Baltimore vs Shanghai - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Baltimore	Shanghai
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2224	$1147
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5241	$3146
🏠 One person rent	$1309	$636
🏘️ Family rent	$2141	$1119
🍽️ Food expenses	$623	$279
🚐 Transport expenses	$124	$105
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4251	$1068
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	13 km	13 km
🎓 Higher education	97	99
😀 Quality of life	91	76
🏙️ Population	586K	24.9M

The cost of living in Baltimore is 94% more expensive than in Shanghai. Cities ranked 1429th and 4880th ($2224 vs $1147) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1183rd 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 1.9 months in Baltimore compared to 0.9 months in Shanghai. Baltimore ranked 29th best city to live in the United States vs Shanghai ranked 5th in China, while ranked 138th 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 Baltimore vs Shanghai

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

	Baltimore	Shanghai
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$16.7	$4.42
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$79.9	$30.3
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$10.8	$5.19
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$6.61	$1.44
☕ Cappuccino	$5.42	$3.21
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.08	$0.57
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1599	$849
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$981	$520
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2089	$1495
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1812	$937
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$127	$38.3
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$195	$59.3
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$77.8	$11.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.3%	3.19%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2495	$14068
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2320	$6729
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.01	$0.54
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$84.3	$29.4
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$15.4	$5.76
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.91	$1.23
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.05	$2.14
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$3.45	$1.81
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.95	$1.1
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.62	$1.87
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.6	$16.7
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.7	$3.33
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$17.6	$13
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.14	$2.43
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.57	$1.87
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.05	$1.84
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.64	$1.75
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.42	$0.83
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.8	$0.94
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.57	$0.45
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.8	$1.31
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$15.3	$11.8
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.72	$0.9
🚬 Cigarette pack	$13.9	$2.95
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$8.05	$6.37
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.35	$7.05
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.74	$2.11
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.13	$2.24
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$51.6	$70.6
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$14.4	$8.79
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$123	$98.8
💇 Haircut, simple	$20.8	$12
👖 Brand Jeans	$52.6	$46.1
👟 Brand Sneakers	$100	$71.7
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1730	$1268
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$18541	$27610

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Baltimore

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 6.6 mi	Catonsville	$2484
21 km or 13 mi	Owings Mills	$2603
23 km or 14 mi	Columbia	$2856
30 km or 19 mi	Laurel	$2377
31 km or 19 mi	Edgewood	$3012
32 km or 20 mi	Eldersburg	$2554
35 km or 22 mi	Bel Air South	$2787
36 km or 22 mi	Annapolis	$2862
37 km or 23 mi	Bel Air North	$2694
37 km or 23 mi	Bowie	$2596
40 km or 25 mi	Greenbelt	$2774
42 km or 26 mi	College Park	$3016
47 km or 29 mi	Silver Spring	$2223
52 km or 32 mi	Rockville	$2678
54 km or 34 mi	Bethesda	$2769
55 km or 34 mi	Gaithersburg	$2512
57 km or 35 mi	Washington	$3350
57 km or 36 mi	Georgetown	$3031
58 km or 36 mi	Germantown	$2695
65 km or 41 mi	Alexandria	$2913
66 km or 41 mi	Bailey's Crossroads	$2572
66 km or 41 mi	Hanover	$2275
71 km or 44 mi	Frederick	$2318
73 km or 45 mi	Reston	$2801
74 km or 46 mi	Springfield	$2367
75 km or 47 mi	Waldorf	$2508
75 km or 47 mi	Herndon	$2799
76 km or 47 mi	York	$2088
77 km or 48 mi	Fairfax	$2803
80 km or 50 mi	Ashburn	$2793
84 km or 52 mi	Leesburg	$2341
86 km or 54 mi	Newark	$2222
87 km or 54 mi	Centreville	$3338
88 km or 55 mi	Lancaster	$2095
91 km or 56 mi	Woodbridge	$2696
91 km or 57 mi	Marumsco	$2608
95 km or 59 mi	Dover	$2205
95 km or 59 mi	Manassas	$2379
98 km or 61 mi	Waynesboro	$2109
103 km or 64 mi	Hagerstown	$2037

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