Beijing vs Edinburgh - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Beijing	Edinburgh
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1016	$2140
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2879	$5387
🏠 One person rent	$575	$1269
🏘️ Family rent	$1275	$2336
🍽️ Food expenses	$245	$530
🚐 Transport expenses	$102	$161
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1443	$3522
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	13 km	11 km
🎓 Higher education	100	88
😀 Quality of life	75	94
🏙️ Population	21.9M	488K

The cost of living in Beijing is 53% less expensive than in Edinburgh. Cities ranked 5387th and 1491st ($1016 vs $2140) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 7th and 36th in China and the United Kingdom, respectively. Check China vs the United Kingdom comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.4 months in Beijing compared to 1.6 months in Edinburgh. Beijing ranked 5th best city to live in China vs Edinburgh ranked 3rd in the United Kingdom, while ranked 989th and 34th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Beijing vs Edinburgh infographic

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<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/beijing/edinburgh.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Beijing vs Edinburgh infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/beijing/edinburgh" target="_blank">Beijing vs Edinburgh - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Beijing vs Edinburgh

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

	Beijing	Edinburgh
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$3.86	$17.4
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$29.5	$75.9
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.36	$9.21
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.22	$7.09
☕ Cappuccino	$3.58	$4.64
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.46	$2.55
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$819	$1331
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$456	$970
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1965	$2573
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1021	$1865
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$33.6	$188
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$51.7	$291
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$13	$38.4
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.78%	5.75%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$14717	$6219
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6695	$4199
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.69	$2.54
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$32.3	$83
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$4.77	$27.8
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.12	$1.82
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.76	$1.6
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.46	$1.69
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.21	$1.87
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.84	$4.14
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.7	$11.1
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.23	$9.87
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.64	$16.2
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.1	$2.87
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.53	$1.41
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.79	$3.62
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.23	$4.38
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.84	$1.56
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.96	$1.37
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.35	$0.87
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.33	$3.07
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$9.26	$10.5
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.83	$2.31
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.43	$18.9
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.49	$6.9
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.51	$4.45
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.33	$3.07
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.93	$1.53
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$53.9	$50.2
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$8.3	$15.1
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$33.2	$106
💇 Haircut, simple	$9.62	$21.5
👖 Brand Jeans	$60.8	$111
👟 Brand Sneakers	$76.9	$106
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$698	$1772
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$22456	$21911

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

$349

$907

$6.64K

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	$729
58 km or 36 mi	Sanhe	$756
78 km or 49 mi	Gaobeidian	$644
87 km or 54 mi	Bazhou	$649
109 km or 68 mi	Tianjin	$687
135 km or 84 mi	Renqiu	$586
137 km or 85 mi	Zunhua	$680
139 km or 87 mi	Baoding	$472
151 km or 94 mi	Binhai	$665
155 km or 97 mi	Tangshan	$702
163 km or 101 mi	Zhangjiakou	$634
164 km or 102 mi	Hejian	$592
176 km or 110 mi	Chengde	$711
182 km or 113 mi	Cangzhou	$679
189 km or 117 mi	Huanghua	$655
189 km or 118 mi	Anguo	$550
196 km or 122 mi	Dingzhou	$584
197 km or 122 mi	Qian'an	$642
198 km or 123 mi	Luanzhou	$635
204 km or 127 mi	Botou	$618
224 km or 139 mi	Shenzhou	$581
228 km or 142 mi	Xinle	$533
229 km or 142 mi	Pingquan	$629
239 km or 148 mi	Jinzhou	$544
241 km or 150 mi	Xinji	$564
249 km or 155 mi	Gaocheng	$524
249 km or 155 mi	Hengshui	$642
252 km or 156 mi	Laoling	$638
263 km or 164 mi	Shijiazhuang	$481
265 km or 165 mi	Datong	$703
272 km or 169 mi	Jizhou	$590
273 km or 169 mi	Qinhuangdao	$664
273 km or 170 mi	Dezhou	$638
281 km or 175 mi	Fengzhen	$616
282 km or 175 mi	Huairen	$624
294 km or 183 mi	Lingyuan	$620
296 km or 184 mi	Nangong	$600
302 km or 187 mi	Ulanqab	$620
314 km or 195 mi	Binzhou	$815

Cities near Edinburgh

Distance	City	Cost of living
18 km or 11 mi	Kirkcaldy	$1610
21 km or 13 mi	Livingston	$1608
21 km or 13 mi	Dunfermline	$1692
42 km or 26 mi	Alloa	$1649
49 km or 30 mi	Cumbernauld	$1475
49 km or 31 mi	Stirling	$1604
52 km or 32 mi	Perth	$1500
56 km or 35 mi	Hamilton	$1699
59 km or 37 mi	Dundee	$1482
65 km or 40 mi	East Kilbride	$1763
66 km or 41 mi	Glasgow	$2011
78 km or 48 mi	Paisley	$1765
89 km or 56 mi	Kilmarnock	$1480
98 km or 61 mi	Greenock	$1601
99 km or 61 mi	Irvine	$1551
102 km or 63 mi	Dumfries	$1246
105 km or 65 mi	Ayr	$1404
120 km or 74 mi	Carlisle	$1567
147 km or 91 mi	Newcastle upon Tyne	$1726
149 km or 93 mi	Aberdeen	$1614
150 km or 93 mi	Gateshead	$1705
153 km or 95 mi	Tynemouth	$1638
153 km or 95 mi	Jarrow	$1651
154 km or 96 mi	South Shields	$1628
158 km or 98 mi	Washington	$1637
158 km or 98 mi	Whitehaven	$1732
164 km or 102 mi	Sunderland	$1510
166 km or 103 mi	Durham	$1707
173 km or 107 mi	Bishop Auckland	$1592
182 km or 113 mi	Inverness	$1722
189 km or 117 mi	Hartlepool	$1328
189 km or 117 mi	Elgin	$1393
190 km or 118 mi	Darlington	$1288
194 km or 121 mi	Stockton-on-Tees	$1377
197 km or 123 mi	Middlesbrough	$1500
211 km or 131 mi	Morecambe	$1714
212 km or 132 mi	Bangor	$1382
213 km or 132 mi	Lancaster	$1629
216 km or 134 mi	Douglas	$1968
224 km or 139 mi	Newtownabbey	$1692