Austin vs Shanghai - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Austin	Shanghai
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2455	$1097
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5709	$3454
🏠 One person rent	$1585	$577
🏘️ Family rent	$2741	$1404
🍽️ Food expenses	$566	$287
🚐 Transport expenses	$127	$110
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$5262	$1644
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	13 km	13 km
🎓 Higher education	65	100
😀 Quality of life	90	78
🏙️ Population	962K	24.9M

The cost of living in Austin is 124% more expensive than in Shanghai. Cities ranked 858th and 4858th ($2455 vs $1097) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 790th and 6th in the United States and China, respectively. Check the United States vs China comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 2.1 months in Austin compared to 1.5 months in Shanghai. Austin ranked 30th best city to live in the United States vs Shanghai ranked 4th in China, while ranked 142nd and 675th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Austin vs Shanghai infographic

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Prices in Austin vs Shanghai

Prices for goods and services in Austin and Shanghai are partly crowdsourced by our visitors, just like yourself. Please consider telling us about your city.

	Austin	Shanghai
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$17.5	$4.55
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$64.7	$39.8
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$10.6	$5.4
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$6.36	$1.45
☕ Cappuccino	$5.69	$3.93
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.75	$0.52
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1949	$823
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1266	$455
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3348	$2226
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2283	$1115
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$113	$33.5
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$176	$51.6
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$69.4	$14.8
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.66%	3.83%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4187	$14361
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2882	$8086
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.49	$0.55
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$44.4	$34.1
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$19.8	$5.85
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.78	$1.13
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.11	$2.2
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.98	$1.95
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.76	$1.35
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.96	$1.84
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13	$15.5
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.2	$3.29
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.2	$10.9
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.77	$2.25
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.56	$1.64
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.4	$1.81
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.67	$1.54
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.3	$0.86
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.75	$1.12
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.45	$0.37
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.88	$1.26
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$15.2	$12.2
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.62	$0.84
🚬 Cigarette pack	$9.03	$3.39
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$6.13	$6.38
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.35	$6.95
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$4.01	$1.68
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.5	$2.27
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$48.7	$55.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$14.7	$8.1
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$147	$87.9
💇 Haircut, simple	$20.6	$11.1
👖 Brand Jeans	$58.3	$60.7
👟 Brand Sneakers	$89.2	$75.8
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1385	$1181
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$22096	$30174

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Austin

Distance	City	Cost of living
19 km or 12 mi	Pflugerville	$2218
25 km or 15 mi	Round Rock	$2163
25 km or 15 mi	Cedar Park	$2244
31 km or 20 mi	Leander	$2260
37 km or 23 mi	Kyle	$2223
39 km or 24 mi	Georgetown	$2192
51 km or 32 mi	San Marcos	$2224
76 km or 47 mi	New Braunfels	$2182
84 km or 52 mi	Seguin	$2182
86 km or 53 mi	Harker Heights	$2044
90 km or 56 mi	Killeen	$1969
93 km or 58 mi	Copperas Cove	$2066
95 km or 59 mi	Cibolo	$2148
96 km or 60 mi	Schertz	$2132
96 km or 60 mi	Temple	$2134
122 km or 76 mi	San Antonio	$2033
137 km or 85 mi	Bryan	$1944
138 km or 86 mi	Kerrville	$2152
140 km or 87 mi	College Station	$1853
150 km or 93 mi	Waco	$2230
180 km or 112 mi	Victoria	$2215
204 km or 126 mi	Rosenberg	$2107
214 km or 133 mi	Huntsville	$2089
215 km or 133 mi	The Woodlands	$2698
218 km or 136 mi	Stephenville	$2133
218 km or 136 mi	Conroe	$1799
219 km or 136 mi	Sugar Land	$2028
226 km or 140 mi	Missouri	$2087
227 km or 141 mi	Spring	$2093
230 km or 143 mi	Cleburne	$2155
233 km or 145 mi	Corsicana	$2170
234 km or 145 mi	Houston	$2265
248 km or 154 mi	Waxahachie	$2190
249 km or 155 mi	Pearland	$2108
252 km or 156 mi	Burleson	$2159
252 km or 157 mi	Midlothian	$2224
256 km or 159 mi	Pasadena	$2182
258 km or 160 mi	Alvin	$2056
260 km or 161 mi	Friendswood	$2097
260 km or 161 mi	Mansfield	$2305

Cities near Shanghai

Distance	City	Cost of living
9.4 km or 5.8 mi	Pudong	$984
47 km or 29 mi	Taicang	$665
53 km or 33 mi	Kunshan	$700
74 km or 46 mi	Qidong	$701
82 km or 51 mi	Suzhou	$868
82 km or 51 mi	Jiaxing	$573
85 km or 53 mi	Haimen	$631
88 km or 55 mi	Changshu	$645
106 km or 66 mi	Nantong	$602
117 km or 73 mi	Zhangjiagang	$640
121 km or 75 mi	Wuxi	$670
135 km or 84 mi	Huzhou	$670
141 km or 87 mi	Jiangyin	$657
142 km or 88 mi	Zhoushan	$590
144 km or 89 mi	Ningbo	$708
148 km or 92 mi	Jingjiang	$643
155 km or 96 mi	Shaoxing	$716
158 km or 98 mi	Yixing	$695
159 km or 99 mi	Changzhou	$702
160 km or 100 mi	Rugao	$644
161 km or 100 mi	Hangzhou	$805
177 km or 110 mi	Taixing	$636
179 km or 111 mi	Hai'an	$643
191 km or 119 mi	Liyang	$654
197 km or 122 mi	Yangzhong	$603
198 km or 123 mi	Guangde	$650
201 km or 125 mi	Danyang	$607
208 km or 129 mi	Taizhou	$644
217 km or 135 mi	Dongtai	$665
223 km or 139 mi	Zhenjiang	$522
235 km or 146 mi	Yangzhou	$620
236 km or 146 mi	Jurong	$621
244 km or 152 mi	Ningguo	$642
246 km or 153 mi	Yiwu	$677
250 km or 155 mi	Xinghua	$665
250 km or 156 mi	Yizheng	$592
259 km or 161 mi	Linhai	$661
260 km or 161 mi	Xuancheng	$672
262 km or 163 mi	Gaoyou	$621
274 km or 170 mi	Nanjing	$746