民基本台帳, 外国人住民)¹²Official
Population density	135.3 people/km²	31 Dec 2020	総務省統計局 (e-Stat, 国勢調査2020 第1-1表)¹¹Official

Alternatives for people set on Sendai

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.

Yasu as a Sendai alternative in the same country

Better on 3 of 4 metrics measured the same way, worse on 1.

Foreign residents: 2.5% Yasu vs 0.9% Sendai+183%
Unemployment: 2.9% Yasu vs 4.3% Sendai−32%
Annual PM2.5: 7.8 µg/m³ Yasu vs 10.9 µg/m³ Sendai−28%
Recorded crime, per 100k: 618 Yasu vs 551 Sendai+12%

Full comparison More about Yasu

How does Sendai compare?

Pick a city. The answer appears here and the address bar keeps it, so the comparison can be shared; the page stays Sendai's.

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Yes — migrants can receive medical care in Sendai 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 guide

Country rule verified 2026-08-03.

Put Sendai's key facts on your site — a card with this page's figures and a link back, free under CC BY 4.0.

Common questions

Answered from the published values on this page, each with its source and date.

What is the unemployment rate in Sendai?

The unemployment rate is 4.29 %. 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 Sendai?

The annual PM2.5 mean is 10.87 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: NIES monthly PM2.5 station means annualized to calendar 2023.

How safe is Sendai?

Police recorded 551 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 Sendai?

792 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 Sendai a good place to live?

Sendai 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). Sendai (Kagoshima Prefecture), Japan: rent, salary, jobs [ImmigrationDB compilation; version eb86dd624b73f8dd465324f8857f46c6]. ImmigrationDB. https://immigrationdb.com/cities/jp/sendai/ Retrieved 2026-10-16. Compilation license: CC BY 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

BibTeX citation

@misc{immigrationdb_immigrationdb_sendai-kagoshima-prefecture-japan-rent-salary-jobs_ba0cad364fe8,
  author = {ImmigrationDB},
  title = {Sendai (Kagoshima Prefecture), Japan: rent, salary, jobs},
  publisher = {ImmigrationDB},
  year = {2026},
  date = {2026-10-16},
  version = {eb86dd624b73f8dd465324f8857f46c6},
  url = {https://immigrationdb.com/cities/jp/sendai/},
  note = {Retrieved 2026-10-16. ImmigrationDB compilation. Compilation license: CC BY 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/},
}

Markdown citation

[Sendai (Kagoshima Prefecture), Japan: rent, salary, jobs](https://immigrationdb.com/cities/jp/sendai/) — ImmigrationDB; ImmigrationDB; version eb86dd624b73f8dd465324f8857f46c6; 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

JSON Markdown

docomo mini 10GB docomo.ne.jp · checked 2026-09-15
Housing and Land Survey 2023, Table 112-3-2: Monthly Rent of Dwelling by Type of Dwelling — Japan, prefecture, shi, ku, machi and mura Housing and Land Survey 2023, Table 112-3-2: Monthly Rent of Dwelling by Type of Dwelling · e-stat.go.jp · checked 2026-09-12
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
NIES monthly PM2.5 station means annualized to calendar 2023 gis.nies.go.jp · checked 2026-09-23
OpenFlights raw.githubusercontent.com · checked 2026-08-03
OurAirports davidmegginson.github.io · checked 2026-08-03
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
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

Show 2 more sources

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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