Baltimore vs Shanghai - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Baltimore	Shanghai
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2234	$1126
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5254	$3097
🏠 One person rent	$1327	$600
🏘️ Family rent	$2204	$1068
🍽️ Food expenses	$617	$293
🚐 Transport expenses	$124	$108
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4084	$879
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	13 km	13 km
🎓 Higher education	97	99
😀 Quality of life	91	75
🏙️ Population	586K	24.9M

The cost of living in Baltimore is 98% more expensive than in Shanghai. Cities ranked 1414th and 4971st ($2234 vs $1126) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1179th 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 1.8 months in Baltimore compared to 0.8 months in Shanghai. Baltimore ranked 41st best city to live in the United States vs Shanghai ranked 4th in China, while ranked 164th and 1655th 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	$17.3	$5.01
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$77.1	$36.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$10.3	$5.51
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$6.71	$1.69
☕ Cappuccino	$5.29	$3.77
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.7	$0.54
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1650	$803
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$997	$486
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2430	$1462
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1814	$880
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$123	$37.5
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$190	$58.6
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$76.3	$13
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.54%	3.34%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2325	$14215
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2166	$7113
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.02	$0.47
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$84.9	$30.1
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$15.4	$6.45
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.85	$1.15
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.04	$1.94
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$3.41	$1.8
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.78	$1.3
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.8	$1.79
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.9	$16.2
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.6	$3.91
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16.4	$11.6
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.08	$2.35
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.56	$1.74
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.99	$1.78
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.6	$1.76
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.46	$0.89
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.8	$1.04
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.55	$0.45
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.77	$1.27
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$15.5	$12.5
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.71	$0.92
🚬 Cigarette pack	$13.7	$3.46
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$8.12	$6.19
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.29	$6.91
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.74	$2.07
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.13	$2.21
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$51.6	$61.9
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$14.5	$7.84
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$122	$94.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$20.8	$12
👖 Brand Jeans	$52.2	$50.6
👟 Brand Sneakers	$98.1	$78.8
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1492	$1114
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$21697	$27781

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	$2443
21 km or 13 mi	Owings Mills	$2586
23 km or 14 mi	Columbia	$2830
30 km or 19 mi	Laurel	$2344
31 km or 19 mi	Edgewood	$2985
32 km or 20 mi	Eldersburg	$2521
35 km or 22 mi	Bel Air South	$2755
36 km or 22 mi	Annapolis	$2951
37 km or 23 mi	Bel Air North	$2667
37 km or 23 mi	Bowie	$2544
40 km or 25 mi	Greenbelt	$2650
42 km or 26 mi	College Park	$2777
47 km or 29 mi	Silver Spring	$2252
52 km or 32 mi	Rockville	$2499
54 km or 34 mi	Bethesda	$2763
55 km or 34 mi	Gaithersburg	$2526
57 km or 35 mi	Washington	$3306
57 km or 36 mi	Georgetown	$3030
58 km or 36 mi	Germantown	$2664
65 km or 41 mi	Alexandria	$2877
66 km or 41 mi	Bailey's Crossroads	$2581
66 km or 41 mi	Hanover	$2257
71 km or 44 mi	Frederick	$2333
73 km or 45 mi	Reston	$2721
74 km or 46 mi	Springfield	$2379
75 km or 47 mi	Waldorf	$2522
75 km or 47 mi	Herndon	$2800
76 km or 47 mi	York	$2003
77 km or 48 mi	Fairfax	$2818
80 km or 50 mi	Ashburn	$2736
84 km or 52 mi	Leesburg	$2304
86 km or 54 mi	Newark	$2207
87 km or 54 mi	Centreville	$3292
88 km or 55 mi	Lancaster	$2105
91 km or 56 mi	Woodbridge	$2681
91 km or 57 mi	Marumsco	$2588
95 km or 59 mi	Dover	$2198
95 km or 59 mi	Manassas	$2453
98 km or 61 mi	Waynesboro	$2000
103 km or 64 mi	Hagerstown	$2024

Cities near Shanghai

Distance	City	Cost of living
9.4 km or 5.8 mi	Pudong	$1002
47 km or 29 mi	Taicang	$669
53 km or 33 mi	Kunshan	$696
74 km or 46 mi	Qidong	$701
82 km or 51 mi	Suzhou	$782
82 km or 51 mi	Jiaxing	$594
85 km or 53 mi	Haimen	$620
88 km or 55 mi	Changshu	$644
106 km or 66 mi	Nantong	$557
117 km or 73 mi	Zhangjiagang	$667
121 km or 75 mi	Wuxi	$683
135 km or 84 mi	Huzhou	$643
141 km or 87 mi	Jiangyin	$650
142 km or 88 mi	Zhoushan	$584
144 km or 89 mi	Ningbo	$671
148 km or 92 mi	Jingjiang	$636
155 km or 96 mi	Shaoxing	$680
158 km or 98 mi	Yixing	$684
159 km or 99 mi	Changzhou	$623
160 km or 100 mi	Rugao	$646
161 km or 100 mi	Hangzhou	$860
177 km or 110 mi	Taixing	$636
179 km or 111 mi	Hai'an	$647
191 km or 119 mi	Liyang	$652
197 km or 122 mi	Yangzhong	$611
198 km or 123 mi	Guangde	$652
201 km or 125 mi	Danyang	$604
208 km or 129 mi	Taizhou	$675
217 km or 135 mi	Dongtai	$678
223 km or 139 mi	Zhenjiang	$525
235 km or 146 mi	Yangzhou	$618
236 km or 146 mi	Jurong	$626
244 km or 152 mi	Ningguo	$644
246 km or 153 mi	Yiwu	$667
250 km or 155 mi	Xinghua	$677
250 km or 156 mi	Yizheng	$601
259 km or 161 mi	Linhai	$661
260 km or 161 mi	Xuancheng	$665
262 km or 163 mi	Gaoyou	$632
274 km or 170 mi	Nanjing	$765