Beijing vs Los Angeles - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Beijing	Los Angeles
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1029	$3361
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2645	$7751
🏠 One person rent	$589	$2151
🏘️ Family rent	$1040	$3720
🍽️ Food expenses	$246	$750
🚐 Transport expenses	$98	$245
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$658	$4549
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Good
✈️ Airport proximity	13 km	17 km
🎓 Higher education	100	99
😀 Quality of life	73	94
🏙️ Population	21.9M	3.9M

The cost of living in Beijing is 69% less expensive than in Los Angeles. Cities ranked 5355th and 65th ($1029 vs $3361) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 6th and 51st 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 0.6 months in Beijing compared to 1.4 months in Los Angeles. Beijing ranked 11th best city to live in China vs Los Angeles ranked 14th in the United States, while ranked 2546th and 74th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Beijing vs Los Angeles infographic

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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	$4.24	$22.6
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$27.8	$90.5
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.16	$13.2
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.12	$8.27
☕ Cappuccino	$2.82	$6.49
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.49	$2.83
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$850	$2364
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$469	$1847
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1549	$4128
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$839	$3274
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$30.5	$131
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$46.5	$205
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$13.3	$69.6
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.51%	6.62%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$14720	$7753
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6180	$6833
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.56	$1.99
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$31.3	$81.9
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$4.61	$19.5
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.1	$1.24
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.82	$1.3
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.69	$3.99
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.1	$4.39
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.84	$7.62
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.3	$15.8
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.4	$15.6
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.5	$20.3
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.21	$5.28
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.65	$2.75
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.76	$4.64
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.34	$4.76
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.77	$2.88
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.88	$2.64
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.37	$1.49
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.18	$4.04
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$8.33	$15.2
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.79	$3.97
🚬 Cigarette pack	$4.04	$13.2
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.55	$10.4
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.55	$9.09
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.7	$5.34
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.96	$2.8
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$59.4	$68.9
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$8.35	$18
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$33.7	$168
💇 Haircut, simple	$8.03	$31.8
👖 Brand Jeans	$61.1	$62
👟 Brand Sneakers	$78.2	$102
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$713	$1849
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$22823	$26874

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	$707
58 km or 36 mi	Zhuozhou	$724
58 km or 36 mi	Sanhe	$750
78 km or 49 mi	Gaobeidian	$634
87 km or 54 mi	Bazhou	$634
109 km or 68 mi	Tianjin	$646
135 km or 84 mi	Renqiu	$565
137 km or 85 mi	Zunhua	$660
139 km or 87 mi	Baoding	$456
151 km or 94 mi	Binhai	$641
155 km or 97 mi	Tangshan	$688
163 km or 101 mi	Zhangjiakou	$652
164 km or 102 mi	Hejian	$558
176 km or 110 mi	Chengde	$694
182 km or 113 mi	Cangzhou	$638
189 km or 117 mi	Huanghua	$619
189 km or 118 mi	Anguo	$533
196 km or 122 mi	Dingzhou	$574
197 km or 122 mi	Qian'an	$616
198 km or 123 mi	Luanzhou	$614
204 km or 127 mi	Botou	$564
224 km or 139 mi	Shenzhou	$505
228 km or 142 mi	Xinle	$535
229 km or 142 mi	Pingquan	$615
239 km or 148 mi	Jinzhou	$527
241 km or 150 mi	Xinji	$523
249 km or 155 mi	Gaocheng	$527
249 km or 155 mi	Hengshui	$454
252 km or 156 mi	Laoling	$580
263 km or 164 mi	Shijiazhuang	$505
265 km or 165 mi	Datong	$748
272 km or 169 mi	Jizhou	$499
273 km or 169 mi	Qinhuangdao	$558
273 km or 170 mi	Dezhou	$480
281 km or 175 mi	Fengzhen	$642
282 km or 175 mi	Huairen	$654
294 km or 183 mi	Lingyuan	$601
296 km or 184 mi	Nangong	$550
302 km or 187 mi	Ulanqab	$629
314 km or 195 mi	Binzhou	$741

Cities near Los Angeles

Distance	City	Cost of living
8.1 km or 5 mi	Huntington Park	$2803
8.9 km or 5.5 mi	Maywood	$2786
9.2 km or 5.7 mi	Florence-Graham	$2844
10 km or 6.2 mi	Bell	$2780
10 km or 6.2 mi	Monterey Park	$2722
11 km or 6.6 mi	Alhambra	$2940
11 km or 6.6 mi	South Pasadena	$2952
11 km or 7 mi	Cudahy	$2764
12 km or 7.6 mi	San Gabriel	$3132
12 km or 7.7 mi	Bell Gardens	$2728
12 km or 7.8 mi	West Hollywood	$3036
13 km or 7.8 mi	Montebello	$2739
13 km or 8 mi	South Gate	$2762
13 km or 8.2 mi	Glendale	$3656
14 km or 8.8 mi	Inglewood	$2947
15 km or 9 mi	Beverly Hills	$2917
15 km or 9.1 mi	Lynwood	$2807
15 km or 9.3 mi	Rosemead	$2822
15 km or 9.5 mi	Culver	$3002
15 km or 9.6 mi	Pasadena	$3706
16 km or 9.9 mi	Pico Rivera	$2758
16 km or 10 mi	Burbank	$3288
16 km or 10 mi	Downey	$2650
17 km or 11 mi	Compton	$2856
18 km or 11 mi	La Canada Flintridge	$3119
18 km or 11 mi	Hawthorne	$2970
18 km or 11 mi	Temple	$2855
18 km or 11 mi	South El Monte	$2794
18 km or 11 mi	West Whittier-Los Nietos	$2769
18 km or 11 mi	Paramount	$2731
19 km or 12 mi	Gardena	$3004
20 km or 12 mi	El Monte	$2810
21 km or 13 mi	Lawndale	$3122
21 km or 13 mi	Arcadia	$3008
21 km or 13 mi	Bellflower	$2725
22 km or 14 mi	Norwalk	$2682
22 km or 14 mi	Santa Monica	$3595
22 km or 14 mi	Whittier	$2788
23 km or 15 mi	Manhattan Beach	$3191
24 km or 15 mi	Carson	$2927