Beijing vs Medan - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Beijing	Medan
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1016	$481
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2879	$1335
🏠 One person rent	$575	$187
🏘️ Family rent	$1275	$394
🍽️ Food expenses	$245	$189
🚐 Transport expenses	$102	$35.6
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1443	$262
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	13 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	100	53
😀 Quality of life	75	44
🏙️ Population	21.9M	2.11M

The cost of living in Beijing is 111% more expensive than in Medan. Cities ranked 5387th and 8745th ($1016 vs $481) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 7th and 47th in China and Indonesia, respectively. Check China vs Indonesia comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.4 months in Beijing compared to 0.5 months in Medan. Beijing ranked 5th best city to live in China vs Medan ranked 14th in Indonesia, while ranked 989th and 6633rd among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Beijing vs Medan infographic

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

Prices in Beijing vs Medan

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

	Beijing	Medan
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$3.86	$1.97
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$29.5	$12.8
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.36	$3.31
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.22	$2.39
☕ Cappuccino	$3.58	$2.24
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.46	$0.45
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$819	$174
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$456	$107
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1965	$469
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1021	$265
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$33.6	$40.4
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$51.7	$62.2
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$13	$26.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.78%	9.24%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$14717	$1337
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6695	$614
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.69	$0.31
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$32.3	$8.02
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$4.77	$2.8
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.12	$0.79
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.76	$1.37
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.46	$1.14
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.21	$0.98
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.84	$1.55
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.7	$8.21
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.23	$3.56
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.64	$6.98
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.1	$2.38
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.53	$1.01
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.79	$1.5
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.23	$0.84
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.84	$0.75
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.96	$1.29
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.35	$0.31
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.33	$1.13
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$9.26	$15.6
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.83	$1.68
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.43	$2.26
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.49	$2.01
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.51	$2.41
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.33	$0.83
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.93	$0.77
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$53.9	$23
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$8.3	$3.48
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$33.2	$15.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$9.62	$2.73
👖 Brand Jeans	$60.8	$55.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$76.9	$105
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$698	$124
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$22456	$10763

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	$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 Medan

Distance	City	Cost of living
21 km or 13 mi	Binjai	$470
67 km or 41 mi	Tebing Tinggi	$474
90 km or 56 mi	Pematangsiantar	$486
119 km or 74 mi	Langsa	$461
148 km or 92 mi	Tanjungbalai	$503
238 km or 148 mi	Lhokseumawe	$435
264 km or 164 mi	Teluk Intan	$631
264 km or 164 mi	Taiping	$695
264 km or 164 mi	Padangsidempuan	$582
268 km or 166 mi	George Town	$620
269 km or 167 mi	Butterworth	$619
286 km or 178 mi	Ipoh	$628
298 km or 185 mi	Sungai Petani	$605
307 km or 191 mi	Gunungsitoli	$571
317 km or 197 mi	Klang	$670
322 km or 200 mi	Ko Lipe	$719
324 km or 201 mi	Langkawi	$560
325 km or 202 mi	Shah Alam	$645
331 km or 206 mi	Alor Setar	$490
332 km or 206 mi	Subang Jaya	$714
332 km or 206 mi	Petaling Jaya	$701
341 km or 212 mi	Kuala Lumpur	$810
342 km or 212 mi	Cyberjaya	$585
345 km or 215 mi	Putrajaya	$532
352 km or 219 mi	Kangar	$536
378 km or 235 mi	Seremban	$604
381 km or 237 mi	Dumai	$543
422 km or 262 mi	Hat Yai	$570
426 km or 265 mi	Banda Aceh	$398
431 km or 268 mi	Malacca	$669
445 km or 277 mi	Ko Lanta	$772
466 km or 289 mi	Pekanbaru	$542
468 km or 291 mi	Muar	$682
470 km or 292 mi	Phuket	$940
483 km or 300 mi	Kota Bharu	$485
487 km or 303 mi	Ao Nang	$792
489 km or 304 mi	Krabi	$782
515 km or 320 mi	Batu Pahat	$703
518 km or 322 mi	Kuantan	$529
529 km or 329 mi	Kuala Terengganu	$501