Beijing vs Raleigh - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Beijing	Raleigh
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1108	$2265
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2811	$5273
🏠 One person rent	$648	$1374
🏘️ Family rent	$1139	$2201
🍽️ Food expenses	$259	$624
🚐 Transport expenses	$101	$89.7
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$769	$4362
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	13 km	14 km
🎓 Higher education	100	82
😀 Quality of life	73	89
🏙️ Population	21.9M	468K

The cost of living in Beijing is 51% less expensive than in Raleigh. Cities ranked 4987th and 1363rd ($1108 vs $2265) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 6th and 1143rd 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 1.9 months in Raleigh. Beijing ranked 14th best city to live in China vs Raleigh ranked 54th in the United States, while ranked 2361st and 219th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Share this picture

Use the link below to embed the infographic from our site and automatically keep the data layer up to date.

If you prefer to download the image, please credit us as a source.

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

Prices in Beijing vs Raleigh

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

	Beijing	Raleigh
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$4.47	$18.3
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$29.5	$69.7
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.19	$10.4
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.17	$5.64
☕ Cappuccino	$3.27	$6.08
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.58	$2.82
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$965	$1531
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$510	$1084
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1738	$2619
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$909	$1754
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$32.7	$138
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$50	$211
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$14.5	$63.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.19%	6.17%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$12536	$3898
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6136	$2197
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.67	$1.42
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$31.5	$47.7
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$4.6	$16.4
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.21	$0.81
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.96	$0.94
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.76	$3.23
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.25	$2.67
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.15	$4.61
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.3	$14.6
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.29	$10.3
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.1	$17.3
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.23	$5.38
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.82	$1.25
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.87	$4.7
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.55	$5.76
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.81	$3.01
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.86	$3.55
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.38	$1.53
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.25	$2.65
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$11.2	$15.4
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.94	$2.96
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.67	$9.18
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.65	$12.2
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.95	$4.45
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.51	$3.97
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.03	$2.95
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$54.3	$42.7
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$8.12	$15
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$36.2	$127
💇 Haircut, simple	$8.74	$28.8
👖 Brand Jeans	$62.6	$52.7
👟 Brand Sneakers	$89.2	$101
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$621	$1475
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$25910	$24243

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 Raleigh

Distance	City	Cost of living
12 km or 7.6 mi	Garner	$2229
15 km or 9.1 mi	Cary	$2483
17 km or 10 mi	Morrisville	$1850
21 km or 13 mi	Wake Forest	$2169
21 km or 13 mi	Apex	$2280
25 km or 16 mi	Holly Springs	$2300
28 km or 18 mi	Fuquay-Varina	$2241
30 km or 19 mi	Durham	$2063
38 km or 23 mi	Chapel Hill	$2133
60 km or 37 mi	Henderson	$2116
61 km or 38 mi	Sanford	$1842
65 km or 41 mi	Wilson	$2016
77 km or 48 mi	Rocky Mount	$1803
77 km or 48 mi	Goldsboro	$1766
78 km or 49 mi	Burlington	$2089
87 km or 54 mi	Fayetteville	$2212
106 km or 66 mi	Asheboro	$2059
109 km or 68 mi	Danville	$1775
110 km or 68 mi	Greensboro	$2027
114 km or 71 mi	Roanoke Rapids	$2055
114 km or 71 mi	Kinston	$2073
117 km or 73 mi	Greenville	$2045
123 km or 76 mi	High Point	$1909
129 km or 80 mi	Thomasville	$2007
133 km or 83 mi	Kernersville	$2200
137 km or 85 mi	Lumberton	$1863
141 km or 87 mi	Rockingham	$2070
149 km or 92 mi	Winston-Salem	$2105
163 km or 101 mi	Jacksonville	$2007
165 km or 103 mi	New Bern	$1849
166 km or 103 mi	Salisbury	$2075
182 km or 113 mi	Kannapolis	$2031
182 km or 113 mi	Lynchburg	$1851
183 km or 114 mi	Concord	$1904
189 km or 117 mi	Havelock	$2003
190 km or 118 mi	Wilmington	$2295
191 km or 119 mi	Petersburg	$2375
196 km or 122 mi	Monroe	$2129
196 km or 122 mi	Mint Hill	$2204
198 km or 123 mi	Roanoke	$1729