Beijing vs Columbus - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Beijing	Columbus
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1044	$2127
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2705	$5086
🏠 One person rent	$596	$1221
🏘️ Family rent	$1053	$2077
🍽️ Food expenses	$250	$642
🚐 Transport expenses	$102	$125
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$711	$3894
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	13 km	10 km
🎓 Higher education	100	73
😀 Quality of life	73	92
🏙️ Population	21.9M	906K

The cost of living in Beijing is 51% less expensive than in Columbus. Cities ranked 5341st and 1686th ($1044 vs $2127) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 6th and 1354th in China and the United States, respectively. Check China vs the United States comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.7 months in Beijing compared to 1.8 months in Columbus. Beijing ranked 11th best city to live in China vs Columbus ranked 17th in the United States, while ranked 2718th and 96th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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Prices in Beijing vs Columbus

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

	Beijing	Columbus
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$4.36	$18.3
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$26.1	$66.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.05	$12
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.02	$6.36
☕ Cappuccino	$3.03	$4.76
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.57	$2.53
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$861	$1328
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$471	$934
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1589	$2183
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$839	$1691
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$32.4	$147
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$50.2	$226
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$13.9	$61
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.39%	6.35%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$12544	$3248
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6280	$2159
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.58	$1.99
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$33.4	$60.1
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$4.68	$15.5
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.1	$0.85
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.95	$0.91
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.81	$3.1
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.12	$4.02
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.89	$4.12
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.7	$13.7
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.38	$12.9
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.2	$16.3
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.22	$5.64
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.75	$1.83
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.83	$6.03
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.44	$4.81
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.82	$2.62
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.91	$3.43
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.37	$1.54
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.21	$3.75
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$9.65	$18.8
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.86	$2.81
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.61	$9.61
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.71	$9.22
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.63	$3.76
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.73	$4.07
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.02	$2.24
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$63.8	$38.5
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$8	$12.3
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$34.7	$85.7
💇 Haircut, simple	$8.08	$20.1
👖 Brand Jeans	$59	$54.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$81.3	$91.2
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$725	$1272
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$25165	$24638

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Beijing

Distance	City	Cost of living
50 km or 31 mi	Langfang	$716
58 km or 36 mi	Zhuozhou	$734
58 km or 36 mi	Sanhe	$767
78 km or 49 mi	Gaobeidian	$645
87 km or 54 mi	Bazhou	$646
109 km or 68 mi	Tianjin	$663
135 km or 84 mi	Renqiu	$572
137 km or 85 mi	Zunhua	$673
139 km or 87 mi	Baoding	$468
151 km or 94 mi	Binhai	$656
155 km or 97 mi	Tangshan	$697
163 km or 101 mi	Zhangjiakou	$657
164 km or 102 mi	Hejian	$562
176 km or 110 mi	Chengde	$709
182 km or 113 mi	Cangzhou	$621
189 km or 117 mi	Huanghua	$630
189 km or 118 mi	Anguo	$528
196 km or 122 mi	Dingzhou	$558
197 km or 122 mi	Qian'an	$632
198 km or 123 mi	Luanzhou	$626
204 km or 127 mi	Botou	$564
224 km or 139 mi	Shenzhou	$512
228 km or 142 mi	Xinle	$524
229 km or 142 mi	Pingquan	$629
239 km or 148 mi	Jinzhou	$521
241 km or 150 mi	Xinji	$525
249 km or 155 mi	Gaocheng	$519
249 km or 155 mi	Hengshui	$466
252 km or 156 mi	Laoling	$584
263 km or 164 mi	Shijiazhuang	$493
265 km or 165 mi	Datong	$770
272 km or 169 mi	Jizhou	$508
273 km or 169 mi	Qinhuangdao	$574
273 km or 170 mi	Dezhou	$492
281 km or 175 mi	Fengzhen	$655
282 km or 175 mi	Huairen	$666
294 km or 183 mi	Lingyuan	$618
296 km or 184 mi	Nangong	$562
302 km or 187 mi	Ulanqab	$640
314 km or 195 mi	Binzhou	$748

Cities near Columbus

Distance	City	Cost of living
8.6 km or 5.3 mi	Upper Arlington	$2080
11 km or 7.1 mi	Grove	$2048
13 km or 8.3 mi	Gahanna	$1994
15 km or 9 mi	Hilliard	$2093
17 km or 11 mi	Reynoldsburg	$1992
18 km or 11 mi	Dublin	$2123
19 km or 12 mi	Westerville	$1816
22 km or 13 mi	Pickerington	$1982
38 km or 24 mi	Delaware	$2029
43 km or 27 mi	Lancaster	$1911
43 km or 27 mi	Marysville	$1975
51 km or 32 mi	Newark	$1872
69 km or 43 mi	Springfield	$1813
70 km or 43 mi	Chillicothe	$1919
70 km or 44 mi	Marion	$1922
84 km or 52 mi	Zanesville	$1746
86 km or 53 mi	Xenia	$1831
89 km or 55 mi	Fairborn	$1756
94 km or 59 mi	Beavercreek	$1822
97 km or 60 mi	Huber Heights	$1831
97 km or 60 mi	Mansfield	$1594
98 km or 61 mi	Riverside	$1877
103 km or 64 mi	Kettering	$1931
103 km or 64 mi	Troy	$1849
104 km or 65 mi	Athens	$1582
104 km or 65 mi	Centerville	$1915
105 km or 65 mi	Dayton	$1901
105 km or 65 mi	Sidney	$1863
108 km or 67 mi	Piqua	$1833
112 km or 69 mi	Trotwood	$1933
116 km or 72 mi	Ashland	$1580
120 km or 74 mi	Lebanon	$1864
128 km or 80 mi	Middletown	$1554
128 km or 80 mi	Lima	$2110
130 km or 81 mi	Wooster	$1530
131 km or 81 mi	Mason	$1904
132 km or 82 mi	Findlay	$1859
136 km or 84 mi	Portsmouth	$1468
144 km or 90 mi	New Philadelphia	$1791
146 km or 91 mi	Norwalk	$1935