Bangkok vs Shanghai - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Bangkok	Shanghai
🚶 Cost of living one person	$941	$1097
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2857	$3454
🏠 One person rent	$416	$577
🏘️ Family rent	$1154	$1404
🍽️ Food expenses	$276	$287
🚐 Transport expenses	$148	$110
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$753	$1644
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	21 km	13 km
🎓 Higher education	89	100
😀 Quality of life	74	78
🏙️ Population	5.68M	24.9M

The cost of living in Bangkok is 14% less expensive than in Shanghai. Cities ranked 5822nd and 4858th ($941 vs $1097) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 6th in Thailand and China, respectively. Check Thailand vs China comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.8 months in Bangkok compared to 1.5 months in Shanghai. Bangkok ranked 1st best city to live in Thailand vs Shanghai ranked 4th in China, while ranked 1221st and 675th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Bangkok vs Shanghai infographic

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Prices in Bangkok vs Shanghai

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

	Bangkok	Shanghai
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$2.97	$4.55
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$29.9	$39.8
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.91	$5.4
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.69	$1.45
☕ Cappuccino	$2.5	$3.93
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.61	$0.52
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$576	$823
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$291	$455
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1879	$2226
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$853	$1115
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$52.9	$33.5
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$81	$51.6
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$14.7	$14.8
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.06%	3.83%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5781	$14361
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2619	$8086
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.18	$0.55
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$38.8	$34.1
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$10.5	$5.85
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.2	$1.13
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.93	$2.2
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.33	$1.95
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.42	$1.35
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.19	$1.84
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$19.3	$15.5
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.8	$3.29
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.99	$10.9
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.35	$2.25
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.73	$1.64
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.26	$1.81
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.98	$1.54
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.56	$0.86
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.39	$1.12
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.33	$0.37
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.3	$1.26
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$18	$12.2
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.81	$0.84
🚬 Cigarette pack	$4.22	$3.39
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$2.46	$6.38
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.63	$6.95
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.93	$1.68
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.03	$2.27
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$49.7	$55.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$7.38	$8.1
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$40	$87.9
💇 Haircut, simple	$10.5	$11.1
👖 Brand Jeans	$53	$60.7
👟 Brand Sneakers	$102	$75.8
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$579	$1181
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$13301	$30174

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

$349

$907

$6.64K

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Bangkok

Distance	City	Cost of living
13 km or 8.1 mi	Nonthaburi	$717
13 km or 8.4 mi	Lat Luang	$753
14 km or 8.4 mi	Pu Chao Saming Phrai	$748
18 km or 11 mi	Pak Kret	$715
28 km or 18 mi	Rangsit	$595
39 km or 25 mi	Tha Khlong	$641
50 km or 31 mi	Nakhon Pathom	$548
86 km or 53 mi	Laem Chabang	$743
87 km or 54 mi	Chaophraya Surasak	$739
98 km or 61 mi	Pattaya	$781
103 km or 64 mi	Nong Prue	$752
145 km or 90 mi	Hua Hin	$656
164 km or 102 mi	Klaeng	$685
217 km or 135 mi	Nakhon Ratchasima	$588
222 km or 138 mi	Nakhon Sawan	$654
254 km or 158 mi	Myeik	$576
267 km or 166 mi	Serei Saophoan	$639
270 km or 168 mi	Ko Chang	$677
299 km or 186 mi	Battambang	$573
342 km or 212 mi	Phitsanulok	$537
364 km or 226 mi	Siem Reap	$644
388 km or 241 mi	Khon Kaen	$568
416 km or 258 mi	Ko Tao	$777
434 km or 270 mi	Mawlamyine	$569
452 km or 281 mi	Ko Pha-ngan	$730
466 km or 290 mi	Hpa-an	$610
473 km or 294 mi	Udon Thani	$543
475 km or 295 mi	Sihanoukville	$755
475 km or 295 mi	Ko Samui	$705
496 km or 308 mi	Ubon Ratchathani	$545
519 km or 323 mi	Vientiane	$1163
529 km or 329 mi	Surat Thani	$563
529 km or 329 mi	Kampot	$596
536 km or 333 mi	Phnom Penh	$836
542 km or 337 mi	Phu Quoc	$519
569 km or 354 mi	Kampong Cham	$513
578 km or 359 mi	Yangon	$705
579 km or 360 mi	Prey Veng	$721
584 km or 363 mi	Chiang Mai	$691
587 km or 365 mi	Bago	$650

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