Beijing vs Los Angeles - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Beijing	Los Angeles
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1108	$3420
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2811	$7800
🏠 One person rent	$648	$2177
🏘️ Family rent	$1139	$3742
🍽️ Food expenses	$259	$761
🚐 Transport expenses	$101	$263
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$769	$4482
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Good
✈️ Airport proximity	13 km	17 km
🎓 Higher education	100	99
😀 Quality of life	73	93
🏙️ Population	21.9M	3.9M

The cost of living in Beijing is 68% less expensive than in Los Angeles. Cities ranked 4987th and 62nd ($1108 vs $3420) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 6th and 47th 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 1.3 months in Los Angeles. Beijing ranked 14th best city to live in China vs Los Angeles ranked 8th in the United States, while ranked 2361st and 50th 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 Los Angeles

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

	Beijing	Los Angeles
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$4.47	$22.4
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$29.5	$104
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.19	$14.1
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.17	$8.92
☕ Cappuccino	$3.27	$6.66
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.58	$3.53
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$965	$2356
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$510	$1856
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1738	$4109
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$909	$3268
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$32.7	$152
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$50	$236
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$14.5	$69.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.19%	6.28%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$12536	$8186
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6136	$7185
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.67	$1.76
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$31.5	$95.5
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$4.6	$19.5
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.21	$1.37
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.96	$1.32
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.76	$4.33
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.25	$4.26
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.15	$6.59
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.3	$15.1
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.29	$14.3
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.1	$20.4
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.23	$5.08
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.82	$2.46
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.87	$5.3
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.55	$5.19
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.81	$2.89
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.86	$2.91
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.38	$1.67
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.25	$3.57
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$11.2	$15.3
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.94	$2.99
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.67	$12.9
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.65	$9.24
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.95	$6.99
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.51	$5.99
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.03	$2.92
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$54.3	$70.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$8.12	$18.2
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$36.2	$164
💇 Haircut, simple	$8.74	$29.5
👖 Brand Jeans	$62.6	$80.1
👟 Brand Sneakers	$89.2	$110
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$621	$1748
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$25910	$23685

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	$740
58 km or 36 mi	Zhuozhou	$764
58 km or 36 mi	Sanhe	$800
78 km or 49 mi	Gaobeidian	$666
87 km or 54 mi	Bazhou	$666
109 km or 68 mi	Tianjin	$682
135 km or 84 mi	Renqiu	$586
137 km or 85 mi	Zunhua	$697
139 km or 87 mi	Baoding	$480
151 km or 94 mi	Binhai	$672
155 km or 97 mi	Tangshan	$720
163 km or 101 mi	Zhangjiakou	$680
164 km or 102 mi	Hejian	$576
176 km or 110 mi	Chengde	$722
182 km or 113 mi	Cangzhou	$623
189 km or 117 mi	Huanghua	$645
189 km or 118 mi	Anguo	$541
196 km or 122 mi	Dingzhou	$556
197 km or 122 mi	Qian'an	$648
198 km or 123 mi	Luanzhou	$645
204 km or 127 mi	Botou	$574
224 km or 139 mi	Shenzhou	$525
228 km or 142 mi	Xinle	$541
229 km or 142 mi	Pingquan	$646
239 km or 148 mi	Jinzhou	$541
241 km or 150 mi	Xinji	$539
249 km or 155 mi	Gaocheng	$541
249 km or 155 mi	Hengshui	$480
252 km or 156 mi	Laoling	$599
263 km or 164 mi	Shijiazhuang	$521
265 km or 165 mi	Datong	$789
272 km or 169 mi	Jizhou	$522
273 km or 169 mi	Qinhuangdao	$589
273 km or 170 mi	Dezhou	$511
281 km or 175 mi	Fengzhen	$676
282 km or 175 mi	Huairen	$684
294 km or 183 mi	Lingyuan	$634
296 km or 184 mi	Nangong	$579
302 km or 187 mi	Ulanqab	$665
314 km or 195 mi	Binzhou	$759

Cities near Los Angeles

Distance	City	Cost of living
8.1 km or 5 mi	Huntington Park	$2945
8.9 km or 5.5 mi	Maywood	$2888
9.2 km or 5.7 mi	Florence-Graham	$2945
10 km or 6.2 mi	Bell	$2868
10 km or 6.2 mi	Monterey Park	$2786
11 km or 6.6 mi	Alhambra	$3031
11 km or 6.6 mi	South Pasadena	$3020
11 km or 7 mi	Cudahy	$2866
12 km or 7.6 mi	San Gabriel	$3184
12 km or 7.7 mi	Bell Gardens	$2798
12 km or 7.8 mi	West Hollywood	$3055
13 km or 7.8 mi	Montebello	$2826
13 km or 8 mi	South Gate	$2867
13 km or 8.2 mi	Glendale	$3717
14 km or 8.8 mi	Inglewood	$3066
15 km or 9 mi	Beverly Hills	$2945
15 km or 9.1 mi	Lynwood	$2880
15 km or 9.3 mi	Rosemead	$2868
15 km or 9.5 mi	Culver	$3054
15 km or 9.6 mi	Pasadena	$3802
16 km or 9.9 mi	Pico Rivera	$2818
16 km or 10 mi	Burbank	$3369
16 km or 10 mi	Downey	$2766
17 km or 11 mi	Compton	$2922
18 km or 11 mi	La Canada Flintridge	$3179
18 km or 11 mi	Hawthorne	$3139
18 km or 11 mi	Temple	$2909
18 km or 11 mi	South El Monte	$2849
18 km or 11 mi	West Whittier-Los Nietos	$2826
18 km or 11 mi	Paramount	$2793
19 km or 12 mi	Gardena	$3076
20 km or 12 mi	El Monte	$2858
21 km or 13 mi	Lawndale	$3243
21 km or 13 mi	Arcadia	$3020
21 km or 13 mi	Bellflower	$2758
22 km or 14 mi	Norwalk	$2694
22 km or 14 mi	Santa Monica	$3654
22 km or 14 mi	Whittier	$2835
23 km or 15 mi	Manhattan Beach	$3295
24 km or 15 mi	Carson	$3000