Beijing vs Saint Petersburg - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Beijing	Saint Petersburg
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1016	$974
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2879	$2438
🏠 One person rent	$575	$497
🏘️ Family rent	$1275	$991
🍽️ Food expenses	$245	$268
🚐 Transport expenses	$102	$116
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1443	$947
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	13 km	17 km
🎓 Higher education	100	81
😀 Quality of life	75	67
🏙️ Population	21.9M	5.6M

The cost of living in Beijing is 4% more expensive than in Saint Petersburg. Cities ranked 5387th and 5668th ($1016 vs $974) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 7th and 2nd in China and Russia, respectively. Check China vs Russia comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.4 months in Beijing compared to 1 months in Saint Petersburg. Beijing ranked 5th best city to live in China vs Saint Petersburg ranked 2nd in Russia, while ranked 989th and 3598th 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	$3.86	$8.04
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$29.5	$43.2
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.36	$5.08
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.22	$3.44
☕ Cappuccino	$3.58	$2.33
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.46	$0.98
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$819	$622
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$456	$369
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1965	$1265
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1021	$775
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$33.6	$71.4
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$51.7	$111
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$13	$6.26
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.78%	22.73%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$14717	$3479
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6695	$2360
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.69	$0.8
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$32.3	$41.9
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$4.77	$6.81
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.12	$0.66
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.76	$1.01
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.46	$0.78
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.21	$1.44
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.84	$1.71
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.7	$10.4
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.23	$4.77
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.64	$9.18
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.1	$1.47
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.53	$1.54
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.79	$1.73
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.23	$2.77
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.84	$0.66
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.96	$0.56
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.35	$0.43
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.33	$1.19
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$9.26	$8.06
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.83	$0.86
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.43	$2.5
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.49	$1.17
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.51	$1.06
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.33	$1.24
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.93	$0.87
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$53.9	$32
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$8.3	$5.14
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$33.2	$16.9
💇 Haircut, simple	$9.62	$3.89
👖 Brand Jeans	$60.8	$97.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$76.9	$113
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$698	$353
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$22456	$7571

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 Saint Petersburg

Distance	City	Cost of living
135 km or 84 mi	Narva	$953
156 km or 97 mi	Sillamae	$952
162 km or 101 mi	Imatra	$1095
168 km or 104 mi	Veliky Novgorod	$737
170 km or 105 mi	Lappeenranta	$1295
181 km or 112 mi	Kohtla-Jarve	$973
185 km or 115 mi	Hamina	$1329
195 km or 121 mi	Kotka	$1286
223 km or 139 mi	Kouvola	$1355
227 km or 141 mi	Savonlinna	$1162
232 km or 144 mi	Rakvere	$899
254 km or 158 mi	Mikkeli	$1308
262 km or 163 mi	Porvoo	$1327
263 km or 164 mi	Pskov	$467
269 km or 167 mi	Tartu	$1045
280 km or 174 mi	Lahti	$1398
293 km or 182 mi	Kerava	$1486
294 km or 183 mi	Varkaus	$1051
294 km or 183 mi	Jarvenpaa	$1533
295 km or 183 mi	Vantaa	$1671
296 km or 184 mi	Joensuu	$1471
297 km or 184 mi	Tuusula	$1509
299 km or 186 mi	Petrozavodsk	$550
300 km or 186 mi	Helsinki	$1816
302 km or 188 mi	Maardu	$1219
310 km or 192 mi	Nurmijarvi	$1479
310 km or 193 mi	Hyvinkaa	$1323
315 km or 196 mi	Espoo	$1879
317 km or 197 mi	Riihimaki	$1443
318 km or 197 mi	Tallinn	$1414
322 km or 200 mi	Viljandi	$933
328 km or 204 mi	Kirkkonummi	$1509
342 km or 213 mi	Hameenlinna	$1309
348 km or 216 mi	Lohja	$1220
349 km or 217 mi	Jamsa	$1394
354 km or 220 mi	Jyvaskyla	$1445
356 km or 221 mi	Kuopio	$1382
373 km or 232 mi	Valkeakoski	$1544
374 km or 233 mi	Parnu	$1064
383 km or 238 mi	Raseborg	$1441