Austin vs Shanghai - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Austin	Shanghai
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2475	$1147
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5680	$3146
🏠 One person rent	$1530	$636
🏘️ Family rent	$2495	$1119
🍽️ Food expenses	$627	$279
🚐 Transport expenses	$120	$105
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$5010	$1068
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	13 km	13 km
🎓 Higher education	65	99
😀 Quality of life	90	76
🏙️ Population	962K	24.9M

The cost of living in Austin is 116% more expensive than in Shanghai. Cities ranked 932nd and 4880th ($2475 vs $1147) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 806th and 5th 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 months in Austin compared to 0.9 months in Shanghai. Austin ranked 46th best city to live in the United States vs Shanghai ranked 5th in China, while ranked 192nd and 1178th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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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	$19.4	$4.42
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$68.7	$30.3
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$12	$5.19
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$7.38	$1.44
☕ Cappuccino	$5.59	$3.21
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.34	$0.57
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1888	$849
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1199	$520
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3110	$1495
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2018	$937
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$125	$38.3
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$190	$59.3
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$68.5	$11.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.41%	3.19%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5778	$14068
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3142	$6729
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.75	$0.54
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$41.7	$29.4
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$18.1	$5.76
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.81	$1.23
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.01	$2.14
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$3.14	$1.81
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.86	$1.1
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.68	$1.87
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.5	$16.7
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.8	$3.33
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16.8	$13
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.37	$2.43
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.55	$1.87
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.57	$1.84
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.35	$1.75
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.73	$0.83
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.71	$0.94
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.51	$0.45
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.74	$1.31
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$15.8	$11.8
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.96	$0.9
🚬 Cigarette pack	$9.52	$2.95
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$6.71	$6.37
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.99	$7.05
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$4.17	$2.11
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.23	$2.24
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$72.4	$70.6
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$14.5	$8.79
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$167	$98.8
💇 Haircut, simple	$25.5	$12
👖 Brand Jeans	$56.8	$46.1
👟 Brand Sneakers	$93.4	$71.7
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1503	$1268
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$20982	$27610

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	$2141
25 km or 15 mi	Round Rock	$2058
25 km or 15 mi	Cedar Park	$2151
31 km or 20 mi	Leander	$2149
37 km or 23 mi	Kyle	$2168
39 km or 24 mi	Georgetown	$2110
51 km or 32 mi	San Marcos	$2125
76 km or 47 mi	New Braunfels	$2123
84 km or 52 mi	Seguin	$2120
86 km or 53 mi	Harker Heights	$1937
90 km or 56 mi	Killeen	$1857
93 km or 58 mi	Copperas Cove	$1963
95 km or 59 mi	Cibolo	$2105
96 km or 60 mi	Schertz	$2093
96 km or 60 mi	Temple	$2070
122 km or 76 mi	San Antonio	$2071
137 km or 85 mi	Bryan	$1950
138 km or 86 mi	Kerrville	$1944
140 km or 87 mi	College Station	$1843
150 km or 93 mi	Waco	$2066
180 km or 112 mi	Victoria	$2003
204 km or 126 mi	Rosenberg	$2096
214 km or 133 mi	Huntsville	$1900
215 km or 133 mi	The Woodlands	$2754
218 km or 136 mi	Stephenville	$2093
218 km or 136 mi	Conroe	$1860
219 km or 136 mi	Sugar Land	$2011
226 km or 140 mi	Missouri	$2093
227 km or 141 mi	Spring	$2107
230 km or 143 mi	Cleburne	$2148
233 km or 145 mi	Corsicana	$2111
234 km or 145 mi	Houston	$2261
248 km or 154 mi	Waxahachie	$2174
249 km or 155 mi	Pearland	$2064
252 km or 156 mi	Burleson	$2164
252 km or 157 mi	Midlothian	$2206
256 km or 159 mi	Pasadena	$2142
258 km or 160 mi	Alvin	$1916
260 km or 161 mi	Friendswood	$2025
260 km or 161 mi	Mansfield	$2316

Cities near Shanghai

Distance	City	Cost of living
9.4 km or 5.8 mi	Pudong	$1030
47 km or 29 mi	Taicang	$708
53 km or 33 mi	Kunshan	$726
74 km or 46 mi	Qidong	$725
82 km or 51 mi	Suzhou	$798
82 km or 51 mi	Jiaxing	$596
85 km or 53 mi	Haimen	$643
88 km or 55 mi	Changshu	$678
106 km or 66 mi	Nantong	$581
117 km or 73 mi	Zhangjiagang	$652
121 km or 75 mi	Wuxi	$686
135 km or 84 mi	Huzhou	$680
141 km or 87 mi	Jiangyin	$658
142 km or 88 mi	Zhoushan	$571
144 km or 89 mi	Ningbo	$660
148 km or 92 mi	Jingjiang	$645
155 km or 96 mi	Shaoxing	$670
158 km or 98 mi	Yixing	$663
159 km or 99 mi	Changzhou	$636
160 km or 100 mi	Rugao	$659
161 km or 100 mi	Hangzhou	$899
177 km or 110 mi	Taixing	$651
179 km or 111 mi	Hai'an	$664
191 km or 119 mi	Liyang	$657
197 km or 122 mi	Yangzhong	$627
198 km or 123 mi	Guangde	$667
201 km or 125 mi	Danyang	$623
208 km or 129 mi	Taizhou	$693
217 km or 135 mi	Dongtai	$691
223 km or 139 mi	Zhenjiang	$538
235 km or 146 mi	Yangzhou	$623
236 km or 146 mi	Jurong	$644
244 km or 152 mi	Ningguo	$661
246 km or 153 mi	Yiwu	$696
250 km or 155 mi	Xinghua	$693
250 km or 156 mi	Yizheng	$620
259 km or 161 mi	Linhai	$677
260 km or 161 mi	Xuancheng	$684
262 km or 163 mi	Gaoyou	$644
274 km or 170 mi	Nanjing	$789