Beijing vs Saint Petersburg - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Beijing	Saint Petersburg
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1029	$971
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2645	$2348
🏠 One person rent	$589	$502
🏘️ Family rent	$1040	$876
🍽️ Food expenses	$246	$258
🚐 Transport expenses	$98	$127
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$658	$1116
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	13 km	17 km
🎓 Higher education	100	82
😀 Quality of life	73	71
🏙️ Population	21.9M	5.65M

The cost of living in Beijing is 6% more expensive than in Saint Petersburg. Cities ranked 5355th and 5813th ($1029 vs $971) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 6th and 4th in China and Russia, respectively. Check China vs Russia comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.6 months in Beijing compared to 1.1 months in Saint Petersburg. Beijing ranked 11th best city to live in China vs Saint Petersburg ranked 2nd in Russia, while ranked 2546th and 3397th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Beijing vs Saint Petersburg infographic

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Prices in Beijing vs Saint Petersburg

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

	Beijing	Saint Petersburg
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$4.24	$7.62
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$27.8	$34.2
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.16	$5.3
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.12	$2.77
☕ Cappuccino	$2.82	$2.26
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.49	$1.02
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$850	$654
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$469	$370
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1549	$1172
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$839	$665
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$30.5	$68
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$46.5	$103
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$13.3	$7.03
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.51%	24.54%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$14720	$3928
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6180	$2610
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.56	$0.91
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$31.3	$38.4
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$4.61	$9.04
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.1	$0.72
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.82	$1.07
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.69	$0.7
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.1	$1.14
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.84	$1.62
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.3	$9.78
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.4	$4.39
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.5	$10.4
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.21	$1.63
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.65	$1.75
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.76	$1.83
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.34	$2.78
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.77	$0.8
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.88	$0.64
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.37	$0.48
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.18	$1.3
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$8.33	$8.16
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.79	$0.95
🚬 Cigarette pack	$4.04	$2.52
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.55	$1.46
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.55	$1.09
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.7	$1.04
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.96	$1.06
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$59.4	$32.7
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$8.35	$5.1
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$33.7	$14
💇 Haircut, simple	$8.03	$3.52
👖 Brand Jeans	$61.1	$86.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$78.2	$105
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$713	$402
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$22823	$10534

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 Saint Petersburg

Distance	City	Cost of living
135 km or 84 mi	Narva	$1083
156 km or 97 mi	Sillamae	$1064
162 km or 101 mi	Imatra	$1477
168 km or 104 mi	Veliky Novgorod	$734
170 km or 105 mi	Lappeenranta	$1454
181 km or 112 mi	Kohtla-Jarve	$1089
185 km or 115 mi	Hamina	$1516
195 km or 121 mi	Kotka	$1516
223 km or 139 mi	Kouvola	$1561
227 km or 141 mi	Savonlinna	$1265
232 km or 144 mi	Rakvere	$999
254 km or 158 mi	Mikkeli	$1386
262 km or 163 mi	Porvoo	$1561
263 km or 164 mi	Pskov	$680
269 km or 167 mi	Tartu	$1174
280 km or 174 mi	Lahti	$1618
293 km or 182 mi	Kerava	$1611
294 km or 183 mi	Varkaus	$1145
294 km or 183 mi	Jarvenpaa	$1783
295 km or 183 mi	Vantaa	$1881
296 km or 184 mi	Joensuu	$1580
297 km or 184 mi	Tuusula	$1655
299 km or 186 mi	Petrozavodsk	$745
300 km or 186 mi	Helsinki	$1947
302 km or 188 mi	Maardu	$1372
310 km or 192 mi	Nurmijarvi	$1642
310 km or 193 mi	Hyvinkaa	$1546
315 km or 196 mi	Espoo	$1937
317 km or 197 mi	Riihimaki	$1394
318 km or 197 mi	Tallinn	$1601
322 km or 200 mi	Viljandi	$1041
328 km or 204 mi	Kirkkonummi	$1737
342 km or 213 mi	Hameenlinna	$1444
348 km or 216 mi	Lohja	$1383
349 km or 217 mi	Jamsa	$1503
354 km or 220 mi	Jyvaskyla	$1500
356 km or 221 mi	Kuopio	$1524
373 km or 232 mi	Valkeakoski	$1570
374 km or 233 mi	Parnu	$1184
383 km or 238 mi	Raseborg	$1566