Beijing vs Saint Petersburg - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Beijing	Saint Petersburg
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1108	$1139
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2811	$2793
🏠 One person rent	$648	$577
🏘️ Family rent	$1139	$1013
🍽️ Food expenses	$259	$300
🚐 Transport expenses	$101	$160
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$769	$1316
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	13 km	17 km
🎓 Higher education	100	85
😀 Quality of life	73	71
🏙️ Population	21.9M	5.65M

The cost of living in Beijing is 3% less expensive than in Saint Petersburg. Cities ranked 4987th and 4898th ($1108 vs $1139) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 6th and 5th in China and Russia, respectively. Check China vs Russia comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.7 months in Beijing compared to 1.2 months in Saint Petersburg. Beijing ranked 14th best city to live in China vs Saint Petersburg ranked 2nd in Russia, while ranked 2361st and 3542nd among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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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	$4.47	$9.18
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$29.5	$33.8
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.19	$6.37
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.17	$2.62
☕ Cappuccino	$3.27	$3.01
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.58	$1.36
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$965	$738
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$510	$429
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1738	$1362
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$909	$765
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$32.7	$78.3
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$50	$120
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$14.5	$8.01
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.19%	20.67%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$12536	$4926
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6136	$3068
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.67	$1.17
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$31.5	$47.1
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$4.6	$11.8
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.21	$0.89
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.96	$1.21
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.76	$0.86
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.25	$1.38
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.15	$1.75
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.3	$12
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.29	$5.69
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.1	$12.4
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.23	$1.84
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.82	$1.87
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.87	$1.96
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.55	$3.21
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.81	$0.74
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.86	$0.66
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.38	$0.59
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.25	$1.69
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$11.2	$8.78
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.94	$1.22
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.67	$3
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.65	$1.91
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.95	$1.43
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.51	$1.26
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.03	$1.38
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$54.3	$40.2
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$8.12	$6.09
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$36.2	$17.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$8.74	$4.25
👖 Brand Jeans	$62.6	$94.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$89.2	$132
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$621	$502
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$25910	$13865

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 Saint Petersburg

Distance	City	Cost of living
135 km or 84 mi	Narva	$1081
156 km or 97 mi	Sillamae	$1079
162 km or 101 mi	Imatra	$1467
168 km or 104 mi	Veliky Novgorod	$766
170 km or 105 mi	Lappeenranta	$1448
181 km or 112 mi	Kohtla-Jarve	$1104
185 km or 115 mi	Hamina	$1490
195 km or 121 mi	Kotka	$1478
223 km or 139 mi	Kouvola	$1383
227 km or 141 mi	Savonlinna	$1312
232 km or 144 mi	Rakvere	$1085
254 km or 158 mi	Mikkeli	$1445
262 km or 163 mi	Porvoo	$1521
263 km or 164 mi	Pskov	$758
269 km or 167 mi	Tartu	$1220
280 km or 174 mi	Lahti	$1533
293 km or 182 mi	Kerava	$1673
294 km or 183 mi	Varkaus	$1428
294 km or 183 mi	Jarvenpaa	$1759
295 km or 183 mi	Vantaa	$1843
296 km or 184 mi	Joensuu	$1550
297 km or 184 mi	Tuusula	$1698
299 km or 186 mi	Petrozavodsk	$834
300 km or 186 mi	Helsinki	$1970
302 km or 188 mi	Maardu	$1455
310 km or 192 mi	Nurmijarvi	$1644
310 km or 193 mi	Hyvinkaa	$1531
315 km or 196 mi	Espoo	$1974
317 km or 197 mi	Riihimaki	$1419
318 km or 197 mi	Tallinn	$1594
322 km or 200 mi	Viljandi	$1054
328 km or 204 mi	Kirkkonummi	$1684
342 km or 213 mi	Hameenlinna	$1436
348 km or 216 mi	Lohja	$1391
349 km or 217 mi	Jamsa	$1492
354 km or 220 mi	Jyvaskyla	$1403
356 km or 221 mi	Kuopio	$1525
373 km or 232 mi	Valkeakoski	$1578
374 km or 233 mi	Parnu	$1179
383 km or 238 mi	Raseborg	$1597